Customer Reviews

All's Fair in Love, War, and High School

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

She's brash, self-centered, totally hot, and completely obsessed with the implosion of her universe because of what she thinks others think of her. Therein lies the heart of this story. Would Samantha be so hypercritical of everyone else if she realized her potential to be so extraordinary? As Rallison writes it, so Samantha realizes it, but not without a few bittersweet lessons along the way.

This is the story of a girl who, despite a high self concept, suddenly realizes she is typical and even a lesser mortal than many of her peers. She discovers she isn't as smart as she thought she was when she takes the SAT and scores miserably low. Then, to top it all off, college entrance applications seem to demand a higher profile and lofty character traits that Samantha is conviced she has mastered. The problem is that she has no real proof of her expert qualities other than her cheerleading. So she enters the student council elections in a campaign to prove she has the right stuff, and to polish off her resume. So what if she has to reveal a little trash on her opponents? A little gossip couldn't hurt much could it? Samantha's strategy isn't without flaws.

I loved Samantha's personality. She is exactly the kind of girl I secretly admire, but go out of my way to avoid. She is confident, a trait that is appealing in many characters. Samantha's confidence is daring and sophisticated though, making her almost clandestine in pride.

Samantha is also obsessed. Her ego drives her to chide an exboyfriend, and belittle a potential best friend. Soon she discovers that her ego is self inflated and learns that she must let the air out every once in a while if she expects to be accepted by the populus.

Samantha is sincere. In fact, her brutal honesty about companions as well as opponents constitutes her real flaw. She is so honest and sincere that her ability to freely gossip almost spoils her only true friends and threatens to destroy her image and reputation. She frantically struggles to recover from her own undoing. Fortunately in the end, the bitter pill she must swallow leaves her character sweeter and more loveable than when we first meet her on page one.

I really loved this book. I have only read it once, but enjoyed it enough to read it again. Actually, with so many books in my To Be Read Pile, I will probably keep this for a while before I read it again. I will however pick up a copy of any of Rallison's other books. She did a fantastic job here, and I thirst for more.

At first I was a bit put off by the title, All's Fair in Love, War, and High School. Although it's clever, i immediately labeled it as a shallow teen book without substance (sorry). but it completely surprised me! i couldnt seem to stop reading and i finished it in one sitting...the plot was good, if predictable (but in a way that made it completely satisfying in the end) and i love how the main character, Samantha, changes from the shallow, critical, but ultimately well-intentioned popular girl that she was in the beginning. and the romance was perfectly executed.

Anyway, the story is about a junior in high school named samantha who just finds out she bombed the SAT, is dumped by her boyfriend, and decides to run for class president (to look good on her high sschool transcript). she makes a bet with this guy she works with (and dated in 8th grade),logan, that she could survive two weeks without insulting anyone. the course of the story is basically about those two weeks and lots of events surrounding it. i would definitely recommend it.

Alls Fair In Love,War, and High School
By Janette Rallison
ISBN: 0802788742
Walker & Co., 2003, 183 pp, $11.87

Samantha Taylor is the very image of perfection. Shes smart, pretty, talented, and nice to everyone she sees. NOT! In fact, Samantha is the very opposite. Though she is pretty, she got an 810 on the SATs, criticizes almost everyone who walks by her, and the only two things she is good at is seducing guys, and being head cheerleader. "Everyone whos hung out with Samantha knows that she cant go into a room with six people without insulting five of them."

So her ex-boyfriend Logan places a bet that she cant go two weeks without insulting someone. So she now has the burden of that bet on her shoulders. The hot brother of her mean and snotty, rival, Elise is coming back from college, her friend betrays her, and on top of all that, shes running for school president to put Leadership on her college application.

Alls Fair In Love, War, And High school is a story filled with responsibility, popularity, and determination. Almost every girl can relate to the main character, and has had experiences like Samanthas happen to them. I could relate to this book very well. It is a story that is guaranteed to reel you in and never let you stop turning the pages. The book is written in first person and the author Janette Rallison, really gets into the mind of teenage girl such as myself. This book has comedy, romance, and the thoughts of teenage girl Samantha Taylor.

On the outside, it seems like Samantha has it all: She's on the cheerleading squad, she's popular, has a cute boyfriend ready to take her to prom, and her acid tongue makes her queen bee in her clique. All that comes crashing down in the first few chapters as first Samantha's boyfriend dumps her and then she gets back her horrible SAT scores. With a dateless prom and a college-less future looming on the horizon, Samantha determines the only thing she can do to salvage the situation is find a new boyfriend (her former friend's ex looks appealing) and run for student body president (looks good on college applications). As if this weren't enough of a challenge, Samantha's cute co-worker Logan ups the ante by betting that she can't go two weeks without insulting anyone.

What follows is a hilarious, cringe-inducing romp through those two weeks as Samantha struggles to meet her goals and ends up learning more about herself than she bargained for. Despite her bossiness and cruel one-liners, Samantha is a likeable character. Though she is mean, you get the impression that she doesn't actually intended to be cruel. Whereas many mean girls in books seem to thrive on hurting others, Samantha seems to relish honesty and simply doesn't consider the feelings of others. As she ponders her situation, she begins to realize where she'd been going wrong and seems to be genuinely sorry for her behavior. Samantha is a very different character by the end of the book.

The cover, title, and description of this book all led me to think this was going to be light and funny romance. It is exactly that, but it is also more. Rallison makes good points and hits on important issues of self-esteem, trust, friendship, and dating without ever coming across as preachy. Ultimately, this is a feel good book that I whole-heartedly recommend.

I am a junior high teacher who tries not to censor the books I put in my classroom too much. But when one comes along, like All's Fair in Love, War, and High School, that doesn't have to be censored, I am so thrilled! Rallison weaves a believable, engaging story about popular, but shallow Samantha, as she copes with different problems and grows as a person. Teen girls will relate to Samantha's constant juggling act of school, boys, friends, family, and social events. Also, Samantha realizes that her friendships basically consist of cutting others down. She copes with her friends ostracizing her as she tries to change this. Rallison keeps the whole thing funny and light-hearted while hitting on some important ideas of self-esteem, and actually keeping the content of the story PG! I highly recommend it! My junior high girls are loving it, too!

Have you ever felt like the cheerleader always had it all, she was beautiful, smart and got any guy she wanted? Well this story will prove that theory wrong. This is about cheerleader Samantha who bombs her SAT's, then decides to run for class president so she could have something worthy on her college application, all while trying to snag a prom date!

I love how Janette Rallison can bring the reader to right in to the story so you actually feel like you're back in high school all over again. I never cared for high school that much and this story just reminded me of that! I hated the way Samantha and her friends talked badly about everybody but I loved how Rallison used this story to draw attention to bullying and by giving us an ending to love! She has a gift for writing clean, fun, and inspirational books for teens but there are just so good that an adult like me can really enjoy them. I love to read her books to cheer me up and give me a laugh.

This is a cute romance, but nothing really to make it stand out for me. I liked the play between Samantha and Logan and the idea of the "no-insults" bet. I think this book would be perfect for about middle school age girls looking for a "clean" romance. There's nothing objectionable in this book and overall a cute story.

"All's Fair in Love, War, and High School" is like a fictional manual on grades, boys, high school elections, cheerleading pros and cons and how to become a better person before your last year of high school.

I sat down to do some light reading with one of my new favorite authors, Janette Rallison, and I found myself tumbling into the academic days and disastrous date nights of high school junior, Samantha Taylor. Remember, I said "like" a fictional manual; don't worry, it's not written in a textbook format or littered with lists of do's and do not's in the world of high school popularity. It's a story that's told from Samantha's point of view about her transition from a teenage insult aficionado into a political candidate, perfect prom date, and queen of the SAT. Is it a love story? Yes, but not just boy meets girl. You will find several boy meet girl mini-plots; however, the true love story is the one about self-love.

Samantha's character was written in a manner that led me on a mixed emotional trail. I liked her, didn't like her, wanted to smack her, wanted to hug her, and in the end - I wanted to be her.

This is contemporary fiction at its best and I loved the way Janette used subtle as well as in-your-face humor to flavor this story. Wait until you read the part about the drooling cat that goes on a date with Samantha - it's one of those laugh out loud and kind of snort chapters.

If you've ever been an underdog, known a cheerleader, wanted to be class president, or just wanted to be someone that other people liked, this is the perfect read. And . . . maybe, if you don't want to be any of those things and just want to read a really great book - this is also the perfect read.

Samantha Taylor is a cheerleader whom everyone thinks has a perfect life. Well, think again. She bombed the SAT, got dumped by her boyfriend three weeks before prom, and is campaigning (and possibly losing) for student council president. On top of all that, she got roped into a bet with an old boyfriend that she can't go two weeks without insulting anyone. But Samantha is determined to live up to everyone's expectations and win-- the bet, the election, a date for prom, and a better score, and she'll go to no lengths to reach her goals. You know what they say: all's fair in love, war, and high school. This book is cute and clever, and though at first you will think of Samantha as ruthless, you will soon come to empathize with her and genuinely want her to win.

This was a great book. it was funny and witty and i really enjoyed it. i was expecting a little more of the end but it was still a great book. i love the banter betwen logan and samantha. i definitely recommend this book