1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Sorry We Got This Book!, October 15, 2009
This review is from: Fashionista (Bradford Novels (Quality)) (Paperback)
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I don't know why this book was chosen maybe curiosity but I wish it could be sent back. Don't get me wrong, teen life in our world today is seeming somewhat going in the wrong direction, and it's not like we aren't aware of it. But when a book is published that is directed at that age group and actually puts all the teen troubles & un-godly vices as the best thing to do.....I guess I'm against that type of literature. Thank goodness my daughter read the first few pages and threw it in the trash where it belongs.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not my favorite teen series but ok, September 23, 2009
This review is from: Fashionista (Bradford Novels (Quality)) (Paperback)
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Starting a series with the second book can be hit or miss. Sometimes there is enough information in the second book to keep you updated from what happened in the first book and therefore can be read as a standalone. Other times it feels as if the author fully expects you to have read the first book before you even touch the next one. This book feels like the latter. For the first few chapters of the book, I was totally lost. The book is written in email, blog, IM format. Normally I really enjoy this format because it makes for addictive reading due to no chapter stops. However in this case, because I was unfamiliar with any of the characters or their real names, I was unable to keep up with who was who. I felt like there's too much teen speak and label dropping in this book. While I don't mind when the occasional use of slang or see some labels every now and then, the constant usage is really jarring. This is especially true when you can understand what in the world the teens are saying. There is some language in this book, as well as teen drinking.
I've never been a fan of girls who are cheating with their best friend's boyfriend. I don't know why they can't see this relationship will never work out. There are interesting topics in this book however. There is a big discussion on kleptomania and the consequences it causes. Although, I didn't like the way it finally handled and it just didn't seem like the problem was really resolved, more like it was pushed aside and hidden under a rug. Also I appreciated there being a diverse cast, always a plus in YA book.
Overall this book was ok. As of right now, it's not in my top 3 for YA chick lit books. I probably will need to read the first book to get a full appreciation for the story and then move on to book 3. I think teens will like this series too. If you enjoyed the IM conversations and emails from Gossip Girl and The It Girl, then this book is for you.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Hoes before Bros, January 14, 2010
This review is from: Fashionista (Bradford Novels (Quality)) (Paperback)
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The title of my review is about as close as this sordid little tale gets to a moral though of course the protagonists would word it differently: either the more difficult to get into a review "Chicks before D****" or the more subtle "Sisters before Misters". However, I prefer my version because it better describes their characters (or lack thereof).
Since the publication of
Tom Brown's Schooldays, the setting of a college prep school or high school has been recognized as one of the richest in possibilities for juvenile fiction, as young boys and girls on the verge of adulthood grapple with success and failure, friends and enemies, sports and academics, and, most problematic of all, love. Over the years I have read countless numbers of them, and the ones I chose often had something going on beyond the ordinary struggles of school life: mysteries to be solved, sporting events to be won, and in recent years paranormal events to be confronted. This book is the first one I've read where the focus was almost entirely upon boys, booze, gossip, and glam and the exotic lives of the undeserving rich.
God willing, it will also be my last.
Micol Ostow does try to make the "heroine" (I use the term loosely) of this novel, Madison Takahashi, likable, but that's only after first making her very unlikable: she's sneaking around having sex with her best friend's boyfriend. To her credit, Madison is consumed with guilt over this, but not so much as to actually resist hopping into the sack whenever Spencer Kelly is unavailable to fulfill Tyler DuPont's selfish needs or he just wants a little variety in his sex life, and it quickly becomes obvious who is the guiltier party. Madison is a gullible and surprisingly brainless slut, but Tyler is the real villain, unwilling to give up or be honest with either of the love or lust addled sex partners he's stringing along with his lies.
That Ms. Ostow knows she's on shaky ground is evidenced by her decision to pump up the pity party by tossing in a kleptomania subplot, but since it is resolved without any serious consequences, it ends up as just another annoyance. The secret cheating by contrast explodes quite spectacularly at the two thirds mark, but after some well-deserved pariah-hood (though the boy gets off far too easily) and some appallingly bad behavior on the part of the wounded party, everything is wrapped up far too neatly at the end.
IMHO reading the first book
GoldenGirl isn't absolutely necessary to understanding this one. It would probably make some things a bit clearer, but it would also mean spending more time with these characters, which is too high a price for me to pay, and I also won't be reading the threatened, uh, promised sequel Scandalicious.
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