Customer Reviews

Guyaholic

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

 

 

V is the girl that I would have probably been intimidated by, in awe of, and kind of angry at in high school. She may swoop in and steal your boyfriend, but it sure is fascinating to get inside her head. And guess what? Understanding where she's coming from makes you want to hug her and tell her everything will be okay. Because her flaws and her insecurities make her just like the rest of us. And this is one story that sweeps you away with the joy and pain of V's journey to find herself.

I am a big fan of Carolyn Mackler and I was looking forward to this book. Although I rated it 4 stars, I did have a few hesitations. For one thing, the book is too short. It feels as though I just started it an it already over -it is a very short read.

Secondly, for some reason, the storyline felt rushed to me and V came across somehow more obnoxious than in the first book. I think I had come to expect a changed V and yet when we start this book - I got the impression she was regressing.

I missed the interaction between Mira and V - as it comes way too late in the book.

The storyline was good and as I have mentioned the writing is always top notch with Mackler - I guess I kind of felt let down a little bit as the first book was so great and so family focused....this one - was just not as perfect as the first one.

Still, a good read.

This page-turner follows V on her tumultuous journey into young adulthood: She loses the one she loves, but finds herself along the way. V is far from perfect, but her flaws are what make her such a fascinating--and identifiable--character. As always, the writing is funny, touching, and totally authentic. Congratulations to Carolyn Mackler for creating yet another indelible portrait of a complicated teenage girl.

Carolyn Mackler introduced us to V in Vegan Virgin Valentine, but there, she was the villain, the evil niece sent in to destroy her aunt's life. Sure, you felt bad for her because her young mom, Aimee, pretty much never saw her and sent her to live with her grandparents, but she was also easy to hate. Here, not so much, and in showing us a character she's already presented as fatally flawed, Mackler now has room to show us what makes V who she is.

Her profound disappointment at her mother's constant non-appearances manifests itself in hopping between the sheets with any boy she fancies. Until Sam. Sam is the one who gets her to realize that she is lovable, and beautiful, and that she can have more than a hookup. When she winds up cheating on him and gets caught, she has to deal with the consequences and do a lot of soul searching to figure out what it is that she wants. Mackler reveals V to us slowly, in ways that don't let her off the hook for how she's treated people in her life, including friends and family, but that show why she's acted the way she has and just how big of a heart she really possesses. It's almost uncomfortable to realize that in many ways, she's more mature than her mom, who is the true child in this story. V's slow path to accepting love in her life is a fabulous read, and one I'd recommend to any teenage girl (or adult), whatever side of the good girl/bad girl spectrum she falls on. V is, ultimately, human; she makes mistakes and gradually learns not how to undo them, but to start again.

Title Thoughts: I love it and it fits.

Cover Thoughts: Appealing wise, I don't particularly like it. However, it is prefect for the book. We have NY license plates, thosee strappy heels, and the car.

WARNINGS: As you can tell from the synopsis, hookups are involved but vaguely described, if any.

Let me just go ahead and throw this out there. I most definitely will be reading more by Carolyn Mackler. I was consumed in V's life and everything that was happening with her. She's stuck wih her grandparents because her mom runs off to different locations with different guys. V has meaningless hookups to keep from getting close. Then Sam comes along.

I traveled with V on her journey across the country and of self discovery. She learns more about herself and possibly about her mother. V sees her hookups in a new light and discovers the real reason behind her journey.

I was sad to see V's story come to an end. I hope there are more books to come in this series. I wanted the book to keep going so I could get all the gritty details about what happens next, even if I do have a good idea.

Addict's Last Words: With Guyaholic, Mackler may have just caused a new addiction for her work.

To Buy or To Borrow: This is a buy for me! (Although, I would suggest reading the first book before this one, only so you can keep reading about V.)

Wow. That was my first reaction to this book. I didn't realize that today's YA involves such powerful storylines that are this masterfully done. (Guess I've been reading too much Gossip Girl, Private, and the like--while enjoyable, they're nothing like this!) Throughout Guyaholic, I felt I was right there with V to experience all her ups and downs.

V was born to a teenager who moved them from place to place and, of course, boyfriend to boyfriend before leaving V with her parents so she could pursue yet another man. Even though V's had stability for a while with her grandparents, she still experiences many letdowns at the hands of her mother. Promises are made and quickly broken, which causes V's grandparents to become concerned enough to suggest therapy. V's unhappy relationship with her mother is likely why she sets about sabotaging her relationship with Sam, the one guy who made it past her two week limit, before he "abandons" her when it comes time for both of them to leave for college.

I quite enjoyed the ending. It actually came as a surprise to me. Somehow I just expected a different outcome to her road trip; although part of the ending is sad, V does get the chance for a happy ending.

While I enjoyed Guyaholic, I wouldn't call it Mackler's best work. The story seemed a little on the simplistic side, wrapping up way too quickly with a minimum of fuss. V's attitude toward guys in general will probably put off most young female readers, and her road trip isn't very believable. All in all, it was a pretty cute story that was over a little too quickly and easily, but still an enjoyable read.

Vivienne Vail Valentine - no wonder she needs a nickname. "V" is her name, and guys are her game.

A game she learned well ...from her mom. That would be the same mom who dumped her at her grandparents house to live, which, by the way, was probably the best gift she ever gave her one and only child.

To say V has trust issues would be like saying the sun can burn. She shimmies from one guy to the next with the grace of a goddess, leaving nothing but broken hearts in her wake. That is, until she finds herself on the wrong end of a hockey puck, bleeding in the lap of a fellow fan.

Head wounds bleed, by the way, a lot. And Sam Almond didn't flinch when he used his sweatshirt to plug the hole in her head that would later require eighteen stitches.

Sam didn't consider himself a hero, and V didn't want to think of him as such, because it scared her. He scared her. He was different.

When the opportunity arises for her to return to her old ways, she convinces herself it's the way to go, it's who she is; it's who her mother made her. But at what cost?

Reviewed by: Angie Fisher

Carolyn Mackler is a fantastic author. Though the books are very targeted to "young adults" (i myself, am not one!) i am still very much in love with all her work!

For psychology students, this book is a great insight to a troubled teen with a broken heart and family problems. It will teach you how to better handle certain things with your own children and even patients (if you are going into counseling of any kind).

For people who wanna get a good reading book, this is perfect! It's never boring, always fun and it makes you laugh! Which, particularly, i feel is a great asset to a book. I absolutely recommend all of her other work!

Carolyn Mackler gives us another heartfelt story of growing up girl, and although this book is short, it's packed with emotion, tension and drama. V could have easily been that girl at school you hated, and even called a slut behind her back, but there are good reasons for her actions. Mackler doesn't excuse V's past behavior, and takes her on a wonderful road trip to find out who she is and what she's going to do about it now. Another must-read from Mackler.