Customer Reviews

How to Be Bad

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

 

 

I have been on a run of good luck in the last few weeks - reading books that have been interesting and fun at the same time.

I am an adult who enjoys reading a good Young Adult (teen) book. Unfortunately, when I was that age, the selections were very limited - now, teens have a much broader choice.

How to Be Bad was a pleasant surprise for me. I don't normally enjoy reading a book where there are 3 separate voices taking turns telling their story - which is the case here.

How to Be Bad introduces us to 3 very different girls and through their voices (each was written by a different author and we do not get to find out who is who until the very end of the book), you will get a slightly different perspective on a road trip that they have decided to embark on together.

Indeed, Vicks, Jesse and Mel work together and are all the same age, but only Vicks and Jesse are really close friends. On the spur of the moment, for various personal reasons, all three of the girls end up on a three day road trip in a beat up station wagon. Jesse needs to get away from her mother and her illness, Vicks needs to find out what is going on with her suddenly "hard to reach" boyfriend and Mel just seems to have a desperate need to make friends.

As we follow our girls on the road, experiencing their ups and downs, crying for them and with them and cheering them on, we get a coming of age story that is both heartwarming and funny.

The open road becomes a bit of a metaphor for what the girls are living and while this ride is only a three day weekend, in the end, it is enough to give them all important insights into what is important and what can be left by the side of the road.

Well written, intriguing (which author is actually writing which part?)with genuine emotion, this book was a treat

[...]

As an older reader with time on my hands to try to keep up with what is being offered my granddaughters, and having enjoyed many of Lauren Myracle's previous works, but knowing nothing about Ms Lockhart or Ms Mlymowski, I approached HTBB with some reserve. Why would someone as talented as Ms Myracle do a threesome? How were the authors going to blend their three voices into one story? She must have had a lot of confidence in her co-authors to put her reputation on the line, split the take and collaborate with them. To my delight their three voices sang like a choir, and the story came through seamlessly, mixing humor, feelings and insight as if written by only one of them. Congratulations to them all!

Lockhart, Mlynowski and Myracle's collaboration reaches an all time sensational reading high! I've read two out of the three authors' works, so I wasn't surprised of my fondness. The three voices gave an interesting perspective as a reader. Their problems are realistic and valid problems that teens face. Witty dialogue and a fast moving engrossing plot only add the overall premise of the book! I found it almost impossible to put this book down, once I started reading it! So be prepared!

HOW TO BE BAD is the perfect book for a girl-bonding summer road trip adventure!

Three girls, each with their own internal struggles, head out on a weekend road trip to Miami to visit the one girl's boyfriend. Vicks and Jesse are best friends. Mel is the newcomer but envies the friendship Vicks and Jesse share and invites herself along for the trip, offering to pay for lodging, snacks, and fuel.

Jesse is dealing with her mother's recent cancer diagnosis. She wants more than anything to tell Vicks, for they share everything, but hasn't been able to bring herself to do it.

Vicks is trying to not be a needy girlfriend. Her boyfriend has left for freshman year of university and has barely contacted her in the two weeks he's been gone. She misses him terribly and is convinced he's fooling around with a hot college girl.

Mel's family has just moved to Florida from Montreal, Canada. Florida is an entirely different world to her. She is reserved and lives in the shadow of her popular older sister. She desperately wants to break out of her shell, but doesn't know how. She hopes some of Vicks' outgoing personality will rub off on her.

They begin their trip Friday once Vicks gets off work. Jesse takes her mom's car without proper permission, and the three are off. Their adventures bring them to a giant preserved alligator, a cute hitchhiker, a house party with too much alcohol, Disney World, and a few other places along the way.

As will happen when confined with each other for far too long in a way too hot car, tempers flair, emotions erupt, and friendships are solidified.

HOW TO BE BAD is creatively written in alternating chapters by three popular authors. The story flows seamlessly between each chapter, making the reader curious as to which character belongs to which author. The story is emotional, triumphant, and you come away feeling like you've just received a great big hug. Each author is amazing on her own merits, but as a team, they've taken it up a notch and have written a fantastic book. One that every girl and her best friends will come to love.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

Jesse, Vicks, and Mel are all residents of not-so-appropriately-named Niceville, Florida. Jesse is fed up with her mother and just wants to get away. Vicks, the wild one, misses her boyfriend who left for college two weeks ago. Mel is the rich but sweet girl who just wants to make friends. Somehow these three coworkers end up on a weekend road trip. Jesse provides the car, Mel has the cash, and Vicks encourages the spontaneity and excitement. Though the destination is Miami, pit stops and detours will be made, leading them into disasters or unexpected solutions. This road trip will alter their friendships and even the way they view life.

Though I have previously read novels by only one-third of the fabulous authors who wrote How to Be Bad, I knew from the first moment I heard that E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle were writing a novel together that their book would be mandatory reading material for me. And I most definitely wasn't disappointed. I loved how each chapter was told from one of the girl's point-of-view (even though I did get confused a couple of times). Jesse, Vicks, and Mel were each wonderfully crafted and developed; I loved how they were so unique and complemented each other. The plot was a perfect mix of romance, friendship and personal issues, emotional realizations, and even physical danger. I really enjoyed the random details too, because it made the story all the more realistic. If I had one problem with How to Be Bad, it was that Jesse's religious fervor didn't always seem to fit with her character until the end of the story. However, this didn't diminish the fact that How to Be Bad was simply a fantastic novel.

How to Be Bad has a little bit of something for everyone, and I most definitely recommend it. In fact, I enjoyed this book so much that I am motivated to read up on the two-thirds of this author team whose works I have not read yet (Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle, I confess). If you've ever enjoyed a novel by any one of these awesome authors or are up for a great read, then get How to Be Bad. I promise you won't regret it!

How to Be Bad was a really great example of how realistic YA books can be. A mother deals with cancer and her teenage daughter's world spins upside-down. Three girls, two close, one an outsider, all have their fair share of completely realistic bickering on a random, spur-of-the-moment road trip rivaling those created by John Green himself. Everything about this book is real. The voices. The characters. The wacky situations. (The authors themselves admit that they went through most of this stuff on their own road trip). It was pretty neat reading about Jesse and her new fanatical devotion to God. Most teens are seen as wild children with no regards to what God or their parents may think, but that's just not true. While there are parts of the book that are just purely girly gossip and feel a bit uncomfortable to read, overall, it's about the friendships that bind us, the friendships to be made, the friendships that can be broken and mended, in the end bringing us three girls with one of the strongest friendships in the YA world. The only question I now have--which author wrote which girl?!

Rating: 4.5/5

I bought this book because I have read everything that e. lockhart has written. I absolutely love her books. This was wonderful as well. The chapters rotate between three teenage girls' perspectives. They are each dealing with their own issues, and it was fun to read all the perspectives. I would recommend this book if you enjoy realistic YA fiction.

I love books with 2 or more different character view's. What is so awesome about this book is the book is told from 3 different point of views and 3 different authors.
Wonderful book, I recommend this book to anyone who loves an adventure!

"How to Be Bad" is a collaborative effort of three YA authors out of which I am familiar with only one - E. Lockhart. In fact, her name on the cover was the only reason I picked up this book.

This is a story of three girls: Jesse - a strong willed and opinionated Christian with an air of trailer trashiness about her who just found out her mother has cancer; Vicks - a tomboyish and independednt amazon whose boyfriend recently started college and hasn't called her in two weeks; Mel - an insecure rich girl who just moved from Canada and struggles to find real friends. The girls take a weekend trip down to Florida during which they fight, make mistakes, test their friendships and ultimately come to better understand themselves and each other.

This book was an interesting enough read, it kept me engaged from the beginning till the end. There were some touching and sweet moments, but overall there was nothing new or special about this book. The theme has been successfully explored by other writers and the writing itself wasn't that memorable either. The book was written from 3 girls' POV. While in the beginning I was able to easily distinguish the "voices" of the narrators, by the end all 3 blended together. Not sure what exactly happened. Either one of the authors ended up writing the bulk of the book (and I am sure it wasn't E.Lockhart, I know she can do better than that) or it was heavily edited. Either way, it didn't work as well as it could have. Overall, a decent read, but not really memorable

Three girls. One beat-up station wagon. Three days. One long stretch of road. Three different reasons for hitting that road. One crazy, impulsive road trip.

When Jesse gets the big idea for her and Vicks to drive down to see Brady at college in Jesse's mom's car, she didn't plan on taking an extra passenger. She ends up with two: Mel, who is definitely not her friend, and, shortly thereafter, a fine feathered friend that's a real quack.

Jesse wants to get away from her mother and her mother's boyfriends for a while. Vicks wants to see her boyfriend Brady, who is away at college. Mel just wants to get away. Jesse and Vicks are close friends; Mel and Vicks are co-workers; Jesse's not exactly a fan of Mel.

In three days, these three girls will learn How to Be Bad - and sad, and impulsive, and persuasive. They will also learn how to compromise, how to celebrate their differences, and how to live and love and let go.

Vicks, Jesse, and Mel tell their stories in turn, with the first person narration rotating through the trio with every chapter. E. Lockhart (The Boyfriend List), Lauren Myracle (TTYL), and Sarah Mlynowski (Bras & Broomsticks) teamed together for this story, and each author wrote for a different girl. Their faithful followers and new readers alike will want to take this trip to the end of the line.