4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Daisy Whitney BookChick Recommends THE NAUGHTY LIST, February 14, 2010
This review is from: The Naughty List (Paperback)
You may never think about cheerleaders in the same way after reading Suzanne Young's debut novel "The Naughty List." She flips nearly every cheerleader stereotype on its head in her tale of a cheerleading-squad-turned-secret-society-to-catch-cheating-boyfriends. Rather than rely on the overdone image of a cheerleader as a ditsy blonde backbiter, Young paints a refreshing, nuanced and hilarious portrait of Tessa, the head cheerleader and head spy. Tessa takes cheering very seriously, but not because it's a path to popularity. Because she truly believes in school spirit. And she believes in washing your mouth out with soap too. Rather than swear, she creates her own endearing four-letter phrases like "peanutbutter pickles" or "strawberry smoothies." The story zips along at a quick pace with each chapter punctuated by a "cheater's report" full of witty asides on the cheater's behavior or tacky taste. But the complexity in this breezy tale comes in Tessa herself when she must confront what to do when she's asked to investigate her own boyfriend's possibly naughty ways. The Naughty List is a sparkling debut!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and flirty YA fiction!, February 20, 2010
This review is from: The Naughty List (Paperback)
The Naughty List is a fun and flirty read, just what I needed after finishing my last YA book.
The premise is very simple. Tessa Crimson is head cheerleader but she is also the ringleader for a very important, but secretive, school service. She leads SOS which helps high school girls find out if their boyfriends are cheating. Fortunately for Tessa, she has a great boyfriend who adores her and would never cheat on her. Right? The more Tessa investigates the cheating habits of her high school classmates, the more pessimistic she becomes. Could Aiden be hiding something from her?
While reading this, I couldn't help but get the impression that this book is kind of like a romance novel in reverse. At story's beginning, Tessa has an amazing boyfriend and life, kind of like her happily-ever-after, already, but by story's end, things are not so simple and happy.
I really enjoyed this book. It's a nice light read but it also has enough depth where I don't feel like I'm reading the equivalent of cotton candy. Most notably, it has Tessa who starts off feeling entirely certain and in control of her world, and as the book goes on, finds out that her world is spiraling out around her. Despite this, I really felt like Tessa developed into a stronger character by story's end. She had to start relying on herself more, and much as she loved Aiden, she started to realize she had to figure out who she was without him.
And I mentioned how fun this book is, right? Because I really enjoyed the amateur spying techniques of the Smitten Kittens. I mean, they had a grappling hook! How very her awesome is that? The memos interspersed throughout the text are also funny and sad. It certainly did seem like a high percentage of males at that school cheated, yikes!
I also liked the female friendship aspects of the story. Even when Tessa was around a girl she didn't like, one in particular who was gunning for Aiden, she managed to keep a smile on her face and some measure of politeness. There wasn't a whole lot of catty behavior which was a nice change of pace from some of the "mean girl-esque" novels I've read.
I do want to say, from a librarian's point of view, rather than my own personal enjoyment factor, that some parents may have issues with this book because while it is not explicit by any means, there's quite a bit of sex going on with the main character. I thought the author handled the subject very well and let's face it; sex is a reality of teenage years, no matter how many parents want to shield their teens. But, it is an issue that I can see cropping up in a public library setting.
Aiden also calls Tessa "Baby" quite a bit as a term of endearment. I don't mind it but I can see some readers being annoyed with that. However, this book is written for teens and heck, that's how teen guys talk sometimes to be cutesy so I felt it was realistic.
I'm already anxious to read the second book in the series,
So Many Boys: A Naughty List Novel which comes out in July, then the third book, A Good Boy is Hard to Find (Naughty List). I expect even more growth of Tessa as a character and hopefully, a happy ending for a couple I really like.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review From Books & Wine, February 17, 2010
This review is from: The Naughty List (Paperback)
Do not be fooled by the pink cover. The Naughty List by Suzanne Young definitely ran the gamut of emotions, as ninja-Cheerleader-spy Tessa comes to suspect her too-perfect boyfriend Aiden of cheating. Basically the high school that Tessa goes to is a breeding ground for jerks, as a large amount of relationships end because one person cheats on the other. Tessa and her cheerleader friends decide to combat this trend by starting a secret society known as SOS. What SOS does is investigate suspected cheaters after being asked and then they deliver results to their patron. So far all of their investigations have led to an answer of guilty. All of the cheaters are basically put on a jerkface-roll aka Naughty List.
Ya'll I will be the first in line to pick up So Many Boys when it comes out. The Naughty List was FANTASTIC. I love that the girls in this book take charge of a situation and do what they can to help out women-kind. The feminist in me jumps for joy. Also, while Tessa can be kind of annoying with her refusal to swear, it grows on you after awhile, especially the phrases she uses instead of curse words.
This book definitely goes fairly deep into how being cheated on can hurt and affect a person's self-esteem. You guys know that feeling you get when your chest clenches over something terrible? I mean, maybe you've been in a relationship and have been on the verge of a break-up. You know that feeling you have during that stage? Well, I had that feeling several times during this book. Oh, man, did I feel for Tessa, especially as she had to deal with a character who I shall call the queen of the skanks. I'm sure plenty of people have had this same feeling when you perceive someone to be flirting with your partner, and your partner to be flirting back. ACK. It's definitely not a good place to be in. However, I loved that The Naughty List could evoke that feeling in me, for such a frilly-covered book.
So as far as teenagers go, the characters definitely felt real to me. Aside from Tessa, the characters curse quite a bit, just like real high schoolers. (Yay for swears!) Also, there is sex in the book. I like how real they felt, because yeah, a lot of teens do those things. Granted not very many teens are ninja-Cheerleader-spies, but I can't complain about that part of the book, since it was rather fun to read.
The writing is fast-paced and uncluttered. The characters winning, and the experience completely awesome.
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