Customer Reviews

Top 8: Book 1

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

TOP 8 was a book that I didn't want to put down once I started reading.

Madison MacDonald is stuck going on a trip to the Galapagos Islands with her family for spring break. She's not thrilled about it at all. She's recently started dating Justin Williamson (seventeen days) and doesn't want to leave him or her friends. And to make matters worse, she can't take her cell phone or laptop with her because they'd be useless.

The trip turns out to be okay, and there was even a sort of cute boy about her own age on the trip, but the whole time she just wanted to get home. Had she known what was awaiting her return, she might have changed her mind.

The minute she got home, she ran to her temperamental laptop to check her Friendverse account. She can't believe what she sees. She's so stunned that she reboots her laptop to make sure she logged onto the correct profile. Friendverse is the latest in the Facebook/MySpace trends. Someone has totally changed her profile! The photos that are uploaded are the most unflattering possible. And the comments she's received from her friends leave her flabbergasted. The things that they're saying she's said about everyone. This just can't be right! And Justin has broken up with her!

Madison calls an emergency session with her three best friends: Schuyler, Liz, and especially Ruth. After struggling to explain the situation, all three friends believe her and vow to help her discover the culprit. Madison can't imagine why anyone would do such a thing to her. The four girls come up with a list of two possible perpetrators: Kittson
Pearson, who is in charge of the junior prom and has just stolen her boyfriend, and Connor Atkins, who has lost the student secretary election to Madison.

Madison vows to discover the evildoer and to get Justin back. But what she doesn't count on is running into the sort of cute boy from her trip. He's not just sort of cute, he's really cute, and his family lives in the next town over!

Madison is far from perfect and comes to realize her faults by the end of the story. The things her friends accuse her of saying are true, in a way. But she doesn't deserve the headaches that the hacker sets her up for.

TOP 8 moves so quickly that you will find yourself determined to finish the book in one sitting. I thought I had the culprit figured out early on, but I was totally wrong in my assumptions! Ms. Finn wrote an amazing first novel. Having enjoyed this as much as I did, I can't wait to see what her future books will bring!

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

Top 8 was a quick, very predictable read. There was nothing original in this book; it was like something that you've read before.

The main character was self-centered and kind of stupid since she took a while to solve the "mystery". I did get what the author was trying to say about Myspace and Facebook-- that they're more trouble than they're worth--but it was lost in the drama.

The book was fast-paced and it doesn't take long to get through it but it is boring at times, because you get tired of reading about the main character freaking out because someone hacked into her Friendverse profile.

Overall: While a fast read, it's not a fun read nor is it a deep read. I would recommend this as a beach read, one that you read on a nice, warm, sunny day, then forget about it after a couple of days.

Carol
http://bookluver-carol.blogspot.com

I have to admit I was bit hesitant to read this one and to tell the truth I'm not really sure why. Thankfully, I did give it a try, and let me tell you I'm so glad I did because it proved to be not only be filled with funny parts and mystery but some substance as well! A mix I simply adored!

Madison, the main character in this, was one I liked a lot and could relate to, because she was funny and filled with a lot of heart, and someone who while made mistakes, fixed them and learned from them as well. Her friendship with Ruth, Lisa, and Shy was one of my favorite parts because it was easy to see how much these girls cared about each other, and when mixed together, they always provided laugh out loud scenes. Also, Nate equals swoon-worthy!

The plot of this was one I really enjoyed, because it was fully developed and always kept me guessing at who it was who broke into Maddie's profile and what their motive was all the way to the end. A good sign, no? Also, I liked the incorporation of technology with the add in of the Top 8 profiles, and how through Maddie's hacked profile it gave you a warning message about technology.

Also, Katie's writing moved swiftly, making this a novel that was easy to fly right through.

In all, Top 8 proves to be a read that's not only fun but makes you think a little, too, about the technology you use in your life.

Grade: B

You can tell just by glancing at Madison MacDonald's Friendverse page that her life is pretty fantastic. She's got two best friends, a great new boyfriend, the lead role in the school play, and she's headed to the Galapagos Islands for Spring Break.

But when she comes back, she gets a major shock when she finds that everyone hates her--all because her Friendverse profile was hacked, her boyfriend is now her ex, and everyone's dirty secrets spilled. Mad is nothing but resilient, and with the aid of her friends and perhaps even the cute guy she met on vacation, she sets out to find out who hacked her--with some surprising results.

Teens who are addicts to Facebook and MySpace won't help but empathize with Mad and the "horror" of being hacked. The novel, despite the drama of hurtful rumors and gossip, maintains a pretty light tone, and is full of humor and angst. Readers may feel apprehension towards Mad's somewhat pretentious ways, but they won't be able to keep themselves for cheering for her as she becomes aware of the pain her whispered words carry when written for everyone to see, and begins to realize what some people truly think of her.

Top 8 by Katie Finn
Rating: 5 Stars
Age: Teen
Grade: A
When Madison's Friendverse is hacked, LOTS of damage is done. Her boyfriend breaks up with her, her theater friends all hate her, and a six-year couple is broken up! She enlists the help of her awesome friends, Ruth, Schuyler, and the French obsessed Lisa, to solve this mystery, and bring whoever comitted the crime to justice.Plus, Madison is stuck on her old BF, but the cute, smart, sweet Nate is there for her. And Ruth, her best friend for years is acting uber strange. Can she solve the mystery and get the guy?A light, funny, involving, mystery/romance.

I had seen this book around in bookstores way back in late 2008 when it came out and thought it sounded interesting. I love books that play with format and utilize social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter as well as texts. Reasons for this are a)because it's just plain fun and b)because it really rings true to teens these days who spend their time on Facebook and Twitter (and, ok, the adults who use them a lot too, lol).

Finn's style is very breezy and easy to read, and Madison is a wonderfully flawed character. You can see her character changing throughout the book and since the book is in first person (for the most part; there's also the Myspace/Facebook profiles and wall comments from other characters), we see Madison's inner conflicts about telling secrets in the past she was supposed to be keeping when they're posted all over the world to see on her profile when it's hacked. At the end of the story, Madison has learned her lesson and changed her ways.

What I loved most about the story was Madison's interactions with her friends. Finn has a way with teen dialogue that just flowed and made sense and didn't seem forced at all. It felt, to me at least, like you were right there with them and included in their social circle.

The main plot point though is the mystery surrounding Madison's hacking and it had me guessing throughout the whole novel, though (and I was proud of myself for this because it never happens) I figured out who was part of it before Madison did. It wasn't too far ahead of the reveal because I'm not that good and because Finn did a great job of pointing the finger at many different characters.

Overall, a very fun read and one that can be enjoyed anywhere, but it's definitely a beach read, so take it with you once summer rolls around again!

Katie Finn's TOP 8 is a light, highly entertaining look at life for high school junior Madison MacDonald, a whip-smart girl with a bevy of close friends and a gorgeous new boyfriend, Jason. Fresh from a vacation in the Galapagos Islands, Madison returns stateside only to discover someone has hacked into her Friendverse (read: Facebook, MySpace) profile and completely changed her profile.

And broken up with her boyfriend. And said terrible things to her "friends," who promptly unfriend and alienate her. And posted the most unflattering, somewhat incriminating photos of Madison -- and others -- imaginable.

What follows is Madison working eagerly to get to the bottom of who did this -- who disliked her so much that they would purposely set out to destroy her reputation, friendships and relationship. And as a little slice of the times, it all involves plenty of cyber-research, interrogation and the help of unexpected allies. By the end of the book, there's quite the shake-up among Madison's top 8 friends . . . and that's probably a good thing.

Despite my early reservations about being "too old" (at 25) for a novel like this, I really, really liked TOP 8. Finn's debut novel was funny, fast-paced and felt like a genuine high school experience with dimensional characters. As a narrator, Madison was intelligent, witty and someone to root for -- basically, a cool girl. And though her friends could be a little taxing on the brain (particularly Lisa, whose Francophilia translates into her constantly spewing French sayings), overall? Well, I liked these kids. And got to know them.

The mystery surrounding who hacked Madison's profile was the story's anchor, and what propelled me through the plot. With a number of "suspects," all who appear to have good cause to hurt Madison, I truly didn't know who did it until the pieces came together toward the end. And by that point? Well, I was all kinds of invested -- and in love. Nate, who happened to travel with his family and the MacDonalds on their Galapagos adventure, makes a reappearance partway through the story -- and he won me over immediately with all his broody hotness. Nate is my personal archetype for awesome teen love interests in novels.

Fans of young adult fiction looking for a quick, light and undeniably fun read need look no further than TOP 8. I'm not going to hit the hay tonight with visions of Nietzsche, philosophy and changing the world in my head, but who cares? Sometimes, girls just want to have fun.

Madison is a fairly likable character. She was very caring and sweet at times and wanted to do the best for her friends. I could relate to her, because we all make mistakes. Liza and Shy were awesome friends. I loved Liza's obsession with France and her random French. Shy was really cute and I loved that she got a romance with Conner. Nate was very awesome and sweet. He had awesome taste in movies and music.
The layout of the book was really epic, because it had her profile and showed how her Top Eight was constantly changing. I really liked the message that it shared about gossiping and that harmless comments tend to about other people tend to hurt you more. The plot of Top 8 was really fun and cute. I laughed at a few parts. I found how this book deals with new media to be original. I also loved the quotes that were posted and a lot of the songs that were posted in the beginning of each chapter in the book. Finn was a fun writer that created a great book that made me giggle and anticipate what would happen next. I found this book to be really cute and a quick read and would recommend this book as a fun read.

Madison MacDonald had life all figured out. She has three great best friends, she's dating one of the hottest guy's in school, she's got the lead in the school play, and she's going to the Galapagos for Spring Break (while she's not that excited, but hey it's not the worst thing that could happen). Then the worst does happen, her Friendverse profile is hacked. Not only are her (and many other people's) worst secrets plastered all over the Internet, but also some very unflattering pictures. Now she no longer has a boyfriend, half of her school hates her, and she's in some very deep trouble. Thankfully she has some of the best friends a girl can have believe that she was hacked and are all determined to help her figure out who's behind this nasty prank, and clear Madison's name once and for all.

To be honest I was very surprised with this book. There was a good storyline, that wasn't too predictable, the characters were cute, and it was a very cute love story. I also liked how Katie Finn addressed how much emphasis teenagers put on social networking websites by teenagers. In this case, Madison feels her whole life is ruined when her profile is hacked. This is because people rely so much on these websites, and this book shows just how much trouble these sites are.

I liked how some of the story was told through comments on Madison's profile page; it gave an insight as to what other characters were thinking. While there were times when the book got a little slow and predictable, it quickly picked up again. This would be a great read for reluctant teen readers, as it mixes the type of way the story is told and it's current with today's world. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from Katie Finn and was quite impressed with her debut novel.

OMG I just finished this book today. I got the book Wednesday I just couldn't put the book down it was so good. I just expected it to be about how Madison's file was hacked and how it ruined her life not a mystery. I am not a big mystery book reader but this book was amazing. I am looking forward to more books by Katie Finn.