Customer Reviews

The Year My Life Went Down the Loo

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I took this on vacation with me and found it the perfect read. The only problem was sometimes as I'd read it on the Florida beach, I couldn't help laughing out loud and people would stare at me. The scene where Emily goes to a speculum party was one of the funniest things I've ever read.

The main character is absolutely adorable. She's so well drawn-- good-intentioned, but repeatedly screwing things up-- that I couldn't help rooting for her throughout the book.

My vacation was definitely more fun because I took this book along!

Katie Macalister - Queen of the first person proses - is not content with taking historical and contemporary romance by storm...she now takes on the trials and tribulations of being a teen. A transplanted one at that. A modern, hip Seattle 16 year old is uprooted and dropped into culture shock - to the very foreigner land of England. Done in the manner of email rants, it is funny musing on the difference in two cultures that share the same language, but somehow seem to mangle it in their own special way.

It is a marvel romp for teens, but everyone can have a wonderful laugh at this culture rip-lash diatribe.

There are more Emily rants to come, and I look forward to them. A breath of fresh air for teen reading.

Emily seems like every typical teenager out there, except she has to move to England, across from her friends and familiarity. The book is humorous, from the start. The underwear drawer is possessed in Emily's room. Every teenager loves to shop, but in England, there aren't too many shops to choose from.

Emily faces every day BOY problems. She develops a crush for one boy who just wants to snog around with Emily. Emily encounters different relationships with various boys, and experiances true parties, hand holding, and the first kiss with a new boy.

I feel bad for Emily at her new strict school, but it's so very funny. All the teachers make Emily sound as if she's a rebel who dreams of getting in trouble. Emily wears too much makeup, too short of shorts, and doesn't know a thing of French.

A very adorable book, a must read for any teenage girl.

England. That's where Emily Williams' crazy parents have moved her too, from their cozy, if not incredibly rainy, home in Seattle, where she had to leave her best friend, Dru, behind. Of course, that's not the worst part of it. Aside from there being no malls in England (no malls? AAAAHHHH!!!), Emily is forced to live in a haunted house, where she has her very own underwear pervert (what kind of ghost steals underwear from a sixteen-year-old girl?). But that's still not the worst of it. Her new town is called Piddlington-on-the-Weld, she's starting at a new school, where she will be a sophomore, as opposed to the junior she would have been back in Seattle, she has to wear a pukish looking school uniform (maroon and teal, blech! What person in their right mind would combine those two colors?), and she's not to wear make-up at school (but how will she cover-up those unsightly blemishes?)

Of course, Emily's negativity about England and Piddlington-on-the-Weld soon decrease, when she realizes that not everything is bad. Emily not only meets three totally hot guys (Aidan, Devon, and Fang), but she also finds out that her hunk-a-licious crush, and absolute favorite actor in the entire universe, Oded Fehr, is filming a movie nearby, and Emily is completely convinced that she'll be able to not only meet him, but also to convince him to marry her. Not to mention that her newfound friend, Holly, helps her to survive certain ups and downs that Dru can't be there to experience along with her.

"The Year My Life Went Down the Loo" is written entirely in e-mails from Emily to her best friend in Seattle, Dru. Girls of all ages will find themselves laughing out loud at Emily's crazy antics and experiences, but will also find themselves relating to many of the things Emily has to go through. A great start to a great new series.

I really liked this book becuase the main character (Emily) seems very realistic, and faces problems that are actually possible. Emily seems like a girl you would want to have as one of your friends. Katie Maxwell did a very good job with the backgrounds of her characters. This book is ficticious, but not in a fantasy-land sort of way. There are no dragons or fairies, but this is still a book that will catch the attention of teen and preteen girls. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a humorous, easy-read novel. This book is written as an email chain between two friends. Emily, (stuck in Piddlington-On-The-Weld England with her family), and Drew (who is at home in Seattle with a broken leg). The book is not too long, so it will take about a week or two to read. I hope you like this book.
-Allie

I am an adult who stumbled on this book while looking for a book for my 10 year-old neice. While it is definitely too mature for her, I absolutely loved it! I like the way the book is composed of e-mails from Emily describing her exploits with her new friends in England to her friend, Dru, back in the States. The made-up "Emily" words sound like the way two teenage best girlfriends talk to each other. Being an Anglophile myself, I loved reading about Emily learning and using the local slang. Although Emily thinks going to England for a year is the worst possible thing that could happen to her, the three boys she meets there make things interesting. One boy, Fang, is a sweet guy that Emily likes as a friend, but doesn't quite see as the one who really cares about her. I like Emily's father, who is really a pretty cool guy, although Emily thinks he's ancient and a constant source of embarrassment to her. I'd say this book would appeal to any teen girl 14 or older, or even younger if they're precocious like I was at that age.

After reading Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging (by Louise Rennison) I was dying for more diaries of the British, female type. Though The Year My Life Went Down The Loo isn't very similar, I completely LOVED this book! It was hilarious, and actually had a few important lessons.
Emily is a down to earth, but hip young girl, who's forced to move to England because of her father's work. And England is a lot harder to adjust to than you might think! As Emily encounters various obstacles, you can see her bright personality, and the lovable comedy that is her life. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a series!

This book is about a girl named Emily. Her parents are very interested in the mid evil ages and other historical events. Because of her parents interest in historical things Emily and her older sister Bess have to move to a city near England from a town in the U.S. Emily has to go to a school with a uniform and live in a city with no malls for a whole year. Her only link to normal life is by e-mailing her best friend Dru. On her first day of school she is almost expelled, find out why and learn how Emily survives with bratty girls, foreign guys, weird teachers, and NO malls.

I didn't have any dislikes with this book but that it started slow. I liked how the author used the language of a normal teen age girl and made the character so dramatic. Normally I only read when I have to but this book made me keep reading any time I had a chance. It felt cool to be reading on my own time instead of last minute like last year with all the boring books I read in Mr. Magetoex's class. I also liked how she was a little bit if a daddy's girl, I could make a connection with that. She did however get in a lot of fights with her dad just like I do.
I would compare this book with the Angus books. This is like a less funny; but still funny, more dramatic version of the Angus books. This book would be good for any boy crazy make up loving shop going girl.

by reviewer J.P. Sydney

Told strictly through emails between two best friends separated by the Atlantic Ocean, The Year My Life Went Down the Loo is an interesting, humorous and entertaining look into contemporary teenage life.

Emily Williams isn't too happy. Her father is a medieval scholar who has taken a job for one year in England in a small hamlet called Piddlington-on-the-Weld (or Piddling-on-the-wheel as Emily calls it). So Emily has been uprooted from her life in Seattle and is now trying to make do and learn to live in a country that to her often feels like a completely different planet. But even places horribly far away from "home" can have their advantages, especially in the form of a hunk named Aidan.

Even though Aidan is a jerk more often than not, Emily sticks to the idea that his actions mean he likes her and because he's a hunk and was the first to ask her out, she returns that affection. Devon and Fang, two of Aidan's classmates, were more to my liking and are more obvious choices for Emily's affection. At times I became frustrated with Emily's inability to see past the faults of the somewhat slimy Aidan. But what teenage girl hasn't convinced herself that a relationship existed where one really didn't?

But there is so much more to this story than just boytalk, although that is an important part of any story that revolves around 16-year-old girls. There's the ghost that haunts Emily's underwear drawer, sibling rivalry between Emily and her older sister, and Emily's infatuation and semi-stalking of Oded Fehr--something I can completely relate to as an adult.

When I started this book, I was afraid that I would never be able to get deep into the story since everything is told through emails. But Katie Maxwell does a fantastic job and I never felt like I didn't really know these characters. The book leaves room for several sequels and I do look forward to hearing from Emily again in the future.

Emily's parents just moved to europe. Everything in her life has good wrong.10 resons why this book was freakin' awsome.
#1---shes away from her best friend
#2---She is being put back in school becuase of thier retarded grade system
#3---Her underwear drawr has a ghost.
#4---She gets a date with a uber-hottie then almost breaks his nose.
#5---She gets teased at school by "snickerer ann, and snickerer bee"
#6---Gets in trouble becuase of OTP (official teachers pet)
#7---Her home teacher for the class she usually loves looks like a horse.
#8---She messes up the halloween dance, and embaresses herself.
#9---The school uniform (must have been created by perves)
#10---All the new words that if said wrong could mean "fart" not to mention she lives in piddleing-on-the-weld.

Over all it was a great book its one that will keep you up-just to see whats going to go wrong next. It was really awsome.