3 Reviews : Beautiful, Carrie Pilby, It Started with a Dare

Posted by kay on June 2, 2011 2:40 am in 2 stars reads, 2.5 stars reads, 3.5 stars reads | 4 comments

Sometimes there are books that, without being bad reads, I don’t have much to say about. So mini-reviews are the way to go!

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Beautiful by Amy Reed
Pages : 232
Genre : YA, Fiction
Stand Alone
My Rating :

What it’s about, from the back of the book : 

When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie’s chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who’s worth noticing. Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined…one moment, one choice, will change everything.

Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral tinged with violence and abuse, and no one—not even the one person she thought she could trust—can help her now.

My Thoughts : 

First, I really liked Amy Reed’s writing. It flowed naturally and really captured Cassie and her story. I couldn’t let the book go until I reached its ending. I was impressed by how real Reed made the story through few words. On that part, I found Beautiful to be a really strong novel. On the other hand, the story and the characters were all a little bland to me. Maybe because it felt similar to other stories I had read in the past, I found it to be a little forgettable, and I had a hard time getting a sense of who Cassie really was.

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Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner
Pages : 336
Genre : YA, Fiction
Stand Alone
My Rating :

What it’s about, from Goodreads : 

Carrie would rather stay in bed than deal with the immoral, sex-obsessed hypocrites who seem to overrun her hometown, New York City. She’s sick of trying to be like everybody else. She isn’t! But when her own therapist gives her a five-point plan to change her social-outcast status, Carrie takes a hard look at herself—and agrees to try.

Suddenly the world doesn’t seem so bad. But is prodigy Carrie really going to dumb things down just to fit in?

My Thoughts :

Carrie Pilby was an interesting read. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had approached it in a more serious way, rather than a fun and light way. I don’t know if it’s the cover, or the synopsis, but I really thought it would be lighter. While it wasn’t without humor, this was more of an exploration of Carrie’s character. It didn’t help that I had a hard time sympathizing with her. I do think other readers might enjoy her sarcasm more, and find more humor in her story.

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It Started with a Dare by Lindsay Faith Rech
Pages : 312
Genre : YA, Fiction
Stand Alone
My Rating :

What it’s about, from Goodreads : 

Self-proclaimed nobody CG Silverman sees her move to an upscale new school as her chance to be somebody different. Her devil-may-care attitude attracts the in-clique, and before CG realizes it, a routine game of truth or dare launches her to iconic status.

My Thoughts : 

This one was just a bad match of book and reader. It reminded me a little of A Match Made in HighSchool, which I enjoyed okay. But I had a hard time going through that one. I honestly believe that readers looking for something funny, light and with a lot of comedy will enjoy this one. The book doesn’t take itself seriously, in a good way, and while it wasn’t my cup of tea, I still appreciated the author’s writing.