Published: October 1st 2013
Pages: 304
Publisher: Poppy
Synopsis (book jacket)
The five most popular students at Noble High have secrets to hide--secrets they wrote in their journals. now one of their won is exposing their private entries to reveal what makes them all PRETENDERS.
These journals are 100% real and 100% unedited. I should know many of them are mine. My picture is on page eighteen of Noble High's 2012-2013 Phoenix yearbook. I'm one of the PHOENIX FIVE. You nominated me. You thought I was one of the most outstanding students in our freshman class. You were wrong. Still, I accepted my award. I acted special. But I couldn't help wondering what it would be like if it was for real, if I was actually outstanding. What do outstanding people think about? What do they eat for breakfast? Do they worry? Is life easier when you're born with exceptional talent, brains, looks, drive, athleticism, or money? I needed to know. So I stole all five of our journals. I'm doing this because I'm tired and I know you are too. The success bar is too high, and pretending has become the only way to reach it. Instagrams are filtered, Facebook profiles are embellished, photos are shopped, reality T.V is scripted, body parts get upgraded like software and even professional athletes are cheating. The things we believe aren't real. Everyone is a pretender.
The proof is in these pages.
Thoughts
I initially picked up this book to read because I wanted something that was more lighthearted while I was reading another book that involves more heavier topics. I needed to balance things out a little bit. I also wanted read some of Lisi Harrison's work, as she wrote the Clique series, and I thought this would be a good book to start with. I flew through this book very quickly, by reading most of it in one sitting. Overall, it was an entertaining read that kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through, as I was wondering what was going on within each journal entry. I was mostly disappointed with characters and how there wasn't much character development with some of them. I found that I knew more about one character and not too much on another. I wished that the character development was more balanced. Based on the synopsis, it doesn't really give you too much about the plot, so it is best if you go into this book not knowing a lot about it.
The cool thing about this book, was that it was entirely written through journal entries. I thought that it was a different take on a book. This concept made me fly through it because the entries were fairly short so it made it easier for me to do jus that. There were also some funny parts to this book that I thought made this book much more interesting.
The five main characters in this story are all freshmen in high school so the level of maturity with them was fairly low. I thought all of them were to immature for my liking and they were incredibly self-absorbed. I couldn't emotionally connect with any of the characters and I felt like I was looking down on them as they go about their lives. I don't have a favourite character as they were too childish and (like I said) self-absorbed. My least favourite out of all of them was Lily. I didn't like how she was acting all creepy and weird towards Duffy. Like it's fine to have a crush on someone theres no harm in that. But when you go to the extent of stalking and taking their possessions as your own, that's when it becomes a problem. I was really creeped out when I had to read her entries and she talked about Duffy (like eww). Anyways, another thing that I was disappointed about with the characters, was the lack of development between them all. Like I previously mentioned, I knew more about certain characters then others and I wished that there was a balance between them. I don't really have other thoughts on any of the other ones because my main opinions are exactly the same as I just mentioned.
I do have to mention (again) that this was a funny and quirky book that entertained me from start to finish. And I cannot wait to read the second book soon (like very soon). I'm just excited to find out what happens next to all the characters (despite my slight dislike for all of them). Anyways, based off my thoughts on this book I recommend it if you want a lighthearted, funny, and quick read.
Rating
4/5
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