Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Book Review: Surviving High School ( Book 1)


Book Title: Surviving High School
Author: M. Doty Facebook|
Publisher: Poppy Books *Hatchette Books*
Genre: YA Fiction
Series/Standalone: Series Book 1
Format: paperback
Cost: $9.99
Pages: 272
How I got it: Book Expo America 2012
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:
What's the secret to surviving your freshman year of high school? Emily Kessler thinks she has it all figured out. She eats, sleeps and trains for competitive swimming. All she has to do is keep her grades high and swim times short -- short enough to live up to her sister Sara's. But walking the crowded maze of unfamiliar high school hallways is like diving headfirst into shark-infested waters. Shark #1: Dominique, her biggest competition on the swim team and all-around mean girl. Shark #2: The adorable and popular Ben Kale... Emily can't resist his smile no matter how hard she tries. When the pressure builds to the point where Emily isn't sure she can stay afloat, she begins to question the strict path her life has always followed. Maybe there is more to life than studying and swimming. Maybe the secret to surviving high school is just to have a little fun. The hit mobile game Surviving High School comes to life in an original novel about perfection, failure, and following your dreams

This starts a little slow, picks up and gets better, it has a few surprised in store for the character, a few lessons to be learnt and of course a cute little romance.  It's a good heart warming tale of freshman year in high school, where gaining friends and knowing your place becomes a little more important than in middle school, it's also where you learn to tell who you are outside the pack of middle school friends.

Raised by her parents to take swimming extremely seriously Emily focuses on very little else, especially because her father is the swim coach  Emily is happy in the water but she's also trapped there attempting to live in the shadow of her sister, who her father won't even mention in their home. Emily struggles with being the perfect daughter and attempting to be herself although she doesn't really know who that is.  While going to school she's confronted by a young man who brings life into her little corner of the world and makes her confront the things she's been avoiding.  I liked the way she changed and became a young woman when she was with Ben.  I loved her little rebellions, and there were moments I just wanted to shake her. I however know this will go over well with it's intended audience simply because she sounds just like one of them. LOL which is good.

I didn't particularly like her father and the way he kept attempting to shove her into the tiny box all the while lying about the most important things.  I could understand his motivation but I didn't like him.
I wonder if there are anymore stories from her (ok so I wrote this then discovered that the author was a guy, I gotta say he did a pretty good job writing a book for teenagers from a girl's perspective)
 ★★★★1/2☆
I liked it and t wraps up well, allowing her to find her place, her voice and learn the truth about her sister; while also embracing life.
Happy Reading

No comments:

Post a Comment