Hey guys,
Today I'm here to do a review of a book that I finished this week, and that is, Winning by Lara Deloza.
Pub Date: June 28th, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Summary:
Whoever said being nice would get you to the top? Certainly not Alexandra Miles. She isn't nice, but she's more than skilled at playing the part. She floats through the halls of Spencer High, effortlessly orchestrating the actions of everyone around her, making people bend to her whim without even noticing they're doing it. She is the queen of Spencer High-and it's time to make it official.
Alexandra has a goal, you see-Homecoming Queen. Her ambitions are far grander than than her small town will allow, but homecoming is just the first step achieving total domination. So when peppy, popular Erin Hewett moves to town and seems to have a real shot at the crown, Alexandra has to take action.
With the help of her trusted friend Sam, she devises her most devious plot yet. She'll introduce an unexpected third competitor in the mix, once whose meteoric rise-and devastating fall- will destroy Erin's chances once and for all. Alexandra can run a scheme like this in her sleep. What could possibly go wrong?
Review:
My initial interest in this novel came after reading the first two chapters in one of the Epic Reads First Five emails, and I was intrigued by the premise of it being Mean Girls in a YA book format. I usually enjoy the type of novels where the viscous popular girl (or guy) gets what's coming to them, and I always love seeing the underdog getting the opportunity to come out on top. However, I'm not gonna lie guys, I really disliked this one. Alexandra was a mean girl no doubt about it, but her home life was horrific! I found it really hard sympathizing with the other four girls on their take down plot, when the book stated over and over again that everyone knew about Alexandra's unstable home life, and just chose to look the other way. I was expecting this to be more of a shallow, guilty pleasure type of novel, but I honestly didn't find it amusing, and while Alexandra may have deserved to have gotten knocked down off her high horse, I find it quite stunning that no one seemed to care about the consequences that caused her to be the way she was. In particular, the one passage where it's her and Matt's anniversary, but she can't spend any time of it with him as being late for her mother's pageant lessons isn't an option was really eye opening to the kind of lifestyle this girl had grown used to. Now I know this book wasn't supposed to be a deep look into the troubled home life of a pageant queen, but this situation really hindered my overall enjoyment of this book. I seem to have taken a really unpopular opinion on this one, as I noticed most people reviewing it on goodreads seemed to love it, but it just wasn't for me. It bothers me how these kind of situations are often treated so lightly in contemporary literature, and that was definitely the case for me here. Unless the author ends up continuing this novel into a series, and dealing more with these issues in doing so, I can't say I will be recommending this one.
Cover:
The cover of this one actually really reminded me of the cover for Princess In Love by Meg Cabot. I thought it was cute, and I loved the color, but I really think they could have done more with it, as I definitely would not have been drawn to this book in a store based solely on the cover.
Setting:
Spencer High was basically your typical high school, and nothing about it truly stood out to me. I did really enjoy the descriptions of the various neighborhoods and whatnot, but I think the setting and world building was lacking a bit in this one too.
Characters:
This book seemed to have an over abundance of characters woven in throughout the somewhat short story, and as such, I'm only going to be talking about the five main characters.
Alexandra: Alexandra is basically Spencer High's version of Regina George. She's gorgeous, vicious, and always gets what she wants. Always used to getting her own way, there's no denying that Alexandra was a horrible person, and didn't seem to truly care about anyone other than her self. My review above might have given the impression that I sort of liked this character, but that's not the case. She was shallow, selfish, and in some ways, downright evil, but I felt that those qualities all stemmed from her horrific home life, and it was sad to see how this was so overlooked throughout this book in its entirety.
Sam: Ugh Sam's character was honestly almost more annoying than Alexandra's. As one of few out of the closet students at Spencer High, Sam's no stranger to bullying or teasing, and shockingly, it was Alexandra who somewhat saved her from this fate. However, Alexandra has grown accustomed to having Sam as her own personal lapdog, and uses the fact that she's aware of Sam's feelings towards her as the basis for getting whatever she wants. I honestly just wanted to scream at Sam to grow a backbone throughout most of this novel, as I couldn't stand to see how she just stood and took whatever Alexandra threw at her. Her character really only shows growth when Erin starts to show interest in her, and I hated this stereotype that she had to have female attention to finally stand her ground. I would have loved to have seen her character be able to realize this without needing a significant other to do so.
Erin: Erin was probably my favorite of the five main characters. The niece of Spencer High's infamous principal, there may be more to Erin than meets the eye. However, I loved how she stood up for everything she believed in, and seemed to be more interested in the revenge plot to actually help Ivy and Sam, rather than for the selfish reasons that Sloane and Sam seemed to be taking part in it for.
Ivy: While Ivy is definitely the sweetheart of the story, I felt the reader really wasn't shown to much about her, as her chapters were short and few and far between. I also felt there were many things from her home life that hadn't been resolved, and I was actually quite surprised that more wasn't shown into this before the novel ended.
Sloane: Lastly, we come to Sloane, and I think she may have been my least favorite of all. While the revenge plot is initially her baby, and she leads everyone to believe that she hates Alexandra, many times throughout the novel I got the impression that she really just wanted to be popular enough for Alexandra to like her, and that the whole revenge plot seemed to be more of an attention situation for her than anything else.
The Plot:
I really found the plot rushed throughout this one. I felt there was many missing gaps that didn't seem to flow well for me, and I really felt like the author left way too many questions left unanswered by the time the book ended. Part of me is really hoping there will eventually be a sequel to this novel so that maybe just maybe my opinion will change, because I hate feeling like I may have liked it more if more had been resolved.
Conclusion:
To be perfectly honest guys, I almost decided not to review this book. I hate coming across as cynical and beating down an author's work, because I know how much time and effort goes into creating stories. However, I have always stated that I will not lie about how I feel about a book, and in only posting positive reviews on my blog, I feel in a way that I'm doing so. Everyone's going to have different opinions, and I can't possibly love every book I read, because of that there is going to occasionally be a negative review on my blog, and I feel that that's what helps keep my blog honest and truthful. I just didn't care for this book overall, and I had many issues with it that left me feeling really unsatisfied after I finished it. I rated it two out of five stars truthfully, and I won't personally be recommending this one. :(
That's my review for today guys. I thank you all for reading, and if anyone else has read this book I'd love to hear your opinions on it! Differing viewpoints are what makes the world go round, and if any of you guys loved this one, I'd love to hear what you thought about it!
This is not a sponsored post. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
Today I'm here to do a review of a book that I finished this week, and that is, Winning by Lara Deloza.
Pub Date: June 28th, 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Summary:
Whoever said being nice would get you to the top? Certainly not Alexandra Miles. She isn't nice, but she's more than skilled at playing the part. She floats through the halls of Spencer High, effortlessly orchestrating the actions of everyone around her, making people bend to her whim without even noticing they're doing it. She is the queen of Spencer High-and it's time to make it official.
Alexandra has a goal, you see-Homecoming Queen. Her ambitions are far grander than than her small town will allow, but homecoming is just the first step achieving total domination. So when peppy, popular Erin Hewett moves to town and seems to have a real shot at the crown, Alexandra has to take action.
With the help of her trusted friend Sam, she devises her most devious plot yet. She'll introduce an unexpected third competitor in the mix, once whose meteoric rise-and devastating fall- will destroy Erin's chances once and for all. Alexandra can run a scheme like this in her sleep. What could possibly go wrong?
Review:
My initial interest in this novel came after reading the first two chapters in one of the Epic Reads First Five emails, and I was intrigued by the premise of it being Mean Girls in a YA book format. I usually enjoy the type of novels where the viscous popular girl (or guy) gets what's coming to them, and I always love seeing the underdog getting the opportunity to come out on top. However, I'm not gonna lie guys, I really disliked this one. Alexandra was a mean girl no doubt about it, but her home life was horrific! I found it really hard sympathizing with the other four girls on their take down plot, when the book stated over and over again that everyone knew about Alexandra's unstable home life, and just chose to look the other way. I was expecting this to be more of a shallow, guilty pleasure type of novel, but I honestly didn't find it amusing, and while Alexandra may have deserved to have gotten knocked down off her high horse, I find it quite stunning that no one seemed to care about the consequences that caused her to be the way she was. In particular, the one passage where it's her and Matt's anniversary, but she can't spend any time of it with him as being late for her mother's pageant lessons isn't an option was really eye opening to the kind of lifestyle this girl had grown used to. Now I know this book wasn't supposed to be a deep look into the troubled home life of a pageant queen, but this situation really hindered my overall enjoyment of this book. I seem to have taken a really unpopular opinion on this one, as I noticed most people reviewing it on goodreads seemed to love it, but it just wasn't for me. It bothers me how these kind of situations are often treated so lightly in contemporary literature, and that was definitely the case for me here. Unless the author ends up continuing this novel into a series, and dealing more with these issues in doing so, I can't say I will be recommending this one.
Cover:
The cover of this one actually really reminded me of the cover for Princess In Love by Meg Cabot. I thought it was cute, and I loved the color, but I really think they could have done more with it, as I definitely would not have been drawn to this book in a store based solely on the cover.
Setting:
Spencer High was basically your typical high school, and nothing about it truly stood out to me. I did really enjoy the descriptions of the various neighborhoods and whatnot, but I think the setting and world building was lacking a bit in this one too.
Characters:
This book seemed to have an over abundance of characters woven in throughout the somewhat short story, and as such, I'm only going to be talking about the five main characters.
Alexandra: Alexandra is basically Spencer High's version of Regina George. She's gorgeous, vicious, and always gets what she wants. Always used to getting her own way, there's no denying that Alexandra was a horrible person, and didn't seem to truly care about anyone other than her self. My review above might have given the impression that I sort of liked this character, but that's not the case. She was shallow, selfish, and in some ways, downright evil, but I felt that those qualities all stemmed from her horrific home life, and it was sad to see how this was so overlooked throughout this book in its entirety.
Sam: Ugh Sam's character was honestly almost more annoying than Alexandra's. As one of few out of the closet students at Spencer High, Sam's no stranger to bullying or teasing, and shockingly, it was Alexandra who somewhat saved her from this fate. However, Alexandra has grown accustomed to having Sam as her own personal lapdog, and uses the fact that she's aware of Sam's feelings towards her as the basis for getting whatever she wants. I honestly just wanted to scream at Sam to grow a backbone throughout most of this novel, as I couldn't stand to see how she just stood and took whatever Alexandra threw at her. Her character really only shows growth when Erin starts to show interest in her, and I hated this stereotype that she had to have female attention to finally stand her ground. I would have loved to have seen her character be able to realize this without needing a significant other to do so.
Erin: Erin was probably my favorite of the five main characters. The niece of Spencer High's infamous principal, there may be more to Erin than meets the eye. However, I loved how she stood up for everything she believed in, and seemed to be more interested in the revenge plot to actually help Ivy and Sam, rather than for the selfish reasons that Sloane and Sam seemed to be taking part in it for.
Ivy: While Ivy is definitely the sweetheart of the story, I felt the reader really wasn't shown to much about her, as her chapters were short and few and far between. I also felt there were many things from her home life that hadn't been resolved, and I was actually quite surprised that more wasn't shown into this before the novel ended.
Sloane: Lastly, we come to Sloane, and I think she may have been my least favorite of all. While the revenge plot is initially her baby, and she leads everyone to believe that she hates Alexandra, many times throughout the novel I got the impression that she really just wanted to be popular enough for Alexandra to like her, and that the whole revenge plot seemed to be more of an attention situation for her than anything else.
The Plot:
I really found the plot rushed throughout this one. I felt there was many missing gaps that didn't seem to flow well for me, and I really felt like the author left way too many questions left unanswered by the time the book ended. Part of me is really hoping there will eventually be a sequel to this novel so that maybe just maybe my opinion will change, because I hate feeling like I may have liked it more if more had been resolved.
Conclusion:
To be perfectly honest guys, I almost decided not to review this book. I hate coming across as cynical and beating down an author's work, because I know how much time and effort goes into creating stories. However, I have always stated that I will not lie about how I feel about a book, and in only posting positive reviews on my blog, I feel in a way that I'm doing so. Everyone's going to have different opinions, and I can't possibly love every book I read, because of that there is going to occasionally be a negative review on my blog, and I feel that that's what helps keep my blog honest and truthful. I just didn't care for this book overall, and I had many issues with it that left me feeling really unsatisfied after I finished it. I rated it two out of five stars truthfully, and I won't personally be recommending this one. :(
That's my review for today guys. I thank you all for reading, and if anyone else has read this book I'd love to hear your opinions on it! Differing viewpoints are what makes the world go round, and if any of you guys loved this one, I'd love to hear what you thought about it!
This is not a sponsored post. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
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