Cracked Up to Be ~ Courtney Summers review

Cracked Up to Be
St Martin's Griffin
224 Pages
December 23, 2008
Amazon

Perfect Parker Book 2 Review (following Handcuffs yesterday)

What's the worst thing you've ever done? Not the time you stole a pack of gum from the grocery store or the time you ot mad and told your sister she looked fat. Not even the time you lusted after your best friend's guy. I mean, the worst thing you've ever done?

What if it was something no one else knew about?

Parker Fadley has something like that. Something she's trying to remedy in a few...choice ways. She's on a basic suicide watch at school, has weekly meetings with the counselor, broke up with her perfect boyfriend, and left her Perfect Parker title far, far behind.

Cracked Up to Be is a book that keeps you out of the loop (as to what exactly Parker's secret is) for just about all of the book, but in a way that keeps you wanting to already be on that next page--not in a way hat gets you fed up. Lits bits are given throught the story as to what Parker did in ways that helped the story along, but never revealed too much too soon.

The characters were great (and there wasn't a punk rock best friend like in about 90% of the books I've read lately, so plus there!) and all worked amazingly together. The four main characters were ones that I could really see being friends...even when they kind of weren't and some of them couldn't stand each other ;-)

I've said in blog comments all over the place that Courtney Summers writes (in blogs and books) like on of my best friends (in blogs and fiction writing) so while my absolute, sparkly, unicorn of her writing might have something to do with that...I think it just means they're both made of awesomeness! (Also means it's not completely appropriate for younger young adult readers.)

Blogs upon blogs (and other reviews upon other reviews) have sung the praises of Cracked Up to Be and Courtney Summers, I know...but they're all right! So right in fact, that whenever she writes a new book I'll just have to forget my 'not asking for books' thing if I haven't already by then :D

Lonely-Pink We Used to Be Friends - Dandy Warhols\ Whiskey Lullaby-Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss Let it End-Vixtrola

11/10 (I need an 11 tag, for serious)