Friday, June 27, 2008

*GASP* Plenty of Paper Hiatus Odyssey Continues...

Perhaps you have figured out a clue and discovered the magical link to lead you to the following Plenty of Paper review. Or perhaps you are unaware as to why the Whirlwinds appear to be stealing someone's review (Explained here). Either way, please enjoy. The girls of POP are fawesome and the Maelstrom is honored to be helping them out with this! What follows is an all Plenty of Paper, all awesome fiesta of reviewage for How to Be Bad:


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How To Be Bad

(e. lockhart, sarah mlynoski, lauren myracle)

Mels, Vicks, and Jesse don't really have much in common. Vicks is the rebel with the dyed-black hair, cursing complex, and boyfriend who has just gone off to college and apparently forgotton her (one text. Stay cool). Jesse is an uber-Christian whose mother has just been diagnosed with cancer: breast cancer, after winning a wet tee-shirt contest. Clearly, a punishment from God. Mel is the new rich girl from Canada who nobody really likes. The only things that these girls are sharing? A weekend, a car, a hotel room, Mel's mom's credit card, and the road trip of their lives.

They will visit landmarks (the world's tiniest police station). They will meet a boy (sexy Marco). They will engage in several illegal activities. They'll fight and bond and get attacked by an alligator and learn, each in their own ways, how to be bad. And at the end of it all, they just might be best friends.

This book is a really great read. I was curious about getting my hands on it becasue of the multiple authors: I'm a huge fan of E. Lockhart's, but I had mixed feelings about Sarah Mlynoski's Bras and Broomsticks and I despise chatspeak far too much to have enjoyed Lauren Myracle's TTYL series. The writing here was excellent, though. The voices were distinct, but they blended together nicely. The styles of the three authors meshed very well.

How To Be Bad is very much a character story, and it's an extremely good one. Jesse, Mel, and Vicks were all believable characters with distinct personalities. I loved how none of them were stereotypical, despite any implications given by their immediate labels. Jesse, for instance, is the Christian girl, but she's also the meanest and cattiest of the trio. One of my favorite things about the book was that each of the characters had tons of their own struggles and problems to worry about, but the story continued to center around the girls as a whole, and their journey together.

Also, it was completely hilarious. All three of the authors worked in plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, even within the most tense parts of the story. There was a lot of verbal comedy, but much of the humor was situational as well.

My only complaint about this book? The drawbacks of carrying around a novel entitled How To Be Bad. Why that gets seven questions per day and my "Free Alan Rickman" tee-shirt gets none is beyond me, but it did. Go figure.

Four cups and a half for How to Be Bad!

-Caroline

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Hey everyone (Aella again)! I have not received a hint from the fabulous crew, and I'm not sure if this is a glitch or no. Perhaps there will be something on their page? (*whispering* but don't take my word for it). Have a great rest of POP Hiatus!

7 comments:

Rachael Stein said...

These lovely mistresses, in the dark they rest,
Through the water, you’ll begin your quest;
they judge their books using the archaic Levin,
Their swirling home is location number seven.

i really wanna read this book :D and i think caroline or heather was supposed to send you some kind of special phrase (cuz this is the last location). they didnt send me a clue either. i made my own up :D

Breanna said...

These lovely mistresses, in the dark they rest,
Through the water, you’ll begin your quest;
they judge their books using the archaic Levin,
Their swirling home is location number seven.

Oooh great review! I really want to get my hands on a copy of this. =)

-Breanna

Carolina said...

These lovely mistresses, in the dark they rest,
Through the water, you’ll begin your quest;
they judge their books using the archaic Levin,
Their swirling home is location number seven.

I really want to read this book. It looks so good.

Medeia said...

Woah, that was cool. We were stealing and I didn't even know about it... wow, I'd better step up my game.

Khy said...

These lovely mistresses, in the dark they rest,
Through the water, you’ll begin your quest;
they judge their books using the archaic Levin,
Their swirling home is location number seven.

I loved this book. It was wonderful. And I know what Caroline means about carrying around a book called How to Be Bad. My friends asked me if it was a guidebook on how to rob banks or something.

Amee said...

These lovely mistresses, in the dark they rest,
Through the water, you’ll begin your quest;
they judge their books using the archaic Levin,
Their swirling home is location number seven.

I can't wait to read this book! It's waiting on my shelf. ;D

RR2 said...

These lovely mistresses, in the dark they rest,
Through the water, you’ll begin your quest;
they judge their books using the archaic Levin,
Their swirling home is location number seven

I really can't wait to read this booK!