A trip to the Jersey Shore is just the escape she needs. Jake is stuck back in Orchard Hill for the summer, and gorgeous but dangerous local boy Cooper seems to want her around. But the more time she spends with Cooper, the more confused she feels….
Time apart from Jake was meant to help her sort out her feelings, not make everything more complicated!
He's So / She's So Series:
She's So Dead to Us
He's So Not Worth It
This is So Not Happening
Visit Kieran Scott's website for more information
Poppy's Review:
What can I say….I really enjoyed this book! When I picked it up to read I discovered that it was the sequel to She’s So Dead To Us and paused to consider whether I would need to read that first. As I did not have a copy of the first book, I decided to read He’s So Not Worth It anyway. I hoped that I could follow the story ok without having got to know the characters before or what had happened previously in their lives.
I can reassure anyone who has not read the first book that you can read this one and get enough information to piece together the main elements of what happened before. The story covers a three month period from June, following the ups and downs of teen life. The group of teenagers in question live in Orchard Hill and you see the story unfold day by day for the most part, through the eyes of three of them. Each chapter begins with a daily field journal entry by Annie [in handwriting font which I thought was a nice touch], specifying the date, her location, and the cover she is using as a reason for where she is and finally, timed observations about the Cresties [I will explain them in a moment]. The chapters then tend to consist of two to three sections each either headed Jake or Ally, with the title denoting which teenager’s narrative we are hearing. I was initially concerned that this was all too confusing and I had no idea what was going on, but it all started to make sense and the chapter sections were consecutive so no confusion by the story jumping backwards and forwards.
Annie it turns out is observing and making notes about Cresties, so she can write a book about their lifestyle and behaviour. Cresties are the families who live on the Crest, an expensive area in their town, have privileged lives and summer homes on Jersey Shore just three hours drive away. Annie is not a Crestie, but is friends with ex Crestie Ally who has fallen out with all of the Cresties following an incident which I think happened in the last book and the aftermath was seen at the start of this one. Make sense?
Anyway, the book is not that deep or emotional, even though it does include topics such as teenage angst, teenage stroppiness, relationship breakups, family dysfunction and underage drinking. Each page shows you the events of each day and sometimes I giggled or laughed out loud, sometimes I yelled at the characters to grow up, sometimes I felt bad for the teens, sometimes I felt sorry for their parents and all of those out there in the real world trying to deal with their teenagers…. and then I reflected that like most adults, I am sure I too had my fair share of stroppy eye rolling moments in my teen years!
If you like the type of story which revolves around the ‘who fancies who’, ‘I’m not your friend anymore’ and ‘why does it always happen to me’ mind-set of teenage life, then this is perfect for you. The story is set in the home town and also on Jersey Shore when the Cresties leave for their beach houses. It is at the beach where some of the main characters meet a different group of teens who seem to get their kicks though doing alcohol and hanging out – which sometimes means getting up to no good. With so many teenagers hanging around over the summer, it is maybe not surprising that so many of them seem to fancy and/or dislike each other and at times I could not work out who, if anyone a certain character would end up with as there seemed to be three people in the picture! I have not included much story info as I don’t want to spoil it for you, especially if you have not read the first book. You can enjoy for yourself watching the days go by as the events unfold.
This is a brilliant holiday or light relief book as it is fun to read and holds your interest well. Looking back over the story I though not much had actually happened, but then I realised quite a lot had occurred, but it was so matter of fact – every day life - that if felt more like reading the transcript of a documentary programme with asides to camera, than a fictitious novel. I am even tempted to read She’s So Dead To Us.
Source: Received from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review
Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.
This book was pretty well written(; I did not read the first book but it was easy to follow along and make-up what had happened in the first book. I really enjoyed reading all the drama that wa going on in the book. Highly recommed this book to people who to a good book filled with drama and romance!
ReplyDelete