Novel Review: Not That Kind Of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

Rating (Out of 5): ~3-3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Push (Scholastic)

Release Date: 2010

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Slut or saint? Good friend or bad friend? In control or completely out of it?

Life is about making choices, and Natalie Sterling prides herself on always making the right ones. She’s avoided the jerky guys populating her prep school, always topped honor roll, and is poised to become the first female student council president in years.

If only other girls were as sensible and strong. Like the pack of freshmen yearning to be football players’ playthings. Or her best friend, whose crappy judgment nearly ruined her life.

But being sensible and strong isn’t easy. Not when Natalie nearly gets expelled anyway. Not when her advice hurts more than it helps. Not when a boy she once dismissed becomes the boy she can’t stop thinking about.

The line between good and bad has gone fuzzy, and crossing it could end in disaster . . . or become the best choice she’ll ever make.

The Cover:

I don't like this cover. The close-up of the two kissing just looks tacky and I don't like looking at it. Maybe it's supposed to represent the meaning that it doesn't matter what someone does, you shouldn't peer that close at someone's sexual life--and if so, I like that. But mostly I think it doesn't fit this book.

Quotes:

• "That’s the thing with secrets—you can’t explain yourself. The only thing you’re left able to say is sorry—again and again.” (Paperback, pg. 235)
• "'You see, the best thing about wrong decisions is that they don’t prevent you from making the right decisions later on. It’s harder, but it’s not impossible.’” (Pg. 312)
• "It didn’t matter if I was the kind of girl who had sex, or the kind of girl who had her portrait on a wall in the library, or the kind of girl who got into the best college, or the kind of girl who teachers loved.
  I just needed to be okay with all the kinds of girl I was.” (Pg. 317)

Review:

I think maybe I had too high of expectations for this book. I was expecting a very good book, with a very impressive girl-power message. That’s not how it seemed to me.

On the bright side, the writing was good. And the characters were fleshed out, at least mostly. The storyline wasn’t too bad.

First of all, I did not like the main character. Natalie drove me crazy. At first, I was looking forward to her learning her lesson, but about halfway through the book, she was just getting on my nerves. She’s cocky, too confident, very what-I-think-is-right, thinking that everyone should make the “right” decision, and no matter what, what she thinks it right. I just wanted to smack her.

Then there’s the girl message. And I do think that Natalie learned that women shouldn’t be put down for sex, but I don’t really think the message was driven home as much as it could have. She really only seemed to think about it like she should, after she met a guy and fooled around and people looked at her differently. I don’t think it was pushed enough that it doesn’t matter what you’re doing—if you’re having sex, married or not, pregnant young, or a virgin—because all of it is okay. None of it shameful or “wrong”. Natalie thought about it only after having sex and being bullied because of it; then there’s Spencer, who thinks that manipulating men is the right way to go, and I don’t think she fully learned anything either. Autumn, I think, had the right idea, though; she’d smarted up in the right way. There’s also Natalie’s teacher, who is so prejudiced, and yet nothing really came of her opinion but frustration.

Mostly, I think the message was good, I just don’t think it reached the full-fleshed direction it was going.

Then there was the romance. Natalie and Connor start fooling around, and Natalie is the one who’s making it hard. But I think they jumped into it too quickly—I mean, they made eye-contact and seemed to just feel a strong attraction, when I didn’t really feel that. And everything that Natalie does with Connor, changing her mind and having sex with him, just didn’t seem to make sense to me. I just didn’t feel very much chemistry between them, so it didn’t work for me. I wanted it to, but it didn’t.

I wanted to love this book. I really, really did. But instead I’m a little disappointed. I do want to pick up another of Vivian's books, though. I think maybe a different character, at least, could have made this story better, so I hope to see what else she does.

Novel Review: Flat-Out Sexy (Fast Track, #1) by Erin McCarthy

Rating (Out of 5): ~2-2.5

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Berkley Sensation (Penguin)

Release Date: 2008

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Independent single mother Tamara Briggs wanted to find a new, sexy, no-strings-attached man--just not one as young as NASCAR driver Elec Monroe. But he sure does get her heart racing. And after she’s tricked into a blind date with him, Tamara gives in to her passion. Things screech to a halt, though, when he asks to meet her children. Whatever happened to wham-bam-thank-you ma’am? Suddenly Tamara has to decide how much risk she’s willing to take to experience the power of true love.

The Cover:

I don't particularly like this cover. The position is a little off, it doesn't really stand out or look any better than most other adult romance covers. I guess the font and the fact he's leaning on a car (he is, right?) fits the book. I don't know, I'm just not a big fan of it.

Quotes:

• "...he had never seen any point in yelling about something that could just as easily be fixed by talking about it.” (Mass Market Paperback, pg. 82)
• "It had been something she’d taken for granted in her marriage, the soft and random brushes, the right to invade someone else’s personal space, and the ease of having a man’s strong hand on her waist.” (Pg. 112-113)

Review:

I was really hoping to like this, and all of the other McCarthy books I’ve read so far have been really good, but this one had one somewhat big problem with it.

I liked Tamara, and I liked Elec. They were both hot and sweet together, and I liked their chemistry. They were fun together, and I liked seeing them get closer. I also really liked seeing Elec get to know Tamara’s kids, those scenes were just plain heartwarming. I liked Elec’s family, and Tamara’s parents-in-law. It started out really good, and the ending was nice. It was a little slow at points, but overall not too bad. I would have liked some more conclusion for the mess with the girl blackmailing Elec, and his [omitted cause spoilers] problem, but oh well. I did really like, too, that Elec had a problem like that, if only for the fact that that’s barely ever mentioned in books.

But I did have one problem with it. There was a really bad amount of slut-shaming. At first I didn’t think it was going to be a thing, but then it kept showing up. And it flat-out made me uncomfortable. There was one scene in particular where a friend of theirs brought a ‘bimbo’ to a group dinner, and the girl was portrayed as extremely dumb and like she was simply there for her good looks and that she was a gold digger. And she was supposed to be an example of the driver’s groupies. It was uncomfortable to read, it wasn't needed, and it really pissed me off.

And not only that, but Elec and Tamara slut shamed other groupie girls, the girls who Elec used to be with and who wanted him now. While at the same time, they acknowledged that if Tamara did those things for Elec (like send nude photos), it would be totally fine. Like that isn’t hypocritical. It just pissed me off, it really wasn’t needed, and they didn’t learn anything from it. It made me knock off a bit from the rating.

I was hoping this would be better, but the slut-shaming really hit me the wrong way. I hope that whatever I pick up of McCarthy’s next is better.