| Title | : | Maybe Tonight? |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1596438169 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781596438163 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | First published August 6, 2013 |
Maybe Tonight? Reviews
-
The lanterns spill a dancing light over everyone, transforming a crowd of trust-fund kids drinking beer from plastic cups into frolicking wood nymphs and fairies at a bacchanal. It's beyond beautiful. You can't help but feel there's something enchanted about this night. That anything could happen if you let it.
This is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style book in which you are a pretty 14-year-old freshman at a prestigious, rich, future-leaders-of-USA boarding school.
Now. This book was a bit weird. The story and the happenings would have made perfect sense if you were 18 and in your freshman year of college. However, as a story about a 14-year-old girl, I was a bit skeptical. Drinking, flying to NYC, keggers, roofies... these sound like the worries and the life of a 18-year-old, a freshman in college... not a 14-year-old freshman in high school. I know it's a boarding school and adults deliberately are written out of the story (except for a stern and intimidating headmaster and a skeezeball 'good-looking' 'young professor' who fucks his 14-17-year-old students), but there was no reality here. The characters did not act or think like a 14-year-old would act and think.
Now... you may think I'm sheltered for thinking this isn't 14-year-old life... or you could argue with me that this is a FANTASY and of course you have to jet to NYC to go clubbing with Cameron Diaz and Joe Jonas and be drinking martinis and stuff... but either way it seemed weird to me. As if you want to market this to teenage girls aged 13-16 but the story is really revolving around the life situations of a 19-year-old.
But let's talk about the story.
I don't know how to describe this. There's a few ways to go in this. You're 14 and have a deep crush on Henry, your BFF's boyfriend. He's making eyes at you as well. He's 16. You have a close male friend, Walter, who has a crush on you but is a bit dorky. Annabel, your BFF, is rich, kind, sweet, and beautiful. Libby and Spider round out the friend group with Libby being rich, shallow, and popularity-obsessed and Spider being a soccer-playing tomboy who doesn't care about clothes and make-up. Evil Mean Girl is Oona, a 16-year-old who rules the school and makes people cry. More males are fucking rapist Billy Grover and nonconformist musician Crosby Wells.
It's the night of the Midwinter's Night Dream, which is a fancy way of saying Kegger In The Woods. Here's some of the choices you have to make:
Stab yourself with a scissors to ward off a love curse or nah?
Fly to NYC with your guy friend and his celebrity cousin or nah?
Make a move on Henry or stay loyal to your BFF Annabel?
Give dorky Walter a chance with you or give him the cold shoulder?
Sit with scruffy, "hot," hipster musician Crosby and allow him to hit on you? Or nah?
There's all sorts of stuff in here: blackmail. Being socially ostracized. Finding your friend blue with cold and with torn tights after being raped. Being slipped a roofie and not remembering anything when you wake up. First kisses - lots of first kisses - some good, some bad, some with good guys, some with bad guys. Tequila, martinis, rum and Coke, vodka, beer. Where ARE all these 14-year-olds buying alcohol? The club you go to in NYC is giving out free martinis. I mean, what? Giving out free martinis? And to 14-year-olds? What? Someone has a cocaine problem. Someone has been cheating on exams. Someone has a secret boyfriend. Skeever professors who are sleeping with their underage students. You wonder if your friend Spider is a lesbian.
One thing I liked here is Clark's snark. It's very sparse, she plays this mostly straight, but she does slip a little something-something in there now and again that made me laugh. Take this scene where you are talking to Crosby, an upperclassman you have a crush on.
"Nico plays bass in Cosmic Cowboy," Crosby tells you.
"Cosmic Cowboy?"
"Our band."
"Oh. Cool." Cosmic Cowboy? Well, naming a band must be hard. And lots of great bands have names that sound pretty random before you hear their music. Wedding Present? Maroon 5? Red Hot Chili Peppers? The Beatles? Cosmic Cowboy isn't much worse.
While Crosby's telling you about his favorite bands, you rack your brain for some cool choices of your own to wow him with should there be a moment to speak. You love music almost as much as you adore books - and yet it's always a struggle to answer questions like "If you could choose three albums to be stranded with on a deserted island, what would they be?" or "Who's your favorite author?"
Fortunately he doesn't ask those questions, or any.
I, as an adult reader, can see that Crosby is a self-centered guy who is looking to score. But a 14-year-old girl probably wouldn't see that, naturally. Or Clark drops little comments like,
The next thing you know, Crosby's guiding you through the flickering light toward a felled tree, where a bunch of his buddies - the cool, artsy crowd that favors dreadlocks and multiple piercings, "nonconformists" who seem to "nonconform" in the same ways - are hanging out.
Another part that highly amused me was when You go to a club. The club is filled with gorgeous models.
The dance floor is packed tight, but you and Walter manage to find a spot in what appears to be a grove of models. Eye level with Walter, they tower above you in teetering stilettos and sample-size dresses, their gazelle-like limbs moving perfectly in time to the beat. So what if they're stunning, you think to yourself, standing up straighter in your Steve Maddens. That's, like, their job. They probably don't have a brain in their heads. They probably -
"Did you read Friedman's op-ed this morning?" you can't help but overhear one of the models ask her friend. Her skin is as smooth and polished as ebony, and her head is practically shaved - a look that only the truly beautiful can pull off.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure I agree with him about pulling all aid to Pakistan. He completely equates the ISI with the Pakistani government, which I'm not convinced is entirely fair."
Oh, shut up, models.
LOL LOL She continues in this vein when, in a completely different path, you end up in a world in which Walter meets a female model who takes a liking to him and it would be easy for Clark to make her dumb or a mean person but she is incredibly smart.
Little things like this made me happy, but they didn't happen too often. I wish passages like this:
Betty, your third-favorite waitress, comes over to take your order. "The usual?" she asks, refilling Henry's coffee cup.
"You have a usual?" Henry smiles. "What is it?"
"Don't judge." You point to the menu. "The Big Boy special. Pancakes, eggs, and hash browns."
"Impressive." He laughs.
Betty taps her order pad with her pencil, impatient despite the fact that the diner is otherwise completely empty.
- with little touches like your "third-favorite waitress" who is impatient for you to order even though no one else is there - were more common in the book.
This isn't really a morality play. I made all my first choices 'good girl' ones but this did not lead to a happy or satisfying conclusion for the reader. Even though it may seem as if Clark has crafted a more shady character (one who is crushing on her best friend's boyfriend), inside you really are a good person and you surprised me with how loyal, stable, and unselfish you were as the book went on.
I learned a new term, "Titian hair" from this book. So that counts for something.
POP CULTURE REFERENCES
Okay, so this book is NOT going to withstand the test of time as Clark is always talking about celebrities and making pop culture references that are going to expire fast.
You know that moment at the end of a super-long day when you slip your aching feet out of your boots and skinny jeans (the ones that are a little too snug in the waist but you keep wearing them anyway), shed your bra, lose the scratchy sweater, and slip into those fuzzy blue pajamas from the bottom of your drawer? Walter is the human embodiment of that feeling.
No, because I actually wear comfortable clothes, but okay.
Another cool thing about the book is that everyone is the same. Spider is And she's always going to be... but in some plotlines you discover this and in some you still think Hunter is always but whether you find out about it or do anything about it depends on the choices you make. It's not like anyone's basic insides are different, but what you know about the characters and whether you end up kissing them or not is up to you.
The book is exhausting to read. At least it is if you are me, and you have explore EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE OUTCOME. It's also frustrating, because (although you don't die like in 'normal' Choose Your Own Adventures) you can get a lot of bad or even just "meh" endings that are completely unsatisfying.
Tl;dr - Everyone acts as if they are in their early 20s. But they are supposed to be 14/15/16. It's bizarre. They've got a slew of grown-up problems: past lovers, experience with alcohol/parties/keggers/etc. in a way that is TOTALLY unrealistic. They are not 14-year-olds acting sophisticated - it's as if they are actual 22-year-olds transplanted into 14-year-olds bodies. None of their reactions to stuff is like a 14-year-olds would be, either.
But perhaps Clark thinks real 14-year-old life is too boring? If you are reading a Choose Your Own Adventure-type book you want excitement. I understand that.
Maybe 3 or 4 swears in here, plenty of alcohol, the occasional rape (off-page). Tons of first kisses (who will it be?!) but no consensual sexual activity beyond that. However, Clark makes it obvious that no one is off limits. If the idea of a senior guy with a freshman girl bugs you, this isn't the book for you. Drugs are used in the book but they are portrayed as Very Bad.
Clark is occasionally funny and I see potential here, but she plays it so straight and so "OMG Crosby is hott!!!" that the hope of a funny or smart book is lost. On the other hand, I thought You was going to be a more shallow character and she turned out to be alright.
There's some really distasteful things in here like rape, public sexual humiliation and other stuff that made my skin crawl.
I'm getting too old for this shit. YA holds no appeal for me. So take this review with a grain of salt.
Clark never finished these books: there's a freshman one and sophomore one, but no junior or senior edition. I would have liked to see where she went with this, but oh well. -
Oh, the reviewer's dilemma: if you want to read something but it's going to be difficult to review, should you request it? While I could not resist requesting a choose your own adventure book, I find myself unsure how best to review it. Am I duty-bound to read through every possible path to correctly analyze it? Well, I hope not, because I didn't. I completed a couple of the myriad branches, enough to determine that Maybe Tonight? does offer the choose your own adventure fun, but leans a bit too heavily on the morals.
As a kid, I refused to read any Goosebumps books that weren't Choose Your Own Adventure. I would, inevitably choose the route that ended in my death, every time, then backtracking to try again. I delight in getting to be a part of the story, though I have to say I may be a bit old for them now, since they just do not seem to have the same charm that they once did for me.
The basic premise of Maybe Tonight? is that you are an incoming freshman at an exclusive boarding school. You're a motivated, brilliant scholarship student, and a bit envious of your beautiful roommate, who has tons of money, a generous heart, and the hottest boyfriend, how you wish was yours instead. Despite your book smarts, you're a bit vain and money-conscious. Depending on which route you take, you navigate one or a couple of days at school.
Now, if you're like me, and you choose the safe options (not letting a girl cut you with a knife, not drinking when you might lose your scholarship, not ignoring a friend because he's not popular), the story ends really quickly. My first path ended in like three choices, which was a bit anticlimactic. I wish there was a bit more doubling back and interconnection, but I think that once you make a choice, you can only move linearly through the book and they actually all come to an end fairly quickly. I'm not sure if it's meant to be for reluctant readers or if the audience is intended to read through all of the possible outcomes.
The choices are often leading, completely not subtly lecturing the reader on proper behavior. For example, "ratting out the party is social suicide, no question about it, but it's still better than expulsion." Rather than just letting the chips fall where they may and teens to soak in lessons therefrom, the questions are basically telling you what your options are. In this case, rat out the party or get expelled. The moral element is just too heavy-handed, and I'm not sure how much fun that will be for a teen reader.
While I definitely enjoyed the nice quick read in my busy schedule, I'm not all that impressed with Maybe Tonight? and won't be continuing with the series. If you enjoy choose your own adventure and have the perseverance to flip through every possible outcome, it might be more your speed. -
Well, I can't say I'm surprised that I didn't like this. However, what I will say is that I think I might have enjoyed this had I read this at a different time of my life.
- It's a choose your own adventure. I was bored by it, but I bet a lot of younger readers just getting into the young adult genre would appreciate it
- The boy drama and high school party plot line. I'm not a fan of this type of story any more... But for some, it's just their cup of tea! -
Maybe Tonight? reminds me a fluffy version of the old Choose Your Own Adventure Goosebumps books I used to read in elementary school back in the day. Except it has considerable amount less gore, death and fear. I read this right after I finished a few different “serious” and “deep” books, so the lighter feel was perfect for me. The novel is fairly short and filled with different sections that allow the reader to choose how the story unfolds. There’s not really a climax or any “wowing” moments in it, but I enjoyed myself regardless simply because it was something different from what I usually read. A lot of other reviewers have been giving it around 2 stars or less, and I get why. It’s not going to wow anyone and I wouldn’t tell people to rush out to the store to purchase it. But if you are looking for something fluffy and have an hour to burn, Maybe Tonight? does the job.
-
**4.5 stars**
Originally posted at:
http://iliveforreading.blogspot.sg/20...
The blurb should have been a dead giveaway, but it was only until I'd started reading this book and started suspecting (later finding out that my suspicions were correct), that this was a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style of a book! I used to read quite a few of these when I was younger, and this prospect alone made this book appealing to me.
I enjoyed the story that I ended up with. I know it'll be a different outcome for everyone, and I've only read another review where the reader got a not-so-happy-ending– which was the complete opposite for me. So there truly is no guarantee how the story will turn out to be.
This was such a short and quick read, as the whole book is around 220 pages, so you're skipping chunks and sections of it, making it like a short story. This was okay, because I found that my story ended up fine, I still had that whole plot and characters, even though there wasn't much character development. My story included a cute nerdy guy, a celebrity, and a night of sneaking away. Pretty exciting and action-packed for 50 or so pages! With this story I wasn't trying to create the most dramatic or the most trouble-making story, I just followed my instinct. Hopefully, because I had a happy ending, that means that *wink wink* I'll probably get one to. Here's to hoping!
I would recommend, however, getting a physically copy of this one, as it was annoying as an eGalley to jump around pages to different sections. With a book it's just easy to flip to the sections, and allowing the fun to continue fluidly, not wait for me to type in the page numbers on Adobe Digital Editions, which (thank the heavens above) luckily were corresponding to the page numbers in the book for once.
Overall, this book is one I can see attracting many age groups, as the style of the book will gain the attention of younger readers, while the multiple plots to the story for young adult readers. This was a ton of fun to read, and I'm sure many will enjoy the concept of taking charge of your own story and finding out what happens when you change the course of action. -
Read the review on my blog:
http://thaliasbooks.tumblr.com/post/5... -
I can remember growing up on “choose your own adventure” books. I would be sitting on the library floor right in front of this section in the library, just lost in my own world reading these books and trying to survive until the end. These books helped to fuel my love for adventure and mystery books. I am so glad that these types of books are starting to make a come back.
This book is not one of the best examples of a choose your own adventure. In fact you really should not even spend your time reading or attempting to read this book. I found none of the characters appealing. To be honest they seemed to be plastic and they got on my nerves. I only got through one situation and when it was over, I was glad. I put the book down and did not even want to try for a second option. So don’t make a snap decision that you will regret. -
Not a fan of this book. Many reasons.
First the good:
I like that you can get different plots depending on how you went with your choice.
I like that it shows that actions has consequences
The idea of the story is good just not a great execution.
the group of friends and their dynamics
The bad:
Too many ways to go with the story and it can drive you mad
The idea of 14 yr olds doing the different scenarios was just over the top
Some of the plots were unbelievable or turn you off
Overall:
The story goes quickly if you choose one way over the others. It can be sweet in it’s story as well. the characters are different again depending on how you went with the story. There were so many different factors at play that you just can’t really commit to how you feel about the characters plot or writing. The idea of 14 yr olds in so many of these scenarios was really hard to believe. Some of the ways this can go will turn you off completely and it is just hard to follow the story completely. This would be much better if there weren’t so many scenarios and choices but also if some of the plot lines were not as off putting as they were. -
Você acaba de ser aceita em um colégio interno de elite, com uma bolsa integral! O primeiro passo para conseguir conquistar todos os seus sonhos. Mas você também que lidar com o fato de estar rodeada das pessoas mais ricas e famosas que já viu na vida e não fazer parte exatamente do grupo. Mas, graças a Deus, a primeira pessoa que você encontra na escola e que acaba se revelando sua colega de quarto é Annabelle. Linda, inteligente, generosa e bondosa, ela é seu suporte... tirando o fato de estar namorando Henry, o cara por quem você está apaixonada! Além disso, você precisa descobrir o que está rolando com Walter, um de seus melhores amigos que está parecendo interessado em ser algo mais.
Em Que tal esta noite? cada capítulo termina com uma decisão a ser tomada e os caminhos que você escolher podem mudar drasticamente o seu futuro! -
3.5 stars. This book was pretty cool. I loved the idea of a young adult choose your own adventure type story. It was fun to make your own decisions and choose what happens next. But it really felt like there was only a certain path that the author wanted you to take, and the other ones either resulted in dead ends or unhappy endings. Usually there are multiple happy endings for choose your own adventure stories. For this book, it was like there were right and wrong answers.
But this book was really fun and entertaining and had a lot of interesting subplots. I really did enjoy reading it and I went back to read every possible ending, which took some time.
I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a fun little read. -
A Choose Your Own Adventure for teens sounds fun, and this books has it. It is fun to look through the book and try and 'guess' the best ending.
Though I do have a few issues with the book: It is very heteronormative, and some of the decisions seem very out of character. I know choose your own adventure books are supposed to be you in the story, but this is ultimately limited by what the author provides. Bridie Clark paints a very clear picture where these stories intend to go.
I think this would have been a great exercise for teens to branch out and see what they might be into, and Choose Your Own Adventure is the perfect avenue for that. It's a shame the idea has gone to waste in this novel.
But either way, it is still a fun book. -
Segunda vez que leio um livro que acho a ideia boa mas o enredo PÉSSIMO.
Nesse livro você é a protagonista e suas escolhas “escrevem” a história. Muito legal né? Parece RPG, fiquei empolgada mas meus amigos que história brochante, nem os filmes adolescentes que são meio bleh, nem pra ser assim, acabei esse livro em menos de 20 minutos, porque não me envolvi em drama nenhum que a história queria levar.
Detalhe: a história acaba em uma cena, se você escolher ser uma pessoa normal ???? -
This book was just okay. I found it hard to follow because each chapter either jumped ahead or did a flash back into the past. At the end of each chapter the reader had a choice as to what chapter they would read next based upon their answers to a couple of questions posed by the author.
-
The endings feel incomplete, and is a very a unimaginative chick-lit story-line. You only really get to know the main character, and even her character isn't developed enough.
-
1.5 Stars
Maybe, Tonight? was not the book for me. While the cover caught my eye, the content lost my interest and never was able to pull me back in.
Have you ever played a galge video game, or ever read a magazine that gives you situations and based on which you choose, you go to answer a specific question after that? (Did that sentence even make sense?) This book is like that. We are put in the life of a character, who has just entered a prestigious boarding school, and we the readers get to decide what decisions she makes. The main character is basically a puppet on a string who life is decided by the choices we make. Maybe, Tonight? is unlike anything I've ever read before, and that's not necessarily a good thing.
It's… interesting, but I found it difficult to read because I had to flip around so much and miss entire sections of the books. It felt… wrong just skipping around and leaving so many pages unread. I'd never read anything like this! I had no idea that books like this even existed, so that may be from where much of my struggle developed. It was very different for the normal of literature today, and it wasn't written well enough to truly engage me as a reader. It was sloppy--the situations were unrealistic, over-the-top and extremely romance focused.
It doesn't help that none of the choices are ones that I would make myself. There are two options at the end of each chapter. When you make a decision, that will lead you to the next chapter of your "situation." Of the two options, I chose ones that I was more likely to make, but they still were not ones that I would act on and that annoyed me a lot. Readers could find it difficult to connect to this novel because they don't agree with, and can't relate to, any of the actions of the main character. The options are the extreme of both options: go out to dinner with the nerdy boy and his cousin, or hit on her best friend's ex-boyfriend? Either way, you are led into a crazy adventure that made little sense, and seemed almost impossible.
The characters in this novel were also very vapid, shallow beings. They are all rich (besides the main character), boy obsessed, looking to be famous, scandalous, etc. I didn't enjoy reading about them, I didn't care what happened to them and they really did not feel realistic. None of them were formed well enough to three-dimensional, not even the main character. The book moved too quickly for anyone to fully develop. Each full story is maybe one-hundred pages, so there is no time to really bond with the characters, or get a feel for the setting. It's in and out faster, making Maybe, Tonight? more of a teaser than a full story.
Books of this nature are not for me, I've discovered. I'm pretty shocked that there is going to be a sequel--at least, it definitely left off at a point where a sequel seems inevitable. I most likely will not be reading it. This book felt very messy to me, and didn't leave the mark that I had hoped it would. This kind of novel would suit younger teenagers very well, though this novel has some pretty mature themes like drinking, drugs and hints at sexual abuse so I recommend treading with caution.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher for my honest opinion and review.
This review can be seen
here on my blog as well. -
Gossip Girl meets Choose Your Own Adventure in this new Snap Decision book published by Macmillan. Written in the second person, this book puts the reader into the shoes of a female freshman at a fancy private school, on the night of an annual outdoor party called Midwinter’s Night Dream. The story is told in a series of snapshots, and at the end of each snapshot, the reader is given two choices. Depending on which path the reader chooses, the main character winds up in different situations with her roomates, her best male friend who might become more, her best female friend’s boyfriend and even the tomboy in her group of friends who may or may not be attracted to other girls.
This book’s chatty tone and continually dramatic turns of events make it instantly appealing. The writing is fast-paced and engaging, and in just a few short pages, the reader feels a strong connection to the main character and already feels well-acquainted with each of the key players in her life. When I was a teen, I loved to contemplate my fate, wondering how this or that decision or encounter might impact my future, and lamenting lost opportunities. This book taps into that very teenage mindset and provides the reader with the chance to go back and change her mind if things don’t go the way she had hoped.
My issue with this book, though, is that nearly every decision made by the main character is a choice between a terrible fate and a worse one. In some instances, it is inevitable that either someone will try to date rape her, or she will lose all of her friends. Other choices involve either getting thrown out of school or being forced to live in exile when her best friend gets so angry she can’t forgive her. There are a few choices that lead to happy endings, but more often than not, there is no “right” answer and no chance for a positive outcome. For a story that is meant to take place over just one or two nights at a prestigious high school, it involves way too many “issues” from academic probation to drug addiction to date rape to outright expulsion from school. Teens already feel that so many situations are life and death. This book heightens that fear, and I think it promotes a wholly unrealistic sense of how important each of our decisions really is. Surely not every moment of our lives is so precariously perched on the edge of disaster.
Maybe Tonight? is a fast-paced, frivolous novel with a fun concept that might appeal to reluctant reader girls in grades 8 to 10. Readers who want more realistic and nuanced depictions of boarding school life might try E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks or Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (which is an adult novel, but has lots of teen appeal.) -
Without even realizing it, Maybe Tonight? was one of those choose your own adventure books! I, being the childish person I always am, loved this idea! I thought it was SUPER cool for an author to take a gamble on something we rarely see in young adult books. I loved that the readers were in control, and the reader kind of gets to choose what they want to happen. Sometimes it doesn't turn out exactly how you want it to be, but hey, you can always start over!
I can't say this was much of a book, but maybe short stories is the right word for it. It was confusing when I first finished my story because I was like "what, that's it? that was fast", but that's why I call it short stories. I tried more than one direction, and got a lot of different endings. Some were happy, some were unexpected, and some were cute. I don't think there is ever an end to this, because there is like a gazillion different directions you can take. I can't really write a real review, because each person might have gotten a different ending when reading Maybe Tonight?. I have to say though that I really enjoyed the characters. It felt like I was the one in the story, and that was really cool to experience. There is a bit of romance, a bit of friendship, and a bit of drama. Exactly what most contemporaries consist of.
Maybe Tonight? was a really fun book, and it was what I needed at the time I started reading it. It is definitely a great summer read that you can start and finish in one sitting. It's fun how it's also like a puzzle where you can go back and choose another direction and so on. The writing was a bit hard to get used to with the "you" instead of the usual "I", but other than that, I thought it was loads of fun! I would recommend this book to those who aren't too picky with the storyline, and those who are looking for a chill, fun read! I'll probably be picking this up again and trying different directions to see what new plot lines and endings I get! haha! -
Received as an advance reader copy.
You're a high-school freshman and landed a full scholarship at a fancy private boarding school. You are faced with the most important choices in your young life - are you going to flirt with your BFF's boyfriend or keep a healthy distance? Are you willing to risk being expelled to attend a party, or pass up a chance to party in NYC with A-list celebs? These choices present themselves in a choose-your own story format. There are snap decisions to be made.
This book is geared for ages 12 and up. It deals with typical teenage issues, like crushes, dating, alcohol, drug abuse, illicit parties, and bullies. The choose-your-own format allows a person to read through the whole book taking a different path every time, or just making one or two stories from the book. The strengths are that it is an easy and mostly fun read (and I say that as a male in his early 30s) and that it seems to jive with what I understand to be typical issues of 15-year olds (although I doubt many ever encounter a chance to hand out with A-list celebs at a swanky club). I have a few minor issues with this book. For one, some of the story lines are very short. Not a big issue if you plan to read through the whole book with all of the scenarios, but it bugged me a bit. Secondly, some of the chapters had an A or AA after it, as a continuation of the chapter, e.g. 37 goes to 37A without giving you a choice like the others. Was that really necessary?
Overall, a good read for young readers. I purposely only gave it 3 stars so it wouldn't influence too heavily recommendations on Goodreads. -
now i love a story with a happy ending. it has a happy ending? i love it
i love a story where i can choose what happens. i decide their fate? i love it
i love a story with a fast pace because i have little patience and get bored easily. this story is near 200 pages and i can skip a lot of parts? i love it
however just because it this sounds like the kind of book i would LOVE i didnt enjoy it at all. i found the characters, plot and everything else with this book annoying and unrelatable. Especially the character i got stuck with.
Now i know one of the best parts of reading fiction is that it helps you to escape reality but for me when it came to escaping reality to leap into this fictional world,but if i did have it happen to me, i dont think i could handle it. so i think for once i would rather face real life than this book, which is pretty sad.
i think the only thing i can say about this is that i did get a happy ending and it was at least a short read for me and i wouldnt really recommend it to anyone
:) -
I suppose creating a "choose your own adventure"-type book for teens is a good idea - they just weren't my favorite when they first came out, probably because I like more linear stories.
The plot is pretty simple: "you" are a girl from poor background somehow gets accepted to The Most Prestigious Prep School in America (without an interview or campus visit? unlikely, but this is fiction, so...) and is roommates with three girls who will clearly be the leaders of the school as seniors. There's an illegal, after hours party in the woods and thus the adventure commences. Do you go to the party? Do you go after your BFF's boyfriend? Do you go to the diner with the dweeby guy (who happens to have a movie star cousin)? etc..
The different storylines don't end up in the same place, which was nice, but they don't all flow together either. I wonder if they'd been written first, then chopped up poorly because some transitions didn't quite work.
ARC provided by publisher. -
I loved choose your own adventure books when I was a kid, full of action and intrigue, but often they were geared towards boys. So I was elated to see someone was aiming for the girls. I would get to be Nancy Drew for the day, yea! That was not the case, unfortunately.
I cheated and read the whole book so I could see all of the different possible story lines. At 200 pages it took maybe an hour to finish. The target audience is 12 & up. An advanced reading 12 year old would make quick work of this. The book is so short, there is little to no character or plot development. The reader faces choices like do you pursue a relationship with your best friend's boyfriend and should you lie to cover your tracks?
I think the story would be perfect for a younger age range, maybe 5th and 6th grade girls or even younger, but an 8th grader would be too advanced for the writing and the story line. -
I'm torn between two and three stars. I think I will stick with two though, this one was just disappointing. I was hp hoping for a fun fresh modern day tae on the old choose your own adventure books I read as a kid - frequently starring amateur detectives such as Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys or other young detective teams I no longer remember. This just disappointed in every way - more to come in my full review. :/
-
I actually enjoyed reading this, maybe because a friend and I read the scenarios to each other and laughed over several details. I think that to read it by oneself wouldn't be as interesting. I don't think this is geared toward a much younger crowd, given some of the themes. "You" as the main character are sort of shallow and vapid but it's kind of entertaining to read. I actually like "Choose Your Own Adventure" books and their alternative endings.
-
I wish I could give two different ratings: One for me and one for appeal. It was just so-so as far as reading enjoyment (at parts it was a little didactic for my taste), but I think tweens and teens will really be excited about a Choose Your Own Adventure-type book geared at their own age group. This will have particular appeal for reluctant tween and teen readers.
-
I don't understand this. And I thought that the story was stupid and really unrealistic. And it is not well explained... my story line just ended and nothing happened. Maybe I am just not the right audience for a choose your own adventure story. Because it was just awkward.
There is zero development. And maybe I am just naive, but I feel like I would nor act like this when I was a 14 year old. -
I thought this was a pretty cool concept! Similar to the choose your own adventure concept. Of course I read all of the different scenarios and I thought they were all pretty good. I would recommend this to someone who was just getting ready to start high school - some of the scenarios teach pretty good lessons without coming across as overly preachy.
-
A choose your own adventure type of books for adults (or young adults)! The concept is interesting however it was carried out badly. The book has such small substance that it falls flat almost instantly. Some of the endings were rather anti-climatic. I had no emotional connections to any of the characters (one of them was supposed to be ME). Ugh! As if!
-
Not sure if it's me or the book, but the chapters didn't always link right. I love the idea of "Choose your own adventure", but I don't think all of the links are included. I ended up going back to the beginning and reading straight through.
