Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Hodder Children's Books (2006), 352 pages
Description
As she acts out the role of "Mean Girl"--at school, with her father and brother, and even with her new boyfriend--sixteen-year-old Isabel comes to a dead end and finally confronts issues related to her mother's death.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Lara-IT
A good YA novel about first love, friendship & family with the difference that, this time, the story is told from the bad girl's pov. Isabel is the girl that every time you do something embarrassing lets everyone know and the one that kicks you when you're already down and Dot, Ella & Nancy are the
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"friends" you hope you never have...but, after all, it seems that be a mean girl isn't easy either.. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ash600
More of 4.5/5 I hated it as much as I loved it... I'm not sure what to think about it.
Favorite Quote:
"I was a heartless, ungrateful wench of a girl who promised everyone who came into contact with me a one-way ticket to pain and hurt. I didn't know how to love and I didn't deserve to be loved
I don’t like to read about mean girls, somehow the author always find a way to twist my mind and make me like them by proving that deep down they are good and kind-hearted, that there’s a reason why they became such cruel creatures, that it’s their defense mechanism against the world so that no one will ever know what’s in their hearts, that they are in pain and their only outlet is to bully.
I’d been a victim of bullying back in middle school and I couldn’t get myself to forgive the persons responsible of my misery, for all what they’ve done to me, because no matter their home’s problems, it didn’t give them the right to look down and to mentally torture me and the others: weaker, helpless and poor persons.
And so, I was enable at times to sympathize with Isabel, she acted like is a deep-down-to-the-core bitch, the queen bee of her private school, where she terrorized the girls and ruled as she liked.
Her life’s home of course is a terrible mess. After her mother’s death (which she held herself responsible for) her relationship with her father and little brother deteriorate, so she’s barely at home, always getting wasted at parties or spending time with her BFFs hooking up with boys. But then, she meets Atticus Smith at a party, who kissed her (while being both very drunk) thinking she was the girl he met and fell for not long ago. After clearing the misunderstanding, they however start to see each other, they exchanged their iPods then got involved sexually; the problem is Isabel lied about her age telling him she’s 18 just because he’s 20. What started like a little lie soon became a cobweb of lies impossible to get out of, it was too late to tell him the truth, not when she’s falling for him, and not when everything is fugly at home. But when the least she expected it, Isabel got caught up by her own lies and now she’ll have to deal with it and face the truth.
Sarra Manning sure knows how to make you love and hate a character in one page. Her writing is so realistic, so strong, she really masters the art of painting her characters’ feelings and to make you feel like they are real-life persons that you met before and here’s their story. It was unbelievable how strongly I felt towards the book; I loved it, I hated it, it made me want to scream, it made me want to cry, I wanted to slap Isabel and I wanted to hug her too… I’m still confused right now how to rate the book, what to clearly think about it.
One thing’s for sure, it’ll take me some time to read another Manning’s novel. I’m not yet ready to live a further experience any time soon.
Favorite Quote:
"I was a heartless, ungrateful wench of a girl who promised everyone who came into contact with me a one-way ticket to pain and hurt. I didn't know how to love and I didn't deserve to be loved
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back."I don’t like to read about mean girls, somehow the author always find a way to twist my mind and make me like them by proving that deep down they are good and kind-hearted, that there’s a reason why they became such cruel creatures, that it’s their defense mechanism against the world so that no one will ever know what’s in their hearts, that they are in pain and their only outlet is to bully.
I’d been a victim of bullying back in middle school and I couldn’t get myself to forgive the persons responsible of my misery, for all what they’ve done to me, because no matter their home’s problems, it didn’t give them the right to look down and to mentally torture me and the others: weaker, helpless and poor persons.
And so, I was enable at times to sympathize with Isabel, she acted like is a deep-down-to-the-core bitch, the queen bee of her private school, where she terrorized the girls and ruled as she liked.
Her life’s home of course is a terrible mess. After her mother’s death (which she held herself responsible for) her relationship with her father and little brother deteriorate, so she’s barely at home, always getting wasted at parties or spending time with her BFFs hooking up with boys. But then, she meets Atticus Smith at a party, who kissed her (while being both very drunk) thinking she was the girl he met and fell for not long ago. After clearing the misunderstanding, they however start to see each other, they exchanged their iPods then got involved sexually; the problem is Isabel lied about her age telling him she’s 18 just because he’s 20. What started like a little lie soon became a cobweb of lies impossible to get out of, it was too late to tell him the truth, not when she’s falling for him, and not when everything is fugly at home. But when the least she expected it, Isabel got caught up by her own lies and now she’ll have to deal with it and face the truth.
Sarra Manning sure knows how to make you love and hate a character in one page. Her writing is so realistic, so strong, she really masters the art of painting her characters’ feelings and to make you feel like they are real-life persons that you met before and here’s their story. It was unbelievable how strongly I felt towards the book; I loved it, I hated it, it made me want to scream, it made me want to cry, I wanted to slap Isabel and I wanted to hug her too… I’m still confused right now how to rate the book, what to clearly think about it.
One thing’s for sure, it’ll take me some time to read another Manning’s novel. I’m not yet ready to live a further experience any time soon.
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Language
Original language
English
Physical description
352 p.; 5.12 inches
ISBN
0340877014 / 9780340877012