Release Date: May 8, 2011
Pages: 336
Read it in: 2 days
Summary: For reigning popularity queen Hamilton Best, the very idea of graduation is filled with fear. She's always been the star of Fidelity High's most exclusive clique, idolized for her perfection and her fabulous parties— you know you're "in" when you make Hamilton's guest list. As high school draws to a close, Hamilton is about to lose everything that makes her who she is.
To make matters worse, the clique is slowly coming apart at the seams. Although the hand-picked members— Olivia, Zelda, Nordica, and Shelly— all have their own agendas, desires, and secrets, they do have one thing in common: they're desperate to break away from Hamilton. Yet Hamilton has the biggest and most shocking secret of all, one that only her devoted boyfriend Alex knows. If the truth got out, it would completely destroy her fragile world.
And she'll do anything to keep that from happening.
To make matters worse, the clique is slowly coming apart at the seams. Although the hand-picked members— Olivia, Zelda, Nordica, and Shelly— all have their own agendas, desires, and secrets, they do have one thing in common: they're desperate to break away from Hamilton. Yet Hamilton has the biggest and most shocking secret of all, one that only her devoted boyfriend Alex knows. If the truth got out, it would completely destroy her fragile world.
And she'll do anything to keep that from happening.
LC's Take:
Told from the five perspectives of five different girls, you would think that Popular was just another Mean Girls knock-off. But before you write it off as some shallow tale about popularity, there is something in this book that will completely throw you for a loop. I can't say much more without giving it away, but the Fidelity High Clique is not what it seems. While all the other girls just want to get away from Hamilton and be themselves, Hamilton is scared to death of the end of high school and what lies beyond. There is something very dark troubling Hamilton, and she will do whatever it takes to cling to the present, to feel safe, where her dreams can't be shattered.
My first impression of this book was, "here we go again, another cheesy high school drama." But then things started to get interesting, and then-- I'd say around page 215-- the book totally knocked me upside the head. I'm not going to give away the insane twist in this book, but let me just say that it was such a crazy spin that I physically reacted to it and actually said, "Ohhh myyy god what the...??" out loud! Yes, it was that good. If you can get through some of the more tedious and cheesy sections of Part 1, trust me when I say it is well worth the wait to find out how the entire thing goes down.
The only issue that I had with Popular was some of the dialog and behavior of the characters at certain points in the story wasn't very believable. They didn't really talk or act like high school aged teens. However, this was all pretty much forgotten by the time I reached Part II of the book and I absolutely could not put it down. This was one book that I am so glad I read (I actually won an ARC copy a couple months ago) because it was like nothing I expected. Details aside, this was an amazing book and I highly recommend it!
LC's Rating:
Despite a slow start, the plot twist in this book is one of the craziest I have ever encountered. Be patient with the five different points of view in Part 1, and you will understand why reading all the way to the end is completely worth it!
Now you've got me interested and I want to know what this crazy twist is!
ReplyDeleteBonnie @ HandsAndHome
O__O... At first, I thought shallow, but reading this review made me think otherwise. It sounds like a must read! I'll be buying this book soon! :) Great review!
ReplyDelete*~` http://rockielove.blogspot.com `~*
Bonnie~ The twist definitely makes this book, and once it was revealed, I absolutely could not put it down until I found out how it would all end!
ReplyDeleteRockie~ Yep, I thought the same thing, but there is a lot more to this book than what it seems at first, I thought it was really good, despite some of the details that I mentioned above. Otherwise, great read! :)
I really didn't think I was going to enjoy this one either, because of the "hear we go again" factor but I was so happy I didn't put it down. Glad you enjoyed it and that I could pass on the "book love"! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, I am really glad I won this book from you, so thanks again! It was a great one to have found, I doubt I would have heard about it otherwise :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds worth looking up. It's hard to do a perfect book. I'm willing to be generous with a lot of flaws if something really knocks me off my feet. Sounds like this is that type of book.
ReplyDeleteAlison~ Yes,it was really the overall impression I got from this book that counts-- I would much rather be under-whelmed in the first half and then blown away in the last half, then just have whole book be so-so the entire way through.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely recommend this one! :)