Feel The Love Week Pt. 1

Hiya all you readers! Hope you had a good January, because you are about to be slammed for ten whole days with a festival of YA fiction dedicated to St. Valentine. Yep, this is the first blog of Valentine's week! So, to kick of the week I’m going to kick off the week with the first novel by Melissa Kantor, Confessions of a Not-It Girl. From her parents to college, her best friend and crushes, Jan is convinced she is destined to have the world’s least amazing life, and it seems to be going that way.

Jan’s best friend, Rebecca, was named one of Chic magazine’s top It-girls of New York. She knows where all the clothes are and all the cool places to shop are. She seems to be able to date any guy, even those much older than her; a direct contrast to Jan who has trouble talking to her crushes. She has all the clothes to make her look amazing, plus a gorgeous body and beautiful hair; Jan’s always complaining about her huge butt in contrast to Rebecca. But even Rebecca can’t help Jan in some of the trouble she gets in.

Her parents are annoying, overachieving and obsessed with getting her into a good college. She is convinced she’s never going to get into a college, but her parents keep pushing her into their Alma mater. And compared to her brother, who goes to Yale, she is ‘the bad child’. She also has to fill out a ton of application papers, which doesn't help when her parents are always asking her to finish them and what college she likes the best, or which one she wants to attend. It’s clear, though, that they are pushing her in a certain direction.

The most frustrating thing in Jan’s life is her love life. She has two crushes, but only really likes one. Josh moved to New York from Seattle to live with his mom, stepdad and half-sister, Hannah. Jan babysits Hannah because Josh’s mom promised he wouldn’t have to be a live-in babysitter. At first Jan thought that Josh was a total loser, but then she noticed his smile and she started to like him. Now she wonders if he’ll be at his house when she babysits, after soccer practice, of course. Sometimes he is, and they talk because Hannah is asleep, and other times he just goes to bed. But she still likes him, and can’t get enough of his smile.

This is a funny book; right off the bat there was humor and I laughed a lot during almost every chapters. When I wasn't laughing I was reading intently and holding back gasps, because of the drama, but it doesn't last extremely long and there's always a funny part coming up soon. It’s a good first novel, and based on Kantor's success after this book; others have obviously liked this book, too. You will look forward to seeing how Jan solves her problems like which college she picks, and most especially, what she does with Josh. I read this quick and I liked the ending especially.

RED'S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 3/4 out of 5. Funny, beautiful novel that is as well written as any other books I’ve read by long time novelists.

MASS APPEAL: Girls, this is a romance and drama novel. But, the funny parts keep it light and fun. Read this book! Can I make it any clearer?

Click here! to buy this book on Amazon.