[Review] Courtney Summers - Cracked Up to Be

Title: Cracked Up to Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN13: 9780312383695
Year: 2008
Pages: 214
Rate: 3/5 stars



Synopsis:

When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleader captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.

Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

Review:

I pick this book mainly because of the synopsis. I was intrigued of what may happen to Parker. And reading the last sentence of the synopsis made me wonder whether this is a mystery book or not. I was so excited, reading this book until 5 in the morning, and ended up...disappointed? I'm not sure how I felt after reading this book, but I still remember it at first: funny, ironic, and full of sarcasm.

This book started after Parker changed, where she tried to keep people away from her. It was pretty funny for me, how she would describe people around her. And I love how wicked she was toward Jake, the new guy on their first encounter. Did that make me a bad person? I hope not...*smirk*

"I'm late for class"

"That makes two of us." He smiles. "Of course, you have an advantage in that you probably know where class is. Could you tell me where Mr. Norton's room is?"

"Sorry, New Kid. Can't. I'm late."

"Oh, come on. You have time---"

"No. I have no time."

Pause, pause, pause. We stare at each other for a good minute.

"You're just standing there," he finally splutters. "How can you have time for that but not enough time to tell me how to get to Mr. Norton's room?"

I give him my most winning smile, shrug, and resume the walk to my next class. (pg. 14)

Basically that's how Parker and Jake talk to each other, funny and sarcastic, just the way I like it. And then put Chris, Parker's former boyfriend, and Becky, the current cheerleader captain who was Parker's Beta, to the equation. It was so hilarious for me because I can visualize it very well. It got pretty boring in the middle, though, because of Parker's behavior. She kept pushing people away. then trying to make people pay attention to her, then push people away again. This is the part where I abruptly thought she has mental issues. It turned out I was wrong.

There are only 2 minus part for me about this book, the repetition of Parker's behavior that I explained before and the ending. Basically I just stare at my tablet (I read the e-book version) for a long time because I don't understand how it got that way. I mean, I did mention that I stay until 5 in the morning, right? This book was that good for me, but the ending ruined it. Maybe I will read this book at another time but stop halfway. Those sarcasm are so funny and fresh for me, I definitely will read Courtney Summers' other books.