Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
Audrey Porter is a good girl. The kind that works hard to keep up her grades, spends weekends working in her dad's store, manning the cash register, and basically just being a good daughter and a good friend. Things change, though, when she falls for Luke DeSalvio, a guy known around Willow Park High School as a player.
Audrey's best friends, Ash and Joelle, had warned her from the beginning not to lose her heart to Luke. But unlike her dedication to schoolwork and good grades, there's something about being with Luke that turns her brain to mush and her normal level-headedness to idiotic levels. After Audrey hears that Luke has been with another girl (as if all of his constant flirting wasn't bad enough), she decides to call off their friends-with-benefits, not-really-boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship. Unfortunately, she decides to do this after one last hurrah with Luke, one last make-out session at a party that puts her in a very compromising situation. A situation that someone captures on their cell phone camera and proceeds to distribute among the student body.
She could have ignored the millions of instant messages on her computer calling her a [...] and a ho, she even could have ignored the leers and jeers of the guys in the halls at Willow Park. What she can't ignore, though, is the fact that someone has sent the picture to her father's work email address. Or that Mr. Swieback, the principal, found copies on the library computers. Or that even Ms. Godwin, the drama teacher, seems to think Audrey is some type of sex maniac.
Humiliation complete, Audrey must come to terms with her new social status, which has nothing to do with being a good girl. Along with Ash and Joelle, who have stood beside her, she forms a new, tenuous friendship with Pam and Cindy, two girls who had previously held the title as school [...]. But as Audrey realizes that she may have been wrong about the girls, especially Pam, she also realizes that being a good girl doesn't mean always being perfect.
I really enjoyed GOOD GIRLS. This is a book with heart and emotion, with true-to-life characters who don't preach or moralize, but who work hard at being the best type of people they can be. There are girls like Audrey, Ash, Joelle, Pam, and Cindy in every high school--just as there are boys like Luke and the insufferable Chilly. This is definitely a book for your keeper shelf.
Audrey Porter is a good girl. The kind that works hard to keep up her grades, spends weekends working in her dad's store, manning the cash register, and basically just being a good daughter and a good friend. Things change, though, when she falls for Luke DeSalvio, a guy known around Willow Park High School as a player.
Audrey's best friends, Ash and Joelle, had warned her from the beginning not to lose her heart to Luke. But unlike her dedication to schoolwork and good grades, there's something about being with Luke that turns her brain to mush and her normal level-headedness to idiotic levels. After Audrey hears that Luke has been with another girl (as if all of his constant flirting wasn't bad enough), she decides to call off their friends-with-benefits, not-really-boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship. Unfortunately, she decides to do this after one last hurrah with Luke, one last make-out session at a party that puts her in a very compromising situation. A situation that someone captures on their cell phone camera and proceeds to distribute among the student body.
She could have ignored the millions of instant messages on her computer calling her a [...] and a ho, she even could have ignored the leers and jeers of the guys in the halls at Willow Park. What she can't ignore, though, is the fact that someone has sent the picture to her father's work email address. Or that Mr. Swieback, the principal, found copies on the library computers. Or that even Ms. Godwin, the drama teacher, seems to think Audrey is some type of sex maniac.
Humiliation complete, Audrey must come to terms with her new social status, which has nothing to do with being a good girl. Along with Ash and Joelle, who have stood beside her, she forms a new, tenuous friendship with Pam and Cindy, two girls who had previously held the title as school [...]. But as Audrey realizes that she may have been wrong about the girls, especially Pam, she also realizes that being a good girl doesn't mean always being perfect.
I really enjoyed GOOD GIRLS. This is a book with heart and emotion, with true-to-life characters who don't preach or moralize, but who work hard at being the best type of people they can be. There are girls like Audrey, Ash, Joelle, Pam, and Cindy in every high school--just as there are boys like Luke and the insufferable Chilly. This is definitely a book for your keeper shelf.
Helpful Score: 1
GOOD GIRLS is a gem of a good read. Super-smart Audrey does something completely out of character for her before school starts: she hooks up with Luke, the well-liked, athletic playboy. Party after party, they hook up, yet hardly ever speak in school. Audrey feels more for Luke than she's felt for any other boy, but as she watches Luke talk to other girls, she can't help but draw back from a possible romance between the two of them.
Then someone takes a picture of Audrey hooking up with Luke, and the picture is passed around to everyone. Even Audrey's teachers and parents see it. Audrey goes from having a fairly decent reputation to being labeled as a slut. The consequences of the photo are far-reaching: Luke isn't talking to her and her parents don't know how to act around her.
However, some of what happens in the picture's aftermath surprises Audrey. She befriends several girls she had always considered as slutty before, and she learns that she does have the ability to be strong while people snicker behind her back.
GOOD GIRLS is snidely hilarious and a surprisingly feel-good read. It's raw and explicit; I wouldn't recommend it to anyone not in high school yet. However, Audrey is a great, strong protagonist with a wonderful voice. Not everyone has been in Audrey's particular situation, but I'm sure that everyone knows how it feels to be hurt, and then to rise above it.
Then someone takes a picture of Audrey hooking up with Luke, and the picture is passed around to everyone. Even Audrey's teachers and parents see it. Audrey goes from having a fairly decent reputation to being labeled as a slut. The consequences of the photo are far-reaching: Luke isn't talking to her and her parents don't know how to act around her.
However, some of what happens in the picture's aftermath surprises Audrey. She befriends several girls she had always considered as slutty before, and she learns that she does have the ability to be strong while people snicker behind her back.
GOOD GIRLS is snidely hilarious and a surprisingly feel-good read. It's raw and explicit; I wouldn't recommend it to anyone not in high school yet. However, Audrey is a great, strong protagonist with a wonderful voice. Not everyone has been in Audrey's particular situation, but I'm sure that everyone knows how it feels to be hurt, and then to rise above it.
