Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
PARTY is a novel told in 11 different voices. Each chapter is a different viewpoint of a night unfolding.
The story starts out with Beckett. She is a girl who has withdrawn from everyone and thinks that she is invisible. She talks herself into going to the graduation party of the year, even though she's only going to be a senior at Santa Barbara High.
As the story unfolds, we meet a girl-gone-wild trying to get the attention of her parents. We meet her ex-boyfriend, who got dumped because he wouldn't have sex with her. We meet a boy who had a bright future in football but lost his desire to play. There is also a boy who has to deal with racial prejudice. And then there is the girl who holds it all together.
PARTY's writing style is reminiscent of Paul Ruditis' RAINBOW PARTY; however, the themes are far different. PARTY slowly reveals the different connections of the characters. As the night plays out, secrets are revealed, friendships are formed, lots of alcohol is consumed, and a fight brings it all to a head.
I found the first couple of chapters slow going. But eventually, the characters start to become interconnected and the action picks up. Some characters are far easier to like than others, but by the end I found myself changing my mind about more than one of them (in a good way.)
PARTY is a novel told in 11 different voices. Each chapter is a different viewpoint of a night unfolding.
The story starts out with Beckett. She is a girl who has withdrawn from everyone and thinks that she is invisible. She talks herself into going to the graduation party of the year, even though she's only going to be a senior at Santa Barbara High.
As the story unfolds, we meet a girl-gone-wild trying to get the attention of her parents. We meet her ex-boyfriend, who got dumped because he wouldn't have sex with her. We meet a boy who had a bright future in football but lost his desire to play. There is also a boy who has to deal with racial prejudice. And then there is the girl who holds it all together.
PARTY's writing style is reminiscent of Paul Ruditis' RAINBOW PARTY; however, the themes are far different. PARTY slowly reveals the different connections of the characters. As the night plays out, secrets are revealed, friendships are formed, lots of alcohol is consumed, and a fight brings it all to a head.
I found the first couple of chapters slow going. But eventually, the characters start to become interconnected and the action picks up. Some characters are far easier to like than others, but by the end I found myself changing my mind about more than one of them (in a good way.)
