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Cracked Up to Be: A Novel
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In this young adult novel debut, the story of a girl too smart for her own good who, after one tragic night, decides to reject the popular life in exchange for one of solitude.
Perfect Parker Fadley isn't so perfect anymore. She's quit the cheerleading squad, she's dumped her perfect boyfriend, and she's failing school. Her parents are on a constant suicide watch and her counselors think she's playing games…but what they don't know, the real reason for this whole mess, isn't something she can say out loud. It isn't even something she can say to herself. A horrible thing has happened and it just might be her fault. If she can just remove herself from everybody--be totally alone--then everything will be okay...The problem is, nobody will let her.
“Cracked Up To Be gives you Parker, her world, her friends, straight up, no chaser. You won't forget her.” —Kathe Koja author of Kissing The Bee
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Commencer à lireInformations sur le livre
Cracked Up to Be: A Novel
Description
In this young adult novel debut, the story of a girl too smart for her own good who, after one tragic night, decides to reject the popular life in exchange for one of solitude.
Perfect Parker Fadley isn't so perfect anymore. She's quit the cheerleading squad, she's dumped her perfect boyfriend, and she's failing school. Her parents are on a constant suicide watch and her counselors think she's playing games…but what they don't know, the real reason for this whole mess, isn't something she can say out loud. It isn't even something she can say to herself. A horrible thing has happened and it just might be her fault. If she can just remove herself from everybody--be totally alone--then everything will be okay...The problem is, nobody will let her.
“Cracked Up To Be gives you Parker, her world, her friends, straight up, no chaser. You won't forget her.” —Kathe Koja author of Kissing The Bee
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CS![]()
Avis
It's clear that Cracked Up To Be is meant for the older YA reader when the f-bomb and the g-spot both make appearances in the dialogue on page one. It's also clear that Parker Fadley is a force to be reckoned with, and her high school cohorts are no match for her. And that it'll be a while before she lets us in on exactly what has gone terribly wrong in her life.Parker's abrasive snarkiness pulled me right in to the story--I wanted to find out what made this girl tick (I'm not sure I ever did) and to know what had happened and how she'd cope with it. It kept me up later than I wanted to stay awake. I'd definitely recommend it for teens (did I mention, older teens?) and fans of YA lit. For my full nitpicky review see Worducopia
Rating: 4I was totally confused through most of the book, and really the flashbacks of the main character made things worse for me. Once I kinda caught on to what the story was about I loved it! I have been reading a lot of upbeat teen books lately and this was a great change of pace. Parker is no longer the "perfect" teen character and that just made me love her more. She was once head cheerleader and after a party at her jock boyfriend's house; where something happens ( don't worry.. you'll have to wait for what it was); she goes on a downward spiral that ends with her trying to kill herself. We come into the story after she has been found and is back in school after her suicide attempt. She is no longer head cheerleader nor is she still dating the jock. I love that we got to see the popular side from a different perspective, she once was popular, but has alienated herself ( or at least tried) so we see the popular clique from someone who is still kinda in there but not really. And then Jake comes in, you knew there would have to be a "love" interest.. Jake takes a liking to Parker, no matter how mean or rude she is to him. He slowly weasels his way into her heart and Parker freaks out. But all good things must come to an end and it happens when a blast from her past shows back up at school. The story quickly wraps up from there and I was not at all happy with the ending. I want to know how Parker progresses and if her and Jake actually get a happy ending.
Rating: 4For fuck's sake, an easy four stars - I am born to love neurotic teen girl characters since I was/am one myself - but then the dog. The fucking dog. Literally the one thing I will never, ever forgive the author for. 999/1000 it is a cheap ploy to get to the reader's emotions that adds nothing to the plot and THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THIS WAS. I hate it. I beyond hate it. Genuinely, fuck your dog-murdering ways.
Rating: 3This was really dramatic, but not so much in the cliche way I find most YA to be. The flashbacks were nicely done, and I feel like the relationships were more realistically portrayed than usual. The event that sets the conflict into action is a legitimately serious issue, but not so much that it could never happen. It's a very real issue. This isn't really a happy-ending book, and I really liked that.
Rating: 3Cracked Up to Be provided a change of pace for my reading habits. I believe I bought this on a whim when the ebook was on sale. As I read through the first chapter, many theories about what may have happened to Parker and her friends danced through my head. Summers provides glimpes into what happened through pieces of flashbacks which seem to occur when Parker experiences some sort of panic attack. I enjoyed how this part of the story flowed. The main plot left me desiring more from some of the characters, and sometimes I really hated Parker since I'm not a mean spirited person myself. I understood that Parker really needed some help. Thakfully, it seems that she will finally receive that help. This is definitely more for high school YA readers. :)
Rating: 4Cracked Up to Be was my first experience of reading a book by Courtney Summer’s. I have to say, I will definitely be coming back for more.
Let’s start with Parker. Holy Guacamole, is she a character! I have never, EVER read about a character like this girl, which is a good thing. I am tired of Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen copycats.
The first thing you should know about Parker is that she treats people like dirt on the bottom of her boot. She just wants the whole world to leave her alone. In other words, she is extremely unlikable, bitter, and mean.
However, you can see how much she is suffering inside. I felt so attached to Parker, and was rooting for her throughout the whole book. There must be so many real people like her out there, and yet we barely ever read about them.
The story is also told in a series of flashbacks. I thought this was an amazing way to get across the feelings of pre-suicudal Parker. Also, the flashbacks added some oomph to the novel.
The ending of the novel was so amazing. While the ending is not quite a happy ending, it leaves the reader in hope of one. It was also a fulfilling ending, and when I read the last sentence, and put the book down, I felt as if I had just finished a race.
Overall, I cannot recommend Cracked Up to Be highly enough. The writing is realistic and gritty. The characters do not feel fictional. Why not pick this book up?
Rating: 5Let’s start with Parker. Holy Guacamole, is she a character! I have never, EVER read about a character like this girl, which is a good thing. I am tired of Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen copycats.
The first thing you should know about Parker is that she treats people like dirt on the bottom of her boot. She just wants the whole world to leave her alone. In other words, she is extremely unlikable, bitter, and mean.
However, you can see how much she is suffering inside. I felt so attached to Parker, and was rooting for her throughout the whole book. There must be so many real people like her out there, and yet we barely ever read about them.
The story is also told in a series of flashbacks. I thought this was an amazing way to get across the feelings of pre-suicudal Parker. Also, the flashbacks added some oomph to the novel.
The ending of the novel was so amazing. While the ending is not quite a happy ending, it leaves the reader in hope of one. It was also a fulfilling ending, and when I read the last sentence, and put the book down, I felt as if I had just finished a race.
Overall, I cannot recommend Cracked Up to Be highly enough. The writing is realistic and gritty. The characters do not feel fictional. Why not pick this book up?
I read this really quickly, easily getting into the character and her story, but it really fell apart in the end.Parker is a former perfect kid: honor roll, cheerleader captain, most popular, girlfriend to most popular boy. But now it's senior year and Parker's in danger of failing thanks to no homework, missing days, alienating everyone she knows and coming to school drunk. When new kid Jake shows an interest in Parker, she finds herself drawn to him, despite her conviction that nothing good happens to those around her. She keeps trying to push him away (by mean, snide, rude and usually hilarious comments made to everyone - this part of Parker is, strangely, what makes her likable for me), but she can't keep herself from remembering the night that's gotten her to this desperate point in her life.The big reveal - the thing that's hung over Parker's head for months and made her wish she were dead - is...a let down. While it is devastating, the way the writer handles it is ridiculous. Parker's revelation of what she's been hiding is treated as catharsis instead of as the opening of a police investigation as it should be, which meant I ended the book with a very frustrated "WTF?!"Up til that point, though, I was intrigue and felt sympathy (and some admiration) for Parker. Crap ending, though...
Rating: 3A dark and gritty novel that chronicles Parker as she struggles with the disappearance of her best friend, Cracked Up To Be is addicting and haunting. I finished it in one marathon sitting and it left me breathless.
Rating: 4I've heard nothing but praise for this book...and I felt let down. While there were some comical lines (and some did make me laugh out loud), I just couldn't connect with Parker. The only reason I continued reading this book was to find out what the big secret was, why Parker suddenly started drinking, attempted suicide, and pushed everyone away. CS drops flashback scenes here and there, but it didn't help much. I wasn't even remotely engrossed until after the first hundred pages. Then the flashback scenes became more intense, so I continued reading. Parker's friend Jessie has been missing for a year, which is the basis of Parker's problems. Even after knowing what happened the night Parker lost it (the night Jessie went missing), I still don't feel for her. Everything was blown out of proportion. Parker blabbed to Jessie that Jessie's boyfriend, Evan, was cheating on her and that's when shit hit the fan. Jessie rebounded with some college guy at the party, but they disappeared. When Parker found them in the woods, Jessie was being raped. My problem with this is: why didn't Parker stop what was happening? Why didn't she say something--anything? Better yet, why did she lie to the police by saying she didn't know where Jessie was? Another problem that nagged at the back of my brain was the fact that Parker had an ex who still cared about her, and a guy who was falling for her. Yet she teeter-tottered between the two, like she couldn't make up her mind. Exes are exes for a reason. And the new guy couldn't be more awesome. Dude puts up with a LOT of smartass comments from Parker. So much so that I'm convinced any normal guy would've been uninterested after the basic "fuck off" hint. I hate to see strong protagonists just stand back and not do anything, not even try to make things better, especially when Parker had an assortment of individuals who still cared about her well-being. This was well-written, and the voice was definitely there, but as a whole, the book irritated me.
Rating: 2Courtney Summers is a great author, I really enjoy her books. This won’t be my last book from her, and I do regret not buying Some Girls Are when I first saw it and instead getting a sequel book to a book that I don’t have. Which is a fail on my part. This book is about Parker Fadley. On a side note here, I actually didn’t realize that her name was Parker, thought people were calling her by her last name. So it made me wonder, ‘I wonder what her real name is.’ And then I realized. Parker is/was the most popular girl in school with the popular boyfriend, good grades and such. But something happens, which now becomes a secret she carries. And it might just be her fault.So her parents are keeping her on watch. The school is on watch. Suicide watch that is. And Parker pushes them away because she doesn’t want help. Not since it happened of course.Now Parker is probably a person in real life that I would detest very badly. But Summers’ awesome writing, and this was her debut novel by the way, made me root for her, want good things to happen to her. The plot was very good, some things I really liked, some things I was disappointed in and others I didn’t expect to happen. This reminded me of Speak at times actually. Now the thing I was disappointed in was one word: Romance. I’m not saying the romance is bad, I’m just saying that I didn’t like the romance thing. Meaning I wanted Chris to be with Parker because I just do. I’m not saying that Jake’s a bad person, he's a great character. I just wanted Chris to be with Parker. It's just my personal preference.The characters were nice. I didn’t like Becky as much as I wanted to. Jake was very interesting. Chris, no matter what things Parker will do to him- he’ll still love her and she knows it. Also about that secret thing, the only thing I can say is this. I won’t really tell you anything other then the fact that there was a party, beer, and the woods. I was surprised by what happened, I thought it was something else because there was a flashback of a hotel and I was reading a review about a hotel so to put it simply: I was confused.One more thing. The other thing I was disappointed in was quite minor. It doesn't really sway my feelings for this book. It was hotel scene and then Chris crying over her scene. It was a flashback, but I wanted it longer and written out for some reason. Again, it's my personal preference.The cover of the book is a good cover. I really like this one.
Rating: 5Plot: Parker used to be popular. She was a straight A student, captain of the cheer leading team, dating the most popular guy in school. Perfect. But then something went wrong. So wrong that she couldn’t fix it and it changed her for ever. Now she’s barely graduating and is doing a good job of alienating anyone who ever liked her. The more people try to help, the more she pushes them away. But the new kid, Jake, isn’t so easily discouraged. He likes her and he’s willing to take a lot of abuse in his quest to get close to her and to understand her.Parker is not a likable character. She doesn’t want to be. But Summers does a good job of portraying her conflicted emotions, emotions that Parker herself doesn’t always understand. My main problem with the novel is that I don’t like stories that create suspense by withholding information that the first person narrator knows. Still, it was interesting and realistic and one scene in particular had me bawling my eyes out. It wasn’t my type of book but if it is, you’ll probably love it.
Rating: 3Fabulousness abounds in this book about a high-schooler with a bevy of skeletons in her closet. Parker Fadley is the former popular “it” girl on campus. She’s dating the hunky jock, she’s got great BFF’s, and she’s just about as happy as any girl her age can be. That’s until she lives through a traumatic event that changes everything.What worked for me —Parker. She was bitchy and vulnerable and broken in ways that seem to lack the ability to be repaired. The glory in that is the journey she takes the reader on through her dysfunction and despair. She can’t find the goodness in herself only the bad and as a result her downfall from popular good girl to rebellious bad girl is epic in the eyes of her peers. Yet, as a reader I still loved her. In fact I loved her more for her faults than I ever would have if she remained the “perfect” girl she was before certain events transpired.The journey. Summers wrote a fantastic mystery which the reader is constantly left guessing about what truly happened to make Parker change so drastically. Sure, we knew it was bad, there wasn’t any question about that, but the question that we were always left with was “just how bad is it?”. If self loathing was any indication the events that transpired (which the reader does find out about at the very end of the story) were the bottom of the barrel.The realism. While I myself have not been in the situations that Parker found herself in throughout this novel I have to say it seemed pretty downright realistic to me. Her surly attitude and the rebellious way she acted reminded me of several people I went to high school with. The fact that it was all a mask to a larger problem only emphasized how true to form it all was. Parker pushed and pushed until there was practically nothing left to push away. Yet, even so, she was loved and cared for by those she kept at arms length.What didn’t work for me –Nothing. It all worked for me. Divine character development, excellent plot building, suspense, mystery, a touch of love here and there — it all wrapped up into a fabulously dynamic novel. A novel that, despite the darker undertones, didn’t leave me feeling hopeless or depressed. On the contrary I was hopeful and encouraged.Cracked Up To Be was not the easiest read in terms of the light and fluffy quotient but I assure you the ride is well worth it. Summers has won the Cybils Award for Young Adult literature for good reason.
Rating: 5This book was so much better than I thought it would be. No matter how mean Parker was to others, you couldn't help feel sympathetic toward her. Courtney Summers did a great job depicting a very smart, talented young woman living with such self-loathing, desperate to punish herself and deprive herself of any goodness in her life. Good thing she had people in her life who were unwilling to give up on her. Although intense, I thought this book ended on a very positive, hopeful note.
Rating: 5"When I finished Cracked Up to Be last Sunday I was at a loss for words. I still am. Most of the struggle I've been having with writing my review boiled down to not wanting to giveaway too much. It's essential that you don't know certain things about the book or it will change the way you read it entirely!"There is a reason this book recently won the Cybils Award for Best Young Adult Fiction for 2009. It's a beautiful and dark book that deals with difficult topics. Also, Cracked Up to Be is a book that will have every parent questioning the friends their children chose, the activities they participate in and the types of relationships they have with them. You won't want to put it down, but at the same time you'll keep wishing things were going to go in a different direction."One of my favorite paragraphs in all of my reading, ever, happened in the opening chapter of the book (available for viewing here):Imagine four years.Four years, two suicides, one death, one rape, two pregnancies (one abortion), three overdoses, countless drunken antics, pantsings, spilled food, theft, fights, broken limbs, turf wars–every day, a turf war–six months until graduation and no one gets a medal when they get out. But everything you do here counts.High school."As for the writing and story...it's not one to be missed, as you can tell from the above paragraph (just perfect in my opinion). Courtney Summers makes 224 pages seem like 50 and this makes it next to impossible to want to put down. Her main character, Parker Fadley is anything but likable most of the time. Parker has annoying ticks, personality quirks, angry outbursts and numerous other issues that make you want to tell her to just "deal with it" most of the time. But there are these little moments Parker has, when you see that they experience of everything she has lived through (not just the "horrible thing", but even before that) has made her a different person. Parker just needs to get through what has happened."It's a brilliant book. Not for the feint of heart, but well worth the couple of hours you will spend reading it. There is a bit of bad language, but truthfully, who went to high school with out it? It's a book about life and the things that happen along the way that you can't change but have to get through some how. I highly recommend this book."
Rating: 5I can tell you that I read this book based on the cover alone. It just looked like something I would enjoy, and I started reading it without even knowing what it was actually about because I just didn't read the summary. This book surpassed my expectations of just being a book I hoped I would enjoy to being a book that I truly loved. Once I began reading, there was no stopping and I stayed up late last night just to finish it, knowing I would have to be up in less than 5 hours for work. Sometimes it's hard to put into words why a certain book interests you. It can be one particular item that draws you in, or it can be a number of things. Everything in this novel worked extremely well together. The characters seemed to fit together like puzzle pieces even though some were ex-boyfriends/girlfriends and others former friends. One thing I really loved was even though the characters swore, had sex and drank, it wasn't forced. It didn't feel like the author was just adding in those actions for shock factor. The characters were so well written that what they were doing throughout the novel was 100% believeable. The mystery behind the main characters actions stay hidden until the very end of the book. At first I was very anxious to know what occurred, but as I continued to read, the story filled up and there was enough other activity going on where I didn't have to pine over finding out what went down.Overall, Cracked up to Be is a wonderful novel, with spectacular writing and chracters, and just enough mystery to keep things interesting but not too much to drive you crazy. I am completely amazed that this was Summers debut novel and I look forward to reading more work by her.Recommend to all.
Rating: 5Parker Fadley used to have the perfect life--perfect grades, head cheerleader, perfect boyfriend.But then something happened to change all of that.Now Parker is a shadow of her former self--dark, bitter and in danger of being expelled from her prestigious private school.What happened to chance Parker and its impact on her now is what drives "Cracked Up To Be" and elevates it above your average troubled young adult novel. Courtney Summers keeps the narrative interesting by peppering in bits and pieces of what led to Parker's break and her current struggle with the impact of the event. The story is filled with interesting, realistic characters who at times you'll love and at times you'll dislike--especially our first-person narrator Parker.Summers earns the revelation at the end well, having it be both believable and relevant without being melodramatic or trite. And the story ends exactly where it should and does so in an effective manner.A satisfying, compelling young adult novel that's worth reading.
Rating: 4Parker Fadley used to have it all. She was head cheerleader, got straight As, and was dating the hottest guy at her Catholic high school, but she gave it all up after one eventful party her senior year and now everyone’s on constant suicide watch. Now the new guy at school may be the only one who gets her to open up about what happened and survive.In Courtney Summers’ debut novel, she has created a compelling narrative that begs to be read in one sitting. Revealing the events of the fateful party slowly and from Parker’s hazy memory keeps the reader wanting the full story, even though all signs point to the truth being tragic. Summers also has a way of making characters that are extremely flawed, yet somehow still sympathetic and relatable. Parker makes so many questionable decisions, but you still root for her until the end.
Rating: 4This book has mainly pretty good reviews. I also really loved the sound of the book so its been on my wish list for a while so when it finally came in stock on Amazon I brought it right away, but I have to say I was a little disappointed.Parker Fadley is one of those girls who has it all. She?s cheerleading captain, has a gorgeous boyfriend and has perfect grades. In fact perfect could be Parkers middle name. So when Parker starts turning up to school drunk, breaks up with her boyfriend, quits the cheerleading squad and generally trys to isolate herself from everyone people don?t understand whats made Parker fall from grace so drastically. Then when new guy Jake turns up and wants to get to know Parker despite the fact she?s not perfect anymore she trys to push him away like everyone else but Jake doesn?t give up easily will Parker let someone in? and will we find out whats caused Perfect Parker Fadley to crumble?Well the main problems I had with this book was that I guessed roughly what happened from the start. The biggest problem though was Parker I found her extremely unlikable and her constant poor me what I did was so awful attitude didn?t make me sympathise with her at all especially because when you find out what happened its really not her fault I can understand why she would think it was but its like seriously girl this may come as a shock but its not all about you. I didn?t really like any of the characters all that much. That being said I didn?t hate this book it was a quick read being only 200 and something pages long and the writing was good and I liked the general idea. Before I read this I also brought Courtney?s second book Some girls are that I will still read and hopefully enjoy a bit more than her first novel, this gets a 3 stars from me.
Rating: 3Definitely enjoyed the pace throughout the book; very concise, clean and well-organized. I’m sure this has been said many times but really the mystery aspect of this book was so well done. A small bit here and a small bit there and at the end you’re like “OMG!” I loved almost all the characters. Seriously. Parker was so three-dimensional; she had her ups and her downs. You get a definite feel as to why she's like the way she is. The rest of the side characters were as equally impressive. They each held their ground against and with Parker. Their personalities and traits are very realistic and not too over the top. I almost forgot Bailey! The adorable dog that I want as my own. I greatly appreciated the small backgrounds Courtney gave. Sometimes authors never include these things and I’m always dying to know how and why these characters came to be. The dialogue was fun as well. You can feel the snarky attitude and the tension/awkwardness it created. It was straight forward and to the point when it wanted to be. This book is definitely not something that eases you into. Right from the start you’re enclosed in a whirlwind of emotions. Jump right in; just remember that it’s hard to escape once you’ve started. Trust me, I had a hard time getting started but once I got the feel of the book I couldn’t stop. Overall: A great read for the fall or winter season. Much deeper than your typically YA book. Something to pick on your way from the bookstore or the library!
Rating: 4In the tradition of Speak, Cracked Up to Be is one of those books where the reason for the main character's damaged-ness is slowly revealed over the course of the book. It keeps you reading, as do the characters, whose voices and traits ring true throughout. I especially like the depiction of Parker's anxiety disorder, and the way it was revealed in little things--her habit of snapping her fingers, for example. It was shown, rather than told. I did a booklist of YA books about characters with anxiety disorders awhile back, and this book would fit in perfectly. I thought the ending was a little rushed. I wish the author had taken more time to show Parker's decision to stop self-destructing. I feel like too often these "problem novels" take too much time with the problem, and not enough time showing what the process of recovery is like. Speak succeeds in this regard because we see that Melinda, the main character, is slowly recovering throughout the book, even though she's still dealing with depression. By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead follows a similar arc. Parker, on the other hand, keeps going into self-destructive cycles, and the book doesn't show much of a healing process. She's suicidal and pushing people away for most of the book and then suddenly, she's not. --SPOILER-- Also: Dammit, why do dogs in books always have to die? The dog in this book would have been a good way to show Parker opening up and trusting and learning that she is deserving of love, and it does for a while, but then it dies, which seems to reverse all the progress she made. I feel like a dog death is a really cheap way to tug peoples' heartstrings and I don't feel it added much to the story here. But maybe, as a dog lover, I'm just bitter because I never want dogs to die ever. (I think I would have liked it more if Bailey had died of natural causes. He was 10, after all. Having him die in a car crash is just... mean.) --END SPOILER-- Despite all that, though, I did like this book quite a bit. It had humor and snark and a scathing portrait of high school, all things I like in a YA novel. And it made me cry, and not just because of the SPOILER above. I'm excited to read the author's next novel, Some Girls Are. P.S. Does anyone else think the "Think outside the tree!" line in art class was a sly nod to Speak? It cracked me up.
Rating: 4I don't know if this would have been a book that I would have picked up on my own. I bought it because of all the great ratings and reviews. I wanted to love it I really did but...it just didn't work out that way.The writing was superb. I had no problems with that. Courtney Summers is very talented. To enjoy this book fully you had to sympathize with the main character, Parker. I found it very hard to sympathize with her. Almost impossible. She pushes everyone away and then gets upset that she has no one. She is mean to everyone and she acts pretty disturbed throughout the entire book. Which I understand is the point but I just could not like her. I tried! And I kept asking myself through the book, "Why is no one sending this girl to a shrink?!"The plot moves along swiftly. You get Parker's back story in small snippets and flashbacks. The whole story doesn't come out until the very end of the book and then every positive feeling I had about Parker went out the window. I'm not going to spoil anything. Just read the book.Overall, I really didn't know how I felt about this book. Like I said Summers is a very talented author but I could not rate the book too high because I didn't like Parker. I think everyone should still give this book a chance. Don't let my review change your mind. Most people love it. I just have mixed feelings.
Rating: 3Cracked up to be is one of those YA novels you can read in one sitting because it just sucks you right in. Although the style is complex, with flashbacks bringing the reader back and forth in time, teenagers will want to know the story and stick with it. Parker is a well-drawn main character and her experiences will speak to high school girls.
Rating: 4Parker Fadley is irritating, completely and utterly her own worst enemy in every possible way, and yet for some reason I absolutely loved her. I wanted to smack her a lot, but I loved her. I think it takes a lot of effort to make a character as imperfect as Parker and turn her into someone that readers can still connect to and care about. In high school I never faced any of the problems that Parker did, and somehow I can still connect to what she’s feeling, and that is something to me that is just amazing. It wasn’t just Parker either, I loved all of the characters, even Becky, and I felt bad for all of them – for their individual secrets, who their hearts were with, and what they were willing or not willing to settle for.It’s not really a secret that I don’t read very much contemporary fiction, YA or not, and that’s usually because it either ends up bad, too happy (yes, there is a such thing), or just leaves you hanging. With Cracked Up To Be we’re left hanging just a little but not so much that I want to fly into a rage, it ties up all the loose ends nicely. Personally, I think I just have a thing for series’. I wish I knew what happened to Parker after the book ends, I wish I knew how she ended up with her boy-issues, but life is unpredictable for the most part so it’s fitting that you’re kind of left wondering and hoping for Parker to pull through.The only thing that deterred me from absolutely loving Cracked Up To Be was the transition from when Parker was by herself to when she was with someone, or thinking about past events. For the most part the flashbacks are very easy to know because they’re all in italics. Sometimes though someone would start talking to Parker, or they’d sneak into the scene and I would be completely oblivious to them until they’re said to be doing something and all I can think of is ‘Wait, where did they come from?’ – and be forced to go back and see what I missed. And a few times, there was nothing, the other character just wasn’t properly introduced into the scene in a way that said HEY HERE I AM!Overall though I really really did love Cracked Up To Be, it highly restored my faith in contemporary fiction. Courtney – despite some scenes running together – really knows how to tell a captivating story and I cannot wait for more by her!
Rating: 4When I started this book I was reminded quite a bit of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Parker was a 4.0 student, head cheerleader and popular but an incident over the summer has her falling apart. She now must visit the school counselor every week, she is on academic probation and her friends have been told to keep an eye on her and report any destructive behaviors. The protagonists are very different, though, as are their experiences. I really like the way the story is told. It is in present time but Parker has small flashes of the party over the summer. Little snippets that grow and grow as the story progresses. An interesting way to tell the story and very effective in setting the tone. I look forward to more by Courtney Summers.
Rating: 4Part rebellious teen story, part crime novel, Cracked Up To Be is an interesting story. Something horrible has happened but the reader learn little details as Parker remembers what she doesn't want to remember. She goes from a slightly wild cheerleader to a brash, unhappy, sarcastic kid who is also very funny. The writing is taut and clever. But I couldn't enjoy the story, possibly because I've seen too many kids like this!
Rating: 3An awesome YA book! I couldn't put it down. Every time I thought I'd figured things out, something would happen to make me change my mind. The main character wasn't particularly likable, which is usually a great way to turn me off a book, but the deeper you delve into her motivations, the more you want to know. Great read!
Rating: 4CRACKED UP TO BE is the story of Parker Fadley. She once held the position of queen bee of the school. She was the Captain of the cheerleaders, always landed on the honor roll list, and had the same basketball-star boyfriend since freshman year.After a particularly wild party at her boyfriend’s house, something happened that left Parker with major feelings of guilt. She no longer feels like she deserved to live the life of perfection and slowly starts alienating herself from everyone and everything she once thought was so important. The problem is, the people around her don’t want to let her slip into the background.If you are in the mood for a light pick-me-up then CRACKED UP TO BE isn’t the book for you. It is filled with page after page of pain. Parker has to deal with feelings of loss and helplessness and discuss all of her painful experiences and poor decisions in therapy once a week. You’ll read obsessively until you learn what happened to change Parker’s life so drastically. The author eludes to the event throughout the story, but only reveals the whole picture when Parker is forced to come to terms with her decisions. While the entire book is filled with painful, awkward, and difficult situations, the story still ends on a hopeful note. It is definitely a book you don’t want to miss.
Rating: 5I had been wanting to read this book for ages, ever since I saw the first advanced reviews. Now that I finished it it’s really hard to gauge how I feel about it. I can’t rave about it like most of the other reviews I’ve seen. I could not put it down but it was almost in a morbid sense like not being able to watch a train wreck. In fact, watching Parker was like watching a train wreck. She was on a self destructive streak that while she was not the most like-able of characters you had to feel sorry for her. It was amazing to watch the support she was getting, especially from her ex-boyfriend and the new guy, Jake.Just as a warning Summers will leaving you guessing until almost the very end trying to figure out what drove Parker over the edge. I was a little confused at first because Summers would drop these tantalizing hints along the way until the final completion of events that lead Parker to her current state. This book did make me think about how hard parents and society in general pushes kids these days. First, it was you had to go to kindergarten and then pre-K and now it’s the “right” educational day cares. Then there are all the music, dance, swimming, etc. classes. You have to wonder how many of these kids will grow up to be like Parker and feel the constant pressure to be the perfect student.
Rating: 3Parker Fadley used to be perfect: cheerleading captain, honor roll, most popular boyfriend. Now, however, in her senior year of high school, she has none of those, and it’s all by her choice. She’s constantly getting in trouble, and has to meet with her guidance counselor once a week to discuss her “issues.”What happened to make Parker act this way? As Parker pushes away her old friends and struggles with her feelings for the new boy, Jake, she also grapples with her guilt over a terrible event that happened the year before.CRACKED UP TO BE is pretty much perfect. It’s a short but dense read that will keep you impatiently engrossed in Parker’s convoluted world, unable to tear yourself away until you find out what happened to make Parker deteriorate so much.Of course, it is Parker who carries the novel, Parker who makes me love this book. One of the most difficult things for a writer to do is to create characters who are not necessarily likable but still make readers empathize with them. Parker and all her friends are such characters. They are the most popular people at their high school—something I, along with most of us, have never experienced—but even so they are bitchy, emotional, hurt, in love, in lust, manipulative—in short, relatable, complex, and one hundred percent real.The novel is set up in a way that we don’t find out about what’s been eating at Parker until the very end, and the setup is wonderfully appropriate, for it allows us to focus on the character development while being intrigued by the backstory. I said that this book is pretty much perfect, and not just in the foundations, like the characters and the plot. Courtney Summers is also a writing master: she writes in an unassuming, straightforward prose that doesn’t beat around the bush. That’s the way Parker talks also; she gets straight to the point in wonderfully sarcastic lines.All in all…does this review even need a conclusion? Are you confused about how I feel about this novel? Run out and buy it right now!
Rating: 5What's the worst thing you've ever done? Not the time you stole a pack of gum from the grocery store or the time you ot mad and told your sister she looked fat. Not even the time you lusted after your best friend's guy. I mean, the worst thing you've ever done?What if it was something no one else knew about?Parker Fadley has something like that. Something she's trying to remedy in a few...choice ways. She's on a basic suicide watch at school, has weekly meetings with the counselor, broke up with her perfect boyfriend, and left her Perfect Parker title far, far behind.Cracked Up to Be is a book that keeps you out of the loop (as to what exactly Parker's secret is) for just about all of the book, but in a way that keeps you wanting to already be on that next page--not in a way hat gets you fed up. Lits bits are given throught the story as to what Parker did in ways that helped the story along, but never revealed too much too soon.The characters were great (and there wasn't a punk rock best friend like in about 90% of the books I've read lately, so plus there!) and all worked amazingly together. The four main characters were ones that I could really see being friends...even when they kind of weren't and some of them couldn't stand each other ;-)
Rating: 5