Tuesday 29 May 2012

New Girl by Paige Harbison (Young Adult) (Blog tour)

Funky socks!

4th May 2012, Mira Ink
314 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Themes: boarding school, fitting (& not fitting) in, snobby girls, mean girls, cliques, deranged girls, first time away from home, finding out who you are, breaking the rules, death, a few paranormal parts, promiscious teens, lots of adult situations, drinking, drugs, abuse, rape

Summary from MiraInk

The Queen Bee’s missing. Will you be next?It’s hard fitting in as the new girl among the rich elite at Manderley Academy, especially when you’re assigned to the old room of the perfect, popular Becca – who’s disappeared. What really happened to Becca? And what other sinister secrets lurk in the school’s dark hallways?Learning to survive Manderley’s cut-throat social scene, you can’t help but follow in Becca’s footsteps, even falling for Max, the boy she left behind. Although sometimes it seems that Becca’s still out there, watching you take her place. Waiting to take it back…

Nayuleska's thoughts

This is a book where I hated most of the characters because of their loose morals and inappropriate behaviour. I liked the new girl who oddly only gets named at the end. She is given an extremely tough time, thanks to Becca's legacy. I was glad when others started warming to her, and saving her from the delusional, Becca obsessed Dana.

I do have a 'however'. I was having quite radical ideas about who Becca was. These were so strong that initially when I first finished it the story felt flat. Yet when I thought of it, taking into account what actually happened, it's a pretty good ending. There's so much mystery and expectation throughout the story that for it to end simply and neatly is a good surprise to the reader. My theories for this 8/10 book are after the reading suggestion.

You can find out more on Paige's website

Make sure you check out the other stops on the blog tour: yesterday it was reviewed by Much Loved Books and tomorrow it will be on The Book Mogul and Marjolein Book Blog

Suggested reading

Definitely check out Paige's other book, Here Lies Bridget


Nayuleska's plot thoughts

1) I thought Becca was Dana, as a dual personality thing - although I couldn't explain away the photos or why everyone played to Dana's lunacy
2) The new girl was Becca's ghost or spirit (not everything added up for that theory either!)

No comments: