Slut or saint? Good friend or bad friend? In control or completely out of it?
Life is about choices, and Natalie Sterling prides herself on making the right ones. She’s avoided the jerky guys populating her prep school, always topped honor roll, and is poised to be the first female student council president in years.
If only other girls were as sensible and strong. Like the pack of freshmen yearning to be football players’ playthings. Or her best friend, whose crappy judgment nearly ruined her life.
But being sensible and strong isn’t easy. Not when a prank nearly gets her expelled. Not when her advice hurts more than it helps. Not when a boy she once dismissed becomes the boy she can’t stop thinking about.
The line between good and bad has gone fuzzy, and crossing it could end in disaster . . . or become the best choice she’ll ever make.
Bookflap summary via Siobhan's website (Click it, she just revamped her site and IT'S PRETTY!)
I've been in kind of a reading slump lately and Harry Potter and other school books (Yes, I'm taking a class on Harry Potter. IT'S TOTALLY AWESOME!) have been keeping me busy. BUT I MISS REVIEWING BOOKS! Leave it to Siobhan to get me out of my rut with her latest book!
Just finished Not That Kind Of Girl. Initial thoughts...
- It was perfect
- It just booted Same Difference from the #1 favourite book slot. (Not that I think Siobhan will mind that one of her books booted another)
But, you all know how I love to talk, so here's sort of a summary of my thoughts of sorts. Basically Natalie encompasses just about everything I was in middle and high school. I was the goody goody that tried her best to always impress teachers and parents and never falter. I was highly active in student council. In fact all through middle school I held every office including president. Mom and Dad were the sponsors so most of my weekend time was spent with them planning fundraisers and dances. Then in high school you weren't allowed to run for office until your senior year. When I transfered schools was when I became less of the "teacher's daughter" and more of an invisible person in my new huge school. Student council was the only school club I belonged to and I did actually run for vice president my senior year but lost to a more popular girl. While I didn't have an experience like Natalie that shocked my parents or teachers I kind of feel like that's what I'm going through now. Mom's always expected me to go on and be a teacher, do what she wants me to do. I think it actually scares her half to death that I don't have a plan necessarily, or at least not one that's fool proof. The thing is, I'm actually doing something I want to do, not what's expected.
I also feel like everyone always expects me to be this prude virgin who waits until marriage to have sex because that's the "right" thing to do. I've never been kissed, heck, I've never even really held hands with someone I was crushing on. That doesn't mean that I am the kind of person who shudders at the thought of sex. Natalie at the beginning of the book wasn't terrified of sex, but she knew that she didn't want some boy to control every aspect of her life because she was emotionally tied to him by sex. However when it did happen it wasn't something she regretted, even though the situation that followed wasn't the best. Sex is still something that's very special to me and it will probably take a lot of getting to know the other person before it happens, but I'm not going to feel ashamed when it does.
If some of the people who I used to go to church with knew the real me now I think they would be shocked, but honestly I'm completely happy with who I am right now. I'm not "acting out" or "being a rebel". I'm just being me, the me that felt so smothered before when I thought it was better to fit the "perfect" mold instead of just being myself. Does that mean I think the people at my church are wrong for having those values? No. I just simply feel that that way of thinking wasn't for me.
Siobhan knows just how to write the perfect book for me. She has real characters, a touch of romance, angst, quite a bit of fluffy chick lit stuff and an ending that while happy still left you feeling a tinge wounded. That's how real life is though. Bad things happen, people fall in and out of your life, hearts get broken, but it gets better. That's the kind of book I like to read, and why Siobhan continues to suck me in with her writing.
My favourite quote comes at the end of the book, (Let's hope this didn't change from ARC to publication because I haven't had a chance to go out and buy the book yet)
"It didn't matter if I was the kind of girl who had sex, or the kind of girl who had her portrait on a wall in the library, or the kind of girl who got into the best college, or the kind of girl who didn't tell her parents everything, or the kind of girl who teachers love.
I just needed to be okay with all the kinds of girl I was."
That quote is going on my facebook. I don't care how cheesy it is, it's exactly how I feel. I feel like at the end of the day all of my "past versions" are a part of me and never something I will be ashamed of (Except for that terrible period where I grew my bangs out and wore headbands. THEY LOOKED TERRIBLE. Let's hope I find all of the pictures from then and burn them.) I'm happy with the me that has come out of each and every experience I've had. My life shaped me to be the person I am now, I'm happy with that.
Also, I'm supposed to note, while I wasn't paid to write this review I did receive an ARC copy from the author herself. I would have bought the book anyway as I have every one of Siobhan's books. However Siobhan is lovely and sent me an autographed copy that says "To beautiful Kori - Love always, Siobhan Vivian." I can assure you though, the next time I'm at a book store there will be no way I'm not leaving without a copy of Not That Kind Of Girl.
I think it goes without saying that this gets a 5 out of 5. I haven't made a new ratings system for the new blog design yet but it will be around as soon as I get more back into the swing of blogging again.
A great book.
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