The Julian Game by Adele Griffin: Review by Andye
This review is based off of an ARC provided by the author and could possibly change slightly in the final copy.
Description from Goodreads:
New girl Raye Archer is desperate for a way into the In crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker chooses her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity as “Elizabeth” so that she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. While a fun and dangerous thrill at first, what Raye hadn’t counted on was falling for Julian herself—and igniting Ella’s rage.
As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge. Now it’s Raye who falls victim, as Ella creates an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she’s helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter.
Adele Griffin’s riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge.
What first attracted me to this book was the cover! I mean, wow, awesome job! One of the best covers I've seen in awhile, plus it matches my blog which makes it amazing! When I started reading this book, I thought it was a remake of "John Tucker Must Die" and there are some similarities, but the book quickly took a turn and I thought it was really well done.
Raye wasn't the typical nerdy girl that let the popular girls run all over her. She wanted popularity and was willing to go pretty far to get what she wanted. Even if that meant changing her appearance and pretending to be someone she wasn't. Ella, the most popular girl in school, wanted to get back at her ex-boyfriend, Julian, for breaking her heart, so Raye came up with a plan to get back at him. She made a ficticious facebook account and "friended" Julian. As Raye gets to know Julian, however, she's not sure if she wants this game to continue, but Ella isn't ready to stop, and when Raye puts her foot down, Ella turns her venom on Raye instead. And Ella has a lot of venom.
What I liked about this book was that it really showed how putting yourself out there on Facebook etc. can come back to haunt you in a big way. It also spoke to bullying and how unyielding bullies can be when they fix on a target. I loved that Raye stayed strong with the girls, and that her friend, Natalya stood by her side even though it could've hurt her too. I also really liked Raye for the most part. I thought she was smart and funny, and I enjoyed all the IM chats between the characters.
What I didn't care for in the book was how pathetic Raye got around Julian. No matter what happened, she just melted around him and it drove me crazy. But, I know that happens to a lot of girls, and it's good that it brought up so much emotion in me. It shows that I actually cared about Raye and how she was treated (a sign of good writing). The other things I didn't care for were the descriptiveness of a physical relationship between two of the characters, and some of the language. The intense "make-out" scene was too much, in my opinion, and it didn't seem right anyway. It seemed like an afterthought that was put in for shock value. And the language is just a personal preference. It wasn't too bad, it's just not something I care for.
Overall, I did really enjoy it and I finished it in a day, so it was a quick, fun, easy read that had my emotions running the gamut!
New girl Raye Archer is desperate for a way into the In crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker chooses her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity as “Elizabeth” so that she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. While a fun and dangerous thrill at first, what Raye hadn’t counted on was falling for Julian herself—and igniting Ella’s rage.
As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge. Now it’s Raye who falls victim, as Ella creates an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she’s helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter.
Adele Griffin’s riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge.
What first attracted me to this book was the cover! I mean, wow, awesome job! One of the best covers I've seen in awhile, plus it matches my blog which makes it amazing! When I started reading this book, I thought it was a remake of "John Tucker Must Die" and there are some similarities, but the book quickly took a turn and I thought it was really well done.
Raye wasn't the typical nerdy girl that let the popular girls run all over her. She wanted popularity and was willing to go pretty far to get what she wanted. Even if that meant changing her appearance and pretending to be someone she wasn't. Ella, the most popular girl in school, wanted to get back at her ex-boyfriend, Julian, for breaking her heart, so Raye came up with a plan to get back at him. She made a ficticious facebook account and "friended" Julian. As Raye gets to know Julian, however, she's not sure if she wants this game to continue, but Ella isn't ready to stop, and when Raye puts her foot down, Ella turns her venom on Raye instead. And Ella has a lot of venom.
What I liked about this book was that it really showed how putting yourself out there on Facebook etc. can come back to haunt you in a big way. It also spoke to bullying and how unyielding bullies can be when they fix on a target. I loved that Raye stayed strong with the girls, and that her friend, Natalya stood by her side even though it could've hurt her too. I also really liked Raye for the most part. I thought she was smart and funny, and I enjoyed all the IM chats between the characters.
What I didn't care for in the book was how pathetic Raye got around Julian. No matter what happened, she just melted around him and it drove me crazy. But, I know that happens to a lot of girls, and it's good that it brought up so much emotion in me. It shows that I actually cared about Raye and how she was treated (a sign of good writing). The other things I didn't care for were the descriptiveness of a physical relationship between two of the characters, and some of the language. The intense "make-out" scene was too much, in my opinion, and it didn't seem right anyway. It seemed like an afterthought that was put in for shock value. And the language is just a personal preference. It wasn't too bad, it's just not something I care for.
Overall, I did really enjoy it and I finished it in a day, so it was a quick, fun, easy read that had my emotions running the gamut!
4 out of 6
~Andye
- Reading level: Young Adult
- Hardcover: 208 pages
- Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (August 26, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0399254609
- ISBN-13: 978-0399254604
I'm 42 & love YA books.
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