Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Allison Noel review

Title: Art Geeks and Prom Queens



Author: Alyson Noel



Publisher/Release Date: St. Martin's Griffin (August 11, 2005)



MSRP (Paperback): $8.95



Pages: 240



Rating: * */5 stars







Summary: Being the new girl is tough- just ask sixteen-year-old Rio Jones. A New York transplant, Rio has no clue how she's going to fit in at her fancy new private school in Southern California. Plus, being late, over-dressed, and named after a Duran Duran song doesn't make the first day any better.


Then Rio meets Kristi. Beautiful, rich, and a cheerleader, Kristi is the queen bee of Newport Beach. And Kristi isn't friends with just anyone, so Rio is thrilled when she's invited to be part of their most exclusive, popular clique. Of course, like with any club, Kristi and her friends have rules: Always smile (even when you don't mean it), always dress cute (and never repeat an outfit) and always flirt (but only with jocks, preps, and rich college guys) .


At first Rio is havign a great time, but as she becomes more immersed in this jet-set crowd, she figures our there is one last rule that her new friends forgot to mention- don't cross Kristi...





My thoughts on the....





PLOT: Oh my, it's been done SO many times before. Totally and completely predictable every step of the way.





CHARACTERS: I didn't feel much of an attachment to any of the characters, including Rio- she actually whined about how hard it was for her to be beautiful and model-like. ALL the time. Something about her just didn't work for me. And the other characters? Didn't click either. I felt like something was missing from them, like they weren't really there (yes, I KNOW it's a book, do you get what I mean though?).


START/ENDING: Slow beginning, but I was pretty happy with the ending. At least she got over herself, and it was cute and sweet.



SETTING: Not much of a setting- this book was pretty bad about using the details that make a book interesting. Mainly, it was a big breakdown of what EVERYONE was wearing. At every second of the day. Not fun, my friends.



WRITING: The writing did have some plausibility- it was respectably funny. But (there's always a but with this book) it was really repetitive, and, as stated in the characters section, whiny. I kept getting distracted and bored, letting my eyes flit around.


OVERALL/ANYTHING ELSE?: I've always shied away from Allyson Noel's books on the shelves- now, I kind of see why. If you're curious and in a serious state of bookdrought, maybe pick up a copy at the library, but don't waste your time otherwise.