Review: Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Eileen Cook
Format: Paperback
Pages: 261
Rating: 5 out of 10

Summary (Thanks for existing Goodreads.com): 
Popularity is the best revenge.

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls--and now, at the start of her senior year, she's the cheerleading captain, the quarterback's girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she's ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she's moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn’t dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that's ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

My Thoughtless Ramblings: This cover is ugly. It is so important for me to say this that I'm going to say it first thing. The cover of the copy I have is beautiful. I had a two-for-one type deal called Used To Be which had two novels by Eileen Cook in it. I liked it much more. I would never have picked a book up off the shelf that had this cover on it. Yes, I judge books by their covers, deal with it.

So, anyway, getting revenge...I understand wanting to get back at people but I don't think I will ever understand wanting to destroy a person's life especially over what the slight was in this novel. It sucks yes, but JUST MOVE ON. I thought the whole plot of this novel was a huge waste of time. It was an interesting concept. It might have been okay if the thing that caused it wasn't so stupid. To Helen, it may have been big, in the moment. It was hardly something to let consume your life. It just didn't seem like a big enough thing to cause all that followed. That's my opinion.

Also, this chick is crazy! Who would do all of this to a person? She couldn't killed Lauren a few times over. I kept thinking, "oh my gosh, Helen is a sociopath!" She didn't seem to be worried about any consequences for what she was doing and I can think of so many right now. The top two would be homicide or suicide or jail time. Those are just the big ones. Having your life messed up is hardly worth ruining someones over. Helen had the opportunity to do just fine with her life but she lost a lot of credibility when she became the cruel person. It's hard to relate to someone who would stoop so low. 

The love interest in this was good. I liked him. I liked him and I liked a couple of the other friends Helen makes at the school. I thought they were way more thought out than the revenge plan. They were honestly my favourite part of the novel, no matter how poorly Helen treated them or the fact that they let her treat them so badly and remained her friends. I wouldn't have been so nice to her, I think.

So: This novel was a quick read and light enough. I didn't appreciate the plot all that much but other than the main character, I liked the people that were found on these pages. I find myself not blaming the author for my dislike of this novel. It's just what it was. I won't be reading it again but I would read more from this author in the future.

Review: The Education of Hailey Kendrick

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Eileen Cook
Format: Paperback
Pages: 272
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads educated me): Hailey Kendrick always does exactly what's expected of her. She has the right friends, dates the perfect boy, gets good grades, and follows all the rules. But one night, Hailey risks everything by breaking a very big rule in a very public way...and with a very unexpected partner in crime. Hailey gets caught, but her accomplice does not, and Hailey takes the fall for both of them. 

Suddenly, Hailey's perfect life--and her reputation--are blowing up in her face. Her friends are all avoiding her. Her teachers don't trust her. Her boyfriend won't even speak to her for long enough to tell her that she's been dumped.

They say honesty is the best policy--but some secrets are worth keeping, no matter the cost. Or are they?

My Thoughts on this beautiful novel: I don't think I've ever related to a novel like I related to this one. Okay so there was a lot different about her life: the dead mom, the boarding school, the being rich, the hot men in her life... ... ... I'm sorry, I was daydreaming, got distracted. What was I saying? Oh, right. Her life was do very different from mine. Yet, at the same time, it wasn't. There are so many things I would never dare try. I'm not a rule breaker. I am more afraid of the world than anything else. Honestly, it's true. Feel free to e-mail me if you ever wanna chat because I really am more afraid of you than you are of me. I could also understand why she eventually snapped. Who wouldn't snap with all that pressure she was putting on herself?

Since I saw so much of myself in Hailey, I feel in love with her. Okay, not in that way, I reserved that for the multiple nice guys in the novel. Unlike Hailey, boys have never been a problem in my life. Anyway, she didn't bother me. I can't think of anything about her that I didn't like (although, there must have been something).

I thought that her punishment was hilarious. It added a lot of comedy to the story. I loved that about it.

Her friends kind of made me man. Suddenly, they weren't there for her like I think they should've been. Would it have killed them to take a minute to listen to her side of the story? Probably not.

This novel was both easy and fast. It was also enjoyable. I caught myself laughing at a few parts. I also felt unbelievable anger during other parts. I've been avoiding high school stories lately but I'm glad I picked this novel up. It made me happy and was totally worth the time and money I spent on it. I'll just ignore that she was so much younger than me...

So, basically, I enjoyed this novel a lot. It was the first novel by Eileen Cook I'd ever read and I don't think that it will be the last. Can anyone recommend me some more good ones by her?