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ceealaina's review against another edition
2.0
I was honestly really disappointed with this book. I really thought it would be more about girls learning to respect each other, that the pitting of girls (especially teenagers) against each other is unnecessary. It sort of tried to make that message at the very end, but it wasn't what I'd call a solid point. I spent a fair chunk of the book cringing. Also, there were a lot of instances of casual slut shaming and vague homophobia that were just an accepted way of talking about other people without it ever being called out. It felt like a not-as-well-written version of Mean Girls. All in all, I just couldn't seem to enjoy it.
heyjudy's review against another edition
1.0
~1/5
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
A review copy was provided by Cuddlebuggery's Little Blogger, Big Ambitions project. Thank you!
Warning: Contains mass rage, and some spoilers.
I really wanted to like this book. I requested it thinking that I would enjoy it, that it sounded good. Then it started sounding like maybe it would be more annoying, angst mean girls, but I tried staying optimistic. I went in hoping that it would be quirky and funny, and that maybe it would surprise me. And I started it, got a couple pages in, and was thinking I was right. And then I read some more pages, and realized that I was wrong.
This book, very quickly, got on the wrong foot with me, and just continued getting worse and worse the more I read. I’m not even sure what I think about the rating I’m maybe giving it, because I don’t usually give books 1 star ratings, and it feels wrong. But this book rather deserves it.
So Hailey, our protagonist, has to move because of her father’s new job. And she’s totally not upset about this, you guys; she understands. I mean, she doesn’t really, and she’d rather get to stay in her home town with her one friend and those girls that bully her, but she understands, okay? And as she’s packing up her stuff, she finds this old journal of her sister's, detailing how to be a hater, which really means how to be one of those bitch bullies that have always picked on Hailey. But that doesn’t matter, because Hailey totally wants to be one of them, duh, because doesn’t everyone?
So Hailey gets to the new town, and she meets her next door neighbor, a boy who goes to her school. She’s warned away from another girl on her street, because she’s a total freak. And then she goes to school and she gets in with the popular girls, and she’s so excited. I mean, the main girl gives her a speech on how she’s supposed to dress, on how she has to get permission before she buys stuff, on all these guidelines, the first time she talks to them, but that doesn’t matter. Because they’re the cool girls, and so they obviously totally rock, right? Of course, everyone wants to be them, duh.
But then Hailey starts hanging out with that freak girl, and finds out that she likes her more, and then stands up to the girls. She’s warned away from doing this, but she does it anyway. And honestly, this is where I got a little hopeful, for like a chapter. Because that didn’t make the rest of the story any better.
Okay so I hate Hailey. She’s selfish and mean and wants all the attention and to be the queen b of the school. She had one friend from her previous school, who doesn’t get enough mention to seem that great, and is bullied by the popular girls. And yet she never seems actually that mad about it. She acts mad, at some points, but the overpowering emotion I felt from her was that she wanted them to like her. And I don’t understand that.
She gets in with the popular girls, it’s obvious that they are horrible people, but she ignores that. And then when Anya, the freak girl, tells her this, she gets all pissed off/shocked. Like it wasn’t obvious from the start? And yet, despite this, everyone still wants to be their best friends?
Is it just me, who doesn’t understand this whole ‘popular girl’ phenomenon? Because I really don’t. I mean, these girls are horrible, okay? To everyone. And everyone knows it. And yet everyone tries being nice to them, stepping on eggshells around them. If no one did that, then they would have no power. I just don’t understand.
But aside from that. Hailey hangs out with the girls for, like, two days or something. And then she goes to sit with Anya at lunch, because she’s decided that she’d rather be with someone she actually likes. And then they make friends with a bunch of other girls.
I didn’t understand this, even a little. Anya is the freak girl, who used to be popular before something happened. And she sits alone at lunch. But then, suddenly, Hailey makes friends with her, and somehow in the time between two chapters, they make friends with like four other girls. We’re never shown this, they’re just introduced in the next chapter, like they’ve been friends all along. When they were never even mentioned before. But whatever, right? And all of these girls are obviously different and unique, of course. I mean, there’s that one Asian girl, you know, who’s smart and doing some kind of drugs because of all the pressure. And then there’s that one shoplifter. And that girl with really low self-esteem who just wants to be popular. And there’s the teen pregnancy one. None of which, of course, are even a little fleshed out. I couldn’t tell you their names, nor whether that first one is actually the same one or two different people.
I did not care about, or remember, or get to know, any of them enough. The druggy girl even had a meltdown or whatever at the end, but it merely gets a mention and an “I feel bad” from Hailey. Not a fuck given.
And then Hailey’s sister shows up, the girl behind the hater journal book they’re following, and she gives them this big sob story of how horrible that journal is, what it resulted in for her. And it’s just so cliché and overused, that I couldn’t form much care for it.
I’ve talked about how I don’t get the mean girl thing, right? Because those girls… there was not a single likeable thing about them. The main girl is given some hint of a back story, a “oh her family life is bad, she has her reasons” but none of that was fully developed, or explained, nor did we actually get to see any of it. And even if it was, that gives her a reason for it, but does not excuse her behavior, because there's no excuse for being a bitch, okay?
And then there was the whole debacle with their parents having an affair, and we get the hint that that’s not going to work out, because I guess the girl’s mother is horrible or something, even though we never even get to meet her, nor know how that turns out.
Now, aside from this big mean girl plot, there were other things in this book. Things that I didn’t like. Like how Hailey gets a boyfriend and, of course, there’s this big overwrought blow job scene, how she’s embarrassed but is doing it because she thinks she has to (because they’ve been together for a couple of months, even though that is absolutely no reason to do that), and then how she messes it up. The whole thing was dumb and humiliating and had absolutely no point to the plot.
The writing in this book I did not like at all. The author, I think, was just trying really super hard to sound like a teenager, and ended up not sounding like a teenager at all. And then she tried to sound thoughtful and quirky, and ended up just not working that out at all. There were a lot of thoughts from Hailey that were supposed to be funny and true and relate-able, but there were too many, they were too long, and they just ended up sounding dumb. Like getting a paragraph PSA about some doctor job that doesn’t have enough people. And a page or something of how she likes milk chocolate, even though dark chocolate is supposedly better for you but she doesn’t care. Not to mention all of the overused, cliched tropes used in this book, some of which I mentioned above: teen pregnancy, sex and blow job issues and embarrassment, divorcing and cheating parents, mean girls, taking down the mean girls, self-image issues, stealing, doing drugs, connecting with older sister, sisterhood with friends, being Invisible, fighting with your best friend, fighting with your boyfriend. Just.. all of it, in ridiculous amounts.
And then there were all of the mildly to majorly offensive comments, mostly regarding slut-shaming type of things, girls with daddy issues, things like that. And those weren’t needed, either. Then there were the tense changes: for most of the book, it’s in present tense. But then sometimes Hailey will look back on what she did in past tense, from a time after all of the mean girl journal debacle is over, I suppose for some foreshadowing, anticipation. That didn’t really work, but mostly it bothered me that she couldn’t decide which tense the book should be in.
Overall, this book just pulled off pissing me off. I was angry and ready to be done with it by half-way, and thankful it was finally over when I finished it. This book is crap, okay? I hated all of it. I’m trying to think of a single thing I liked. Maybe I liked Hailey’s boyfriend, even though Hailey was not particularly good to him? I think I might have liked Anya, a little, for a while? I don’t think there was enough development, though, for me to say any of those things confidently enough.
And honestly, I’m rather glad to be done with this book, and be able to not think about it anymore.
Sidenote: Also, I think I'm kind of done with the whole mean girl idea, as well. I used to like it, and I still think it can be done well and exists in real life, but overall I'm just done with it. It's overused and rather dumb, in my opinion, especially when exaggerated.
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
A review copy was provided by Cuddlebuggery's Little Blogger, Big Ambitions project. Thank you!
Warning: Contains mass rage, and some spoilers.
I really wanted to like this book. I requested it thinking that I would enjoy it, that it sounded good. Then it started sounding like maybe it would be more annoying, angst mean girls, but I tried staying optimistic. I went in hoping that it would be quirky and funny, and that maybe it would surprise me. And I started it, got a couple pages in, and was thinking I was right. And then I read some more pages, and realized that I was wrong.
This book, very quickly, got on the wrong foot with me, and just continued getting worse and worse the more I read. I’m not even sure what I think about the rating I’m maybe giving it, because I don’t usually give books 1 star ratings, and it feels wrong. But this book rather deserves it.
So Hailey, our protagonist, has to move because of her father’s new job. And she’s totally not upset about this, you guys; she understands. I mean, she doesn’t really, and she’d rather get to stay in her home town with her one friend and those girls that bully her, but she understands, okay? And as she’s packing up her stuff, she finds this old journal of her sister's, detailing how to be a hater, which really means how to be one of those bitch bullies that have always picked on Hailey. But that doesn’t matter, because Hailey totally wants to be one of them, duh, because doesn’t everyone?
So Hailey gets to the new town, and she meets her next door neighbor, a boy who goes to her school. She’s warned away from another girl on her street, because she’s a total freak. And then she goes to school and she gets in with the popular girls, and she’s so excited. I mean, the main girl gives her a speech on how she’s supposed to dress, on how she has to get permission before she buys stuff, on all these guidelines, the first time she talks to them, but that doesn’t matter. Because they’re the cool girls, and so they obviously totally rock, right? Of course, everyone wants to be them, duh.
But then Hailey starts hanging out with that freak girl, and finds out that she likes her more, and then stands up to the girls. She’s warned away from doing this, but she does it anyway. And honestly, this is where I got a little hopeful, for like a chapter. Because that didn’t make the rest of the story any better.
Okay so I hate Hailey. She’s selfish and mean and wants all the attention and to be the queen b of the school. She had one friend from her previous school, who doesn’t get enough mention to seem that great, and is bullied by the popular girls. And yet she never seems actually that mad about it. She acts mad, at some points, but the overpowering emotion I felt from her was that she wanted them to like her. And I don’t understand that.
She gets in with the popular girls, it’s obvious that they are horrible people, but she ignores that. And then when Anya, the freak girl, tells her this, she gets all pissed off/shocked. Like it wasn’t obvious from the start? And yet, despite this, everyone still wants to be their best friends?
Is it just me, who doesn’t understand this whole ‘popular girl’ phenomenon? Because I really don’t. I mean, these girls are horrible, okay? To everyone. And everyone knows it. And yet everyone tries being nice to them, stepping on eggshells around them. If no one did that, then they would have no power. I just don’t understand.
But aside from that. Hailey hangs out with the girls for, like, two days or something. And then she goes to sit with Anya at lunch, because she’s decided that she’d rather be with someone she actually likes. And then they make friends with a bunch of other girls.
I didn’t understand this, even a little. Anya is the freak girl, who used to be popular before something happened. And she sits alone at lunch. But then, suddenly, Hailey makes friends with her, and somehow in the time between two chapters, they make friends with like four other girls. We’re never shown this, they’re just introduced in the next chapter, like they’ve been friends all along. When they were never even mentioned before. But whatever, right? And all of these girls are obviously different and unique, of course. I mean, there’s that one Asian girl, you know, who’s smart and doing some kind of drugs because of all the pressure. And then there’s that one shoplifter. And that girl with really low self-esteem who just wants to be popular. And there’s the teen pregnancy one. None of which, of course, are even a little fleshed out. I couldn’t tell you their names, nor whether that first one is actually the same one or two different people.
I did not care about, or remember, or get to know, any of them enough. The druggy girl even had a meltdown or whatever at the end, but it merely gets a mention and an “I feel bad” from Hailey. Not a fuck given.
And then Hailey’s sister shows up, the girl behind the hater journal book they’re following, and she gives them this big sob story of how horrible that journal is, what it resulted in for her. And it’s just so cliché and overused, that I couldn’t form much care for it.
I’ve talked about how I don’t get the mean girl thing, right? Because those girls… there was not a single likeable thing about them. The main girl is given some hint of a back story, a “oh her family life is bad, she has her reasons” but none of that was fully developed, or explained, nor did we actually get to see any of it. And even if it was, that gives her a reason for it, but does not excuse her behavior, because there's no excuse for being a bitch, okay?
And then there was the whole debacle with their parents having an affair, and we get the hint that that’s not going to work out, because I guess the girl’s mother is horrible or something, even though we never even get to meet her, nor know how that turns out.
Now, aside from this big mean girl plot, there were other things in this book. Things that I didn’t like. Like how Hailey gets a boyfriend and, of course, there’s this big overwrought blow job scene, how she’s embarrassed but is doing it because she thinks she has to (because they’ve been together for a couple of months, even though that is absolutely no reason to do that), and then how she messes it up. The whole thing was dumb and humiliating and had absolutely no point to the plot.
The writing in this book I did not like at all. The author, I think, was just trying really super hard to sound like a teenager, and ended up not sounding like a teenager at all. And then she tried to sound thoughtful and quirky, and ended up just not working that out at all. There were a lot of thoughts from Hailey that were supposed to be funny and true and relate-able, but there were too many, they were too long, and they just ended up sounding dumb. Like getting a paragraph PSA about some doctor job that doesn’t have enough people. And a page or something of how she likes milk chocolate, even though dark chocolate is supposedly better for you but she doesn’t care. Not to mention all of the overused, cliched tropes used in this book, some of which I mentioned above: teen pregnancy, sex and blow job issues and embarrassment, divorcing and cheating parents, mean girls, taking down the mean girls, self-image issues, stealing, doing drugs, connecting with older sister, sisterhood with friends, being Invisible, fighting with your best friend, fighting with your boyfriend. Just.. all of it, in ridiculous amounts.
And then there were all of the mildly to majorly offensive comments, mostly regarding slut-shaming type of things, girls with daddy issues, things like that. And those weren’t needed, either. Then there were the tense changes: for most of the book, it’s in present tense. But then sometimes Hailey will look back on what she did in past tense, from a time after all of the mean girl journal debacle is over, I suppose for some foreshadowing, anticipation. That didn’t really work, but mostly it bothered me that she couldn’t decide which tense the book should be in.
Overall, this book just pulled off pissing me off. I was angry and ready to be done with it by half-way, and thankful it was finally over when I finished it. This book is crap, okay? I hated all of it. I’m trying to think of a single thing I liked. Maybe I liked Hailey’s boyfriend, even though Hailey was not particularly good to him? I think I might have liked Anya, a little, for a while? I don’t think there was enough development, though, for me to say any of those things confidently enough.
And honestly, I’m rather glad to be done with this book, and be able to not think about it anymore.
Sidenote: Also, I think I'm kind of done with the whole mean girl idea, as well. I used to like it, and I still think it can be done well and exists in real life, but overall I'm just done with it. It's overused and rather dumb, in my opinion, especially when exaggerated.
bookworm097's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so good!! I saw this on BookOutlet and was immediately attracted to the over, because it looks like a comic book, and I thought that was really neat. Then I read the title, and I was hooked! I'm a very cynical and sarcastic person, so I definitely felt like this book was speaking to me. So I bought and read it almost as soon as it came in the mail! And I loved it!!
If you liked the movie Mean Girls, you will enjoy this book. It sounds kind of typical, a girl takes down the popular girls, yada, yada, yada. It is rather predictable, but still so adorable and cute and enjoyable! It is a quick read, so it's definitely worth the investment of time.
The characters are all very lovable and pretty much all relatable. We've all been to highschool, even if some of us didn't go to public school, we've had to deal with the mean popular kids. This is a character-driven story, rather than plot-driven, and it works nicely.
The writing style is very easy to read, and it makes the book go by quickly. It's easy to understand what is going on and who is speaking.
This book is one I would definitely recommend to people. It would also make a great movie! It's just an all-around good story, light-hearted, funny, serious at times, just so great!!
If you liked the movie Mean Girls, you will enjoy this book. It sounds kind of typical, a girl takes down the popular girls, yada, yada, yada. It is rather predictable, but still so adorable and cute and enjoyable! It is a quick read, so it's definitely worth the investment of time.
The characters are all very lovable and pretty much all relatable. We've all been to highschool, even if some of us didn't go to public school, we've had to deal with the mean popular kids. This is a character-driven story, rather than plot-driven, and it works nicely.
The writing style is very easy to read, and it makes the book go by quickly. It's easy to understand what is going on and who is speaking.
This book is one I would definitely recommend to people. It would also make a great movie! It's just an all-around good story, light-hearted, funny, serious at times, just so great!!
shemyshines98's review against another edition
5.0
When I saw the cover of this book, I was wowed! This book was very funny, but somewhat insightful. Confessions of a hater shows that you don't need to be a hater to get farther in life. Just be you. It's that simple, but in this book it shows you the consequences when you start to act like the Populars. That's when all hell breaks loose. All in all, I like this book! Very good, a awesomely ass-kicking book! I recommend everyone to read this book.
llu343's review against another edition
3.0
Hailey is not a popular girl back in her high school in Westchester, but when she moves to California she decides to reinvent herself and be everything she was not. Things do not work out exactly as she had planned, but she learns about herself and life along the way.
andrearbooks's review against another edition
4.0
How To Be A Hater is a YA book by one of my favorite “grown-up” writers, Caprice Crane. It was fantastic and a humorous and honest look at the realities of high school. It also made me realize I have no desire to go back to high school EVER.
designergirl9's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this book was hilarious and had some great lines and references. The only issue I can see with why the book hasn't gotten better ratings and reviews is that some of the humor and parts that make the book so brilliant the average young adult might not get or appreciate fully. The book has a good message, it's interesting, easy to follow, and its really funny. I look forward to seeing more from Caprice Crane.
michelle_pink_polka_dot's review against another edition
2.0
Hailey's life at school is not exactly fun. She's been humiliated and bullied on more than one occasion by girls who've decided she doesn't fit in. Then her family decides to move to L.A. and she's dreading what she's going to be in for as "the new girl". But while packing she finds her older, cooler sister's diary which is entitled "How to be a Hater". It's basically a guide on how to act in high school... full of tips about clothes, boys, attitude, and so much more. Hailey knows this is her chance to change the way her life has been going.... this is her chance to be popular!! But of course things don't really go as planned. After a brief popularity stint, Hailey finds her place among a group of girls that refer to themselves as "The Invisibles". Using the diary and their array of unique talents, these girls decide to take on the hierarchy of West Hollywood High.
My Thoughts:
This book started off so stinking cute! Hailey was so observant and funny and just had interesting/witty things to say. I was really thinking I had found the next Kelsey Finkelstein or Ruby Oliver (from [b:Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters|11699323|Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters|Meredith Zeitlin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1314883523s/11699323.jpg|16646431] and [b:The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver|301022|The Boyfriend List 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver, #1)|E. Lockhart|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342343845s/301022.jpg|292089]). BUT (you knew there was going to be a but here right??)... but then everything went downhill for me.
I'm going to go ahead and put this book in the classification of books I'm too old to read. Maybe if I was an actual high school-er who didn't read as much as I do, I would've enjoyed the entertainment of this book.... because it was entertaining. My eyes just started hurting from rolling so hard in the sockets, that I found the book hard to finish.
Ok so you have this girl who is pretty darn snarky and makes these really cute life observations that you can't help but smile at... and what was wrong with her? Nothing!! She was clearly a really talented artist and a good daughter and friend... so why did she have to have the dreaded makeover?? It was the whole "if I get contacts, lose 10 pounds, wear my older sister's clothes, and get a haircut I'm suddenly a brand new person". Straight out of that Freddie Prinze Jr. movie She's All That. Then she goes to her new high school and takes a disliking to the popular clique (this is after they immediately embrace her as one of their own) and forms her own clique.... only to start acting EXACTLY like the popular clique. Putting people down, being insanely cruel, being judgmental, and obsessing over completely vain and petty things.
I totally should have liked this book because I generally love books about popularity... but I just couldn't with this one. There were too many completely unbelievable situations like: of course the hottest most popular guy in school immediately wants to get with Hailey and when she decides she wants to hook up with him her friend helps her "practice" on a frozen banana! ICK!!!!! And then when she actually tries what she practiced on him, I was forced to read the most ridiculous, embarrassing, awkward, and unnecessary hook-up of all-time.
As the book wore on even the cute little observations started feeling forced. And that's when I realized this book was pretty much just a notebook full of anecdotes and teen-talk strung together. It pisses me off because this book had SO much potential. It could have been so cute and had a really good message. Instead it was full of stereotypes and unrealistic situations.
I won't tell you the ending, but as unbelievable as most of the plot was, the ending was even more unlikely to EVER happen... to anyone EVER. I know it's a small world, but it's not that freaking small! It also ended super abruptly, but as you can probably guess, if there's a sequel, I won't be reading it.
OVERALL: A book that I wanted to love, but just couldn't. It was entertaining and even had some laugh out loud moments, but it was too full of stereotypes and unrealistic situations for me to recommend. If you are looking to read a book about pranks and popularity wars, this is so your book. But if you want a message or a real story, I'd say try something else.
My Blog:
My Thoughts:
This book started off so stinking cute! Hailey was so observant and funny and just had interesting/witty things to say. I was really thinking I had found the next Kelsey Finkelstein or Ruby Oliver (from [b:Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters|11699323|Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters|Meredith Zeitlin|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1314883523s/11699323.jpg|16646431] and [b:The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver|301022|The Boyfriend List 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver, #1)|E. Lockhart|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342343845s/301022.jpg|292089]). BUT (you knew there was going to be a but here right??)... but then everything went downhill for me.
I'm going to go ahead and put this book in the classification of books I'm too old to read. Maybe if I was an actual high school-er who didn't read as much as I do, I would've enjoyed the entertainment of this book.... because it was entertaining. My eyes just started hurting from rolling so hard in the sockets, that I found the book hard to finish.
Ok so you have this girl who is pretty darn snarky and makes these really cute life observations that you can't help but smile at... and what was wrong with her? Nothing!! She was clearly a really talented artist and a good daughter and friend... so why did she have to have the dreaded makeover?? It was the whole "if I get contacts, lose 10 pounds, wear my older sister's clothes, and get a haircut I'm suddenly a brand new person". Straight out of that Freddie Prinze Jr. movie She's All That. Then she goes to her new high school and takes a disliking to the popular clique (this is after they immediately embrace her as one of their own) and forms her own clique.... only to start acting EXACTLY like the popular clique. Putting people down, being insanely cruel, being judgmental, and obsessing over completely vain and petty things.
I totally should have liked this book because I generally love books about popularity... but I just couldn't with this one. There were too many completely unbelievable situations like: of course the hottest most popular guy in school immediately wants to get with Hailey and when she decides she wants to hook up with him her friend helps her "practice" on a frozen banana! ICK!!!!! And then when she actually tries what she practiced on him, I was forced to read the most ridiculous, embarrassing, awkward, and unnecessary hook-up of all-time.
As the book wore on even the cute little observations started feeling forced. And that's when I realized this book was pretty much just a notebook full of anecdotes and teen-talk strung together. It pisses me off because this book had SO much potential. It could have been so cute and had a really good message. Instead it was full of stereotypes and unrealistic situations.
I won't tell you the ending, but as unbelievable as most of the plot was, the ending was even more unlikely to EVER happen... to anyone EVER. I know it's a small world, but it's not that freaking small! It also ended super abruptly, but as you can probably guess, if there's a sequel, I won't be reading it.
OVERALL: A book that I wanted to love, but just couldn't. It was entertaining and even had some laugh out loud moments, but it was too full of stereotypes and unrealistic situations for me to recommend. If you are looking to read a book about pranks and popularity wars, this is so your book. But if you want a message or a real story, I'd say try something else.
My Blog: