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ngerharter's review
4.0
Fun read. Like Mean Girls and Superbad meet National Lampoon's High School Field Trip.
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26 Books in 2016 Challenge - Book set on a school campus
Extreme Book Nerd Challenge - Book with a blue cover
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26 Books in 2016 Challenge - Book set on a school campus
Extreme Book Nerd Challenge - Book with a blue cover
sariggs's review
4.0
I was amused by this silly book. I learned nothing, and I'll probably forget I read it in a few days, but it was a little like watching Season 1 of Glee.
natep's review
4.0
This book was completely unbelievable, but the amount of fun and humour in this book discounts that completely discounts that. The amount of diversity that was present in this book in a way that didn't seem forced or done to be diverse.
evelynpina's review
2.0
I thought I was really going to enjoy this at first, but as the book went on, events kept getting more ridiculous. It honestly read like fanfiction a high school freshman wrote interspersed with some intelligent quotes from their older sibling. 2.5/5
carolesouth's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sandyd's review
4.0
Very light but enjoyable story of a high school trip to Washington DC, focusing on a new teacher and three female students.
sethdmichaels's review
3.0
Slight, endearing, often quite perceptive; a high school trip as seen through the eyes of both the sophomore students and the chaperoning teachers. Cutesy but funny, and a quick read.
nikkibd4033's review
3.0
I got this book because the summary on the back reminded me a little bit of [b:How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater|123448|How I Paid for College A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater (Edward Zanni, #1)|Marc Acito|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924282s/123448.jpg|118860], which is one of my all-time favorite books. And it was a little bit like that - a grown up book about teenage shenanigans. It just wasn't a charming and delightful as HIPFC.
Still, it had it's moments. The characters were all juuuuust beyond believable, but that once I got into the groove of reading the book, I kind of liked that. It's face-paced and funny. And it reminded me why I'm so much happier being an adult than a teenager.
Still, it had it's moments. The characters were all juuuuust beyond believable, but that once I got into the groove of reading the book, I kind of liked that. It's face-paced and funny. And it reminded me why I'm so much happier being an adult than a teenager.
reader_fictions's review
3.0
Oh man, DC Trip is a total hot mess. In both good and bad ways. I laughed a lot, but also really hated some things about it, and it’s going to be tough to find people who love all of this book because it’s so all over the place.
First thing you need to know about DC Trip is that it’s sort of kind of not YA. Like, it’s kind of two books mashed up together, and one of them is YA and one of them is not. The frame story is an adult romantic comedy about a high school teacher. Inside, there’s as much time spent on the teen dramas. I can see where this story could be hard to market to the typical adult reader and why they chose to label it teen, but the start of the book especially focuses on the adults, and it’s really not what you expect when picking up a YA book. I didn’t mind really, but it makes the whole book feel weird right from the start.
Second thing you need to know about DC Trip is that Benincasa made some weird narrative decisions. The frame story consists of emails written to Alicia Deats’ coworker friend. Alicia wants to warn her of the dangers inherent in chaperoning the sophomore class trip to DC, and she says she’s going to tell her the whole story. Then, right after that, the book switches to omniscient third person and jumps around from character to character. I don’t have any problem with that generally, but it’s really annoying when ostensibly this is a story Alicia’s typing out to her friend. Alicia’s weird, but I don’t think she’s so weird she would write about herself in omniscient third.
Third thing you need to know about DC Trip is that it’s a satire and a raunchy comedy in the vein of Bridesmaids and The Hangover. Benincasa doesn’t really satirize anything in particular, so much as whatever happens to venture into the story. There’s satirization of the teens, of restaurant franchises, of Obama, of hippies, etc. Some things do come through without judgment, like D.C. itself and the security guards of the Holiday Inn.
There’s a lot of offensive stuff in DC Trip, and a lot of readers are going to hate that. I believe it’s there to play into the satirization of our culture, but it’s there and not necessarily pleasant. The easiest example is how the three MC teens call the rival group of cheerleaders the CunTriad. There’s also a lot of jokes about barf and pooping, so be prepared for that too.
A lot about this book didn’t really work for me. I don’t enjoy potty humor and raunchiness to try to shock/offend doesn’t do anything for me. The actual storytelling is flawed. However, other elements worked. There were parts of the book that were genuinely funny and bantery. Some of the ships worked really well. I totally ship Alicia and Brian a whole lot. Gertie and Danny Bryan turned out to be much cuter than anticipated. I wish the lesbian ship had gone somewhere, but I’m down for it. Rachel’s ship, however, was forced and ridiculous. The highlight of the book is any time the characters converse, because the dialogue is on point. I’d love to see Benincasa right a novel that read like a screenplay or interview (like It’s Not Me, It’s You) or in emails and chats (like Meg Cabot’s Boy series).
DC Trip>'s for a very particular audience. It’s a quick, fun read if the things above don’t totally put you off, but it’s a strange one, that’s for sure.
First thing you need to know about DC Trip is that it’s sort of kind of not YA. Like, it’s kind of two books mashed up together, and one of them is YA and one of them is not. The frame story is an adult romantic comedy about a high school teacher. Inside, there’s as much time spent on the teen dramas. I can see where this story could be hard to market to the typical adult reader and why they chose to label it teen, but the start of the book especially focuses on the adults, and it’s really not what you expect when picking up a YA book. I didn’t mind really, but it makes the whole book feel weird right from the start.
Second thing you need to know about DC Trip is that Benincasa made some weird narrative decisions. The frame story consists of emails written to Alicia Deats’ coworker friend. Alicia wants to warn her of the dangers inherent in chaperoning the sophomore class trip to DC, and she says she’s going to tell her the whole story. Then, right after that, the book switches to omniscient third person and jumps around from character to character. I don’t have any problem with that generally, but it’s really annoying when ostensibly this is a story Alicia’s typing out to her friend. Alicia’s weird, but I don’t think she’s so weird she would write about herself in omniscient third.
Third thing you need to know about DC Trip is that it’s a satire and a raunchy comedy in the vein of Bridesmaids and The Hangover. Benincasa doesn’t really satirize anything in particular, so much as whatever happens to venture into the story. There’s satirization of the teens, of restaurant franchises, of Obama, of hippies, etc. Some things do come through without judgment, like D.C. itself and the security guards of the Holiday Inn.
There’s a lot of offensive stuff in DC Trip, and a lot of readers are going to hate that. I believe it’s there to play into the satirization of our culture, but it’s there and not necessarily pleasant. The easiest example is how the three MC teens call the rival group of cheerleaders the CunTriad. There’s also a lot of jokes about barf and pooping, so be prepared for that too.
A lot about this book didn’t really work for me. I don’t enjoy potty humor and raunchiness to try to shock/offend doesn’t do anything for me. The actual storytelling is flawed. However, other elements worked. There were parts of the book that were genuinely funny and bantery. Some of the ships worked really well. I totally ship Alicia and Brian a whole lot. Gertie and Danny Bryan turned out to be much cuter than anticipated. I wish the lesbian ship had gone somewhere, but I’m down for it. Rachel’s ship, however, was forced and ridiculous. The highlight of the book is any time the characters converse, because the dialogue is on point. I’d love to see Benincasa right a novel that read like a screenplay or interview (like It’s Not Me, It’s You) or in emails and chats (like Meg Cabot’s Boy series).
DC Trip>'s for a very particular audience. It’s a quick, fun read if the things above don’t totally put you off, but it’s a strange one, that’s for sure.