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A review by ihateprozac
Private by Kate Brian
4.0
This was recommended to me after reading and loving Pretty Little Liars and seeking out another YA mystery/whodunnit. I have to admit I spent most of this book questioning if that recommendation was even correct, since there's no mystery until literally the last few pages. Even then it's only implied that someone has died or gone missing, and there's a weird coven ceremony thrown in at the end.
As such, I can only really review this book as a piece of YA chick-lit, and in that respect it's quite a good book. It's nothing groundbreaking, as the storyline basically centres around a poor misfit who gets sent to a swanky private school and tries to get with the in crowd. It's a quick read, entertaining, the characters are mostly well-written and I don't recall ever wanting to slam my head against the desk out of frustration. I can't put my finger on it but I like Kate Brian's writing style. She doesn't do anything exciting, but she doesn't do anything bad either. Like I said, I didn't feel like headdesking as a result of her writing.
I have to admit I don't really like Reed though. I feel bad for her awful home life and I sympathise with her, but I just find her a bit bland and annoying. I get that she's never had female friends, but she's just weirdly obsessed and annoyingly desperate to get in with the Billings girls. Her attraction to them really did seem like it bordered on sexual for a while, and while Noelle calling her glass-licker was mean, the image it conjured up wasn't too far from reality. It also irritates me that Reed lets the Billings girls use and abuse her, because I thought she'd have more backbone for someone who grew up with only male friends. Other than that, I generally just find her lacking in personality. I guess it's fitting though, since she comes from a town where everything is grey - even her personality.
I don't like Thomas either. I thought him and Reed were cute when they initially started flirting, but I think they lost all chemistry after that. Physical chemistry isn't a problem, but I just don't understand why he likes her. It's very much like Twilight where I would finish the books and then couldn't recall what Bella and Edward had talked about for 500 pages. The only common ground they seem to have are their fucked up families, but other than that I don't think they actually had conversations. I was also majorly creeped out when Thomas sprung the L word on Reed after 5 whole minutes of dating. I guess it could be the author foreshadowing his psychotic nature or showing how starved for love he is in his family, but mostly it came across as weird.
I don't have any major beef with the other characters, though I do occasionally want to punch Missy Thurber and Noelle in the face. This is not because they're poorly written though like Reed or Thomas, actually the complete opposite - I hate them because they're so incredibly bitchy. I think Ariana is absolutely adorable, and I'm really creeped out by the soulless look she gave at the coven gathering (it probably wasn't a coven but I'm just going to call it that for now). I also feel sorry for Taylor and Constance and love them as characters. I wish Reed would just pay Constance some attention for once, and I wish the Billings girls would actually treat Taylor like their equal, rather than their nerdy minion.
This probably sounds horrible, but while I don't like Reed, I love her fucked up home life. Sometimes she's a bit annoying and all woe is me but within fairly good reason. I thought she was going to be some irritating teen bitching about her parents not letting her go to the movies, but her mother is truly awful. I like that she's not just a junkie or alcoholic, not just abusive, and not just absent, but all of the above with a healthy dose of pure evil. I'm hoping the author shows Reed at home in some of the books because I'd love to see that venomous interaction. I also love that her father is stuck at home with this horrid woman, having to listen to her bitch and resent his existence every single day. I feel so awful for him and it's so depressing but makes for such a good read.
Overall: Private was a decent entertaining read, though if you're looking for a murder mystery you won't exactly get it in this book. Try the next one! It's a nice chick-lit read though if you're a fan of Gossip Girl/It Girl or the high school politics of Pretty Little Liars. It's well-written and the characters are great for the most part. Series are hard to review because you can't get a feel for them until you've finished all the books, so I can't really say more!
As such, I can only really review this book as a piece of YA chick-lit, and in that respect it's quite a good book. It's nothing groundbreaking, as the storyline basically centres around a poor misfit who gets sent to a swanky private school and tries to get with the in crowd. It's a quick read, entertaining, the characters are mostly well-written and I don't recall ever wanting to slam my head against the desk out of frustration. I can't put my finger on it but I like Kate Brian's writing style. She doesn't do anything exciting, but she doesn't do anything bad either. Like I said, I didn't feel like headdesking as a result of her writing.
I have to admit I don't really like Reed though. I feel bad for her awful home life and I sympathise with her, but I just find her a bit bland and annoying. I get that she's never had female friends, but she's just weirdly obsessed and annoyingly desperate to get in with the Billings girls. Her attraction to them really did seem like it bordered on sexual for a while, and while Noelle calling her glass-licker was mean, the image it conjured up wasn't too far from reality. It also irritates me that Reed lets the Billings girls use and abuse her, because I thought she'd have more backbone for someone who grew up with only male friends. Other than that, I generally just find her lacking in personality. I guess it's fitting though, since she comes from a town where everything is grey - even her personality.
I don't like Thomas either. I thought him and Reed were cute when they initially started flirting, but I think they lost all chemistry after that. Physical chemistry isn't a problem, but I just don't understand why he likes her. It's very much like Twilight where I would finish the books and then couldn't recall what Bella and Edward had talked about for 500 pages. The only common ground they seem to have are their fucked up families, but other than that I don't think they actually had conversations. I was also majorly creeped out when Thomas sprung the L word on Reed after 5 whole minutes of dating. I guess it could be the author foreshadowing his psychotic nature or showing how starved for love he is in his family, but mostly it came across as weird.
I don't have any major beef with the other characters, though I do occasionally want to punch Missy Thurber and Noelle in the face. This is not because they're poorly written though like Reed or Thomas, actually the complete opposite - I hate them because they're so incredibly bitchy. I think Ariana is absolutely adorable, and I'm really creeped out by the soulless look she gave at the coven gathering (it probably wasn't a coven but I'm just going to call it that for now). I also feel sorry for Taylor and Constance and love them as characters. I wish Reed would just pay Constance some attention for once, and I wish the Billings girls would actually treat Taylor like their equal, rather than their nerdy minion.
This probably sounds horrible, but while I don't like Reed, I love her fucked up home life. Sometimes she's a bit annoying and all woe is me but within fairly good reason. I thought she was going to be some irritating teen bitching about her parents not letting her go to the movies, but her mother is truly awful. I like that she's not just a junkie or alcoholic, not just abusive, and not just absent, but all of the above with a healthy dose of pure evil. I'm hoping the author shows Reed at home in some of the books because I'd love to see that venomous interaction. I also love that her father is stuck at home with this horrid woman, having to listen to her bitch and resent his existence every single day. I feel so awful for him and it's so depressing but makes for such a good read.
Overall: Private was a decent entertaining read, though if you're looking for a murder mystery you won't exactly get it in this book. Try the next one! It's a nice chick-lit read though if you're a fan of Gossip Girl/It Girl or the high school politics of Pretty Little Liars. It's well-written and the characters are great for the most part. Series are hard to review because you can't get a feel for them until you've finished all the books, so I can't really say more!