Advance Booking

It's interesting to see how things turn out- I started this book thinking it was yet another whiny teen's sob story, but I kinda liked how it turned out. The heroine was so different from others I have read that I was actually a little surprised when the ending came- I never realised I was so engrossed in the book.

Sloppy Firsts is the journal of hyperobservant Jessica Darling, a sophomore at Pineville High. Jessica's best friend Hope has just moved away, depriving her of her closest confidante. Jess has to face the inanities of the Clueless Crew on her own, deal with the mystery that is Marcus Flutie a.k.a Krispy Kreme, the resident junkie, and live through her annoying sister's wedding plans.

The book has most of the high school cliches- the hot girls clique, dumb jocks, mystery dude who the girl hates at first. But what set this book apart from the rest was the sarcastic voice of the narrator. She is not the sort where you feel like jumping into the book and telling her how dumb and blind she is; on the contrary she sees and understands what goes on around her, and lambasts it in her typical way. What put me off a little were the numerous pop-culture references that usually dot such books, but then it's a book for American teens, you can't escape them. Jessica's story of walking through the minefield that is high school makes for interesting reading, but I'm not very sure how she'll sustain the angst in later books without making it sound like overkill. Anyways, I'm interested in how Jessica's and Marcus' story develops further, so I'm keeping Second Helpings on my TBR.