Review: Cracked Up to Be

Cracked Up to Be
Courtney Summers















Official Summary:

Perfect Parker Fadley isn’t so perfect anymore. She’s quit the cheerleading squad, she’s dumped her perfect boyfriend, and she’s failing school. Her parents are on a constant suicide watch and her counselors think she’s playing games…but what they don’t know, the real reason for this whole mess, isn’t something she can say out loud. It isn’t even something she can say to herself. A horrible thing has happened and it just might be her fault. If she can just remove herself from everybody--be totally alone--then everything will be okay...The problem is, nobody will let her.

What the Pros Say:
SLJ: Marked by explicit language and frank sexuality, this compelling read is taut with tension.

What I Say:

Parker used to be perfect. She used to be the kind of perfect that annoys other people but doesn't allow them to say anything about it; after all, how can you argue with that kind of perfection? But all that's over now, and now Parker is as deliberately imperfect as she once one impeccably flawless. From the very first page Parker's pain and confusion and anger flows off the page freely and honestly. This book captures the voice of a smart teenage girl in immense amounts of pain better than almost any other book I've read recently.

From the very first paragraph, I was absolutely certain that I was going to love this book, and I was not disappointed in the least.

Imagine four years.
Four years, two suicides, one death, one rape, two pregnancies (one abortion), three overdoses, countless drunken antics, pantsings, spilled food, theft, fights, broken limbs, turf wars--every day, a turf war--six months until graduation and no one gets a medal when they get out. But everything you do here counts.
High school.

The author does an amazing job of showing us that violent nature of high school: the constant struggles to stay true to yourself, to overcome actual, serious problems that may be written off as typical teen angst and to keep on fighting through the constant "turf-wars" that compose high school. But at the same time, we also see the small glints of hope that manage to claw their way through the seemingly invincible wall Parker has created around herself.

I loved the relationship between Jake and Parker--the new guy fascinated by the mysterious, dangerous girl, and the damaged girl reluctantly seeking friendship with the one guy who can't possibly know her past, her mistakes--but my favorite relationship in the book was the one between Parker and her ex-boyfriend, Chris. Chris is a typical horny teenage boy; he's crudd and lewd and sometimes insensitive, but he also clearly cares deeply for Parker, and all of her hostility can't quite chase him away.

There were things that I wasn't an enormous fan of: Parker's dog seemed to be a slightly clunky narrative device and the appearance of new boy Jake seemed a little serendipitous, but these small gripes were in no way sufficient to keep me from enjoying this book. It was fantastic and heart-breaking and beautiful, and everyone should run out and read it.

Intrigued?
Check out Courtney Summers' blog here, and then check out an interview with her here.