Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Beyond Clueless by Linas Alsenas

Synopsis from Goodreads:
 
Marty Sullivan’s life ends, basically, when her parents enroll her in a private high school. A private, Catholic, girls-only high school. Meanwhile, at their local public school, her best friend, Jimmy, comes out of the closet and finds himself a boyfriend and a new group of friends. Marty feels left out and alone, until she gets a part in the school musical, Into the Woods, and Jimmy and his new crew are in it, too! Things start looking even better when Marty falls for foxy fellow cast member Felix Peroni. And Felix seems to like her back. But the drama is just beginning. Can Marty and Jimmy keep up their friendship? And is Marty’s new beau everything he appears to be? Or is Marty too clueless to figure it all out before it’s too late?
 
I really enjoyed this book. I could really relate to Marty and understand all her problems. I felt the author did a good job writing about a girl going to a new school, not knowing anyone and seemingly losing her best friend. It was very realistic in those ways and the bits of humor helped to make me stay entranced with the book.
 
I loved the writing style. It had hints of humor in it even in the most sad or stressed times. I loved how it was sort of sarcastic and yet stayed in tune to the story and never strayed off track. That is what caused me to finish the book in a day and not feel like I skimmed anything. It kept my attention easily and was very original.
 
The plot moved fairly quickly. I was completely caught up in all of Marty's drama surrounding her friends and boyfriend and the author did an exceptional job of actually keeping me interested.
 
The one main problem I had with this book was how gullible Marty was. I could tell from the beginning that Felix was just using her and as you can tell from the title she was beyond clueless about any of his real intentions. I was glad when she found out and ended it though, and didn't just expect him to be able to change. I say that if he made the mistake that he did (I'm not going to say so there aren't really bad spoilers) he doesn't deserve another chance. I liked how strong Marty was when it came to that and how she was thinking about everyone involved and not just herself. I feel like she handled most things maturely and I really respected her for that. I also respected how she found time to goof around and be a teen at the same time.
 
I don't know much about acting or plays, but I liked how that was Marty's hobby and how committed she was to it. I love it when characters in books have unique hobbies and are proud of them. I also loved how cute it was that Oscar joined just to spend more time with her and that made me like his character even more.
 
My favorite character had to be Oscar. I loved how he stayed with Marty through everything and I just wish that she could have gotten together with him instead of Felix in the beginning. For some reason I really disliked Jimmy though, Marty's best friend. It sort of made me mad how he and Marty were supposed to hang out but he invited his new boyfriend and his other new friends and didn't even tell her. I would be sort of mad about that, if I didn't know the other people and if there was no warning. He was an okay character.
 
I would strongly recommend this book. Honestly, I have never read anything else like it and it was definitely unique. Go read it if you want some funny, quality realistic fiction.
 
***I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This did not influence my rating or review in any way.***
 
Thanks for reading!
~Bri


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