Justine's Thoughts: ttyl by Lauren Myracle

ttyl
By Lauren Myracle

Source: Library
Pages: 209
Rating: 4/5
Book Description:

On the first day of tenth grade, best friends Maddie (mad Maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl) vow not to let school stupidness get them down . . . or split them apart.

Bust as the weeks pass and the instant messages accumulate, it’s clear that tenth grade will be a roller coaster ride of boy temptation, math torture, donut emergencies, and Queen Bee encounters. Then a jerky boy sends peppy Angela into the dumps, tough Maddie makes a mistake that has the whole school talking, and good girl Zoe gets in over her head with a flirty teacher. Will the winsome threesome make it through the year?

A quote:

Damn you. WHY do you plant these things in my head?

Any thoughts:

A story told fully in instant messages is quite a unique one. The idea of high school experiences being described by three best friends seem like something that’s filled with drama and boy trouble and homework and hilarity and even more drama. But there are also intense subjects that were covered. A specific example would be a Christian teacher that hits on a student. It’s a little inappropriate, as were some other quotes in the book (there were joke-y sexual innuendos).

It’s crazy to see how each character tries to handle the stuff thrown at them in high school. They have their own different personalities, often observed in the quiz results they usually get for fun (“scared that my inner dragon might eat your little pony?”). The book is mostly about friendship, reliving the teenage life in high school.

I was satisfied with how Lauren Myracle wrapped it up, especially through this style of instant messaging. It kept me interested and laughing throughout the whole book, which made for a quick read in the end. For those who like drama and high school and just plain dialogue, then this is the series for you.

Justine's Thoughts: How to Be Bad by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski and Lauren Myracle

How to Be Bad
By E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle

Pages:

325

Book Description:

Vicks is the wild child whose boyfriend has gone suspiciously quiet since he left for college; Mel is the newcomer desperate to be liked; and Jesse will do anything to avoid a life-altering secret. Each one has her own reason for wanting to get the heck out of their nowheresville town, even just for the weekend. So they climb into Jesse’s mom’s “borrowed” station wagon and head south.

Hearts will be broken, friendships will be tested, and a ridiculously hot stranger could change the course of everything.

A quote:

“Not everything’s ‘okay’...People cheat, people lie, people die. And sometimes people treat their friends like crap. But that doesn’t mean you sit back and take it.”

Any thoughts:

Enough to say that I finished this book in one day, one thing is for sure - I loved it! These are my kind of books - the fun, adventurous, funny ones with a little bit of romance on the side. It’s perfect for me, I tell you. I enjoyed every word of it!

Before the road trip, these three girls weren’t exactly the best of friends. Actually, two of them were - Vicks and Jesse, but Mel’s the new one, who’s only trying to fit in. The road trip changes everything, though and they encounter so much in a weekend that it doesn’t even feel like a weekend has passed by.

Here’s a little brief description on the characters: Jesse is the Christian girl who’s holding back on that “life-altering secret”, the girl who is described as cranky (by Vicks) ever since she’s planned the whole road trip. Vicks is the girl with older brothers, the fierce girl who knows how to handle dirt from other people, and she even offers to be punched by one of the two! And Mel (who I was most like according to the Bad Girl Quiz I took at the end) is the middle child in the family, the girl who offered to pay for the entire road trip because she had the money and wished to fit in, the girl who mostly got stuck to deal with the arguments between Vicks and Jesse (which happened more than often), the girl who’s afraid to stand up for herself. These three are so believable, it’s crazy. I can relate to each one of them and it’s just so easy.

The plot interested me, that’s for sure. I like the idea of a road trip. It sounds daring, especially where the three characters plan to go to. It feels like you’re on the road trip as well. And the fact that the story is told in their own point of view makes it a whole lot realistic so that you understand the explanations of their choices and where their decisions are coming from.

So yes, I would recommend this to everyone. It’s one heck of a fun book.