Book: New Girl by Paige Harbison
Pages: 314
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Source: Sent from Harlequin Teen
Short Synopsis: Callie had always wanted to go to a private school ever since reading the Harry Potter novels. But when she didn't get in the first time she applied, her parents kept trying. Now a senior at a public school Callie loves, her parents tell her she's finally been accepted to Manderly Academy, and Callie doesn't have the heart to tell her parents she doesn't want to go.
My Thoughts: A very unique story, with a little bit of everything all rolled into one great package.
Callie fell in love with the idea of going to an awesome private school when she read Harry Potter. After being rejected the first time, Callie hadn't bothered with the thought at all. But as senior year rolls around, with a great public school, and a best friend, Callie's perfect life is about to be turned upside down, when her parents tell her that she's been accepted to Manderly Academy for the completion of her senior year.
Callie doesn't want to go, but can't tell her parents no, when they feel so excited for her. And as soon as she gets to Manderly, she's automatically dubbed as 'the new girl.' And what's worse, are all the rumors flying around, about Manderly's own student Becca, who had mysteriously disappeared a couple months back, allowing Callie to take her place. And if things weren't bad enough, Callie also takes Becca's old bed, and roommate.
On top of it all, Callie also starts to have feelings for one boy in particular. Max Holloway, also known as Becca's ex. Callie knows that she should stay away from Max, but can't. Especially when everyone seems to be comparing Callie to Becca, Callie knows that she should be careful. But as rumors start spreading around about Max and Becca's past, Callie is caught in the middle of it all, with no idea of how to handle the situation. Can Callie survive senior year at Manderly and still have the relationship that she and Max so desperately want?
A definitely interesting turn of events in this fast paced, unique romance story. Told into two points of view of Becca's past, and Callie's present, we as readers get to experience being at Manderly Academy, along side both girls.
The one major thing that I didn't really get was Becca's character. Harbison does an excellent job of really disliking Becca. She's conniving, untrustworthy, a blackmailer, unfaithful, and yet, everyone at Manderly seemed to love her so much. And even though Becca does somehow redeem herself in the end, I still didn't understand why everyone felt that she was so special and so great when she was so awful to so many people.
I loved reading about the relationship between Max and Callie. But I didn't like that everyone was comparing Callie to Becca, and was extremely glad that Callie didn't follow in Becca's footsteps of the love triable of Max and Johnny. There were also a couple things I didn't get as well. I didn't understand how even though Becca was dead, that she was still able to connect with Callie, unless Harbison implied that Becca was a spirit? And I also felt that Callie and her best friend from back home broke off years of their friendship over a guy, and that Callie's best friend didn't believe her. Overall, a great fast paced, entertaining read, that had me greedily wanting more. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Rating: I give this book a 4.5/5.
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