Review: Cracked Up to Be

Title: Cracked Up to Be

Author: Courtney Summers

Release Date: December 23^rd, 2008

Series: None

Number of Pages: 214

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Source: Bought

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.

I really enjoy Courtney Summer’s book. I read Fall for Anything not long ago and loved it. It’s the main reason why I decided to read this book. The difference between those two books is pretty impressive to me. Where Fall for Anything was powerful and touching, this one felt like a lighter read.

The story is not a happy story. That’s not what I mean. Yet, at first, I felt it was really just about a teenager who’s tired of being perfect, a teenager looking for herself. Yet, the more you read, the more you learn about the reasons behind the changes. It was for me the main point of the story. Understanding Parker. There’s not big mystery in the book. No Prince Charming ready to save the damsel in distress. No. It about a teenager that hit rock bottom. A girl that still wants more than she makes everyone believe. A great novel about guilt and growing up with it. It is about learning to live with our mistakes.

Even though Parker could be a mean bitch sometime, I liked her. She was true most of the time. She wasn’t trying to pretend she was something she wasn’t. I also thought Jake was a great character, because he was there to challenge her in some way. Chris and Becky weren’t changing anything in her. Jake did. He opened something in her to help her help herself.

Courtney Summers has a way to express emotions in words. She can make you feel easily what the character is going through, which why I enjoy her books. They fell real.