Review: The Mosts by Melissa Senate

Title: The Mosts
Author: Melissa Senate
Release Date: June 8, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte/Random House
Length: 225 pages

Source: Random House (publisher)
Format: ARC

Summary:

"Madeline finished freshman year at Freeport Academy just as invisible as when she started. But after a summer in Italy with her sophisticated aunt, she returned as a sophomore with cool clothes, European attitude, and a hot new boyfriend, Thom.

Maddie's part of the in crowd . . . the Mosts. Her best friend, Caro? Most Beautiful. Her other friends, Fergie, Annie, and Selena? Most Stylish, Most Hilarious, and Most Hot, respectively. And Madeline? Most Popular. Her life is great.

While it lasted.

Now Thom's moved to California—so Maddie's no longer the girlfriend of a popular guy. The guy Caro likes only has eyes for Madeline—can you say social suicide? And a group of misfits at school are begging Madeline to help make them over.

Madeline knows there's a fine line between being a Most . . . and being a Not. She doesn't want her status to change . . . but what if she doesn't have a choice?"

Review:

The Mosts is the Most Adorable book of the season! Hands down. It was a cute, breezy, fast summer read, following the events of Madeline after her boyfriend of two years moves away. She's in the popular crowd, until she's roped into helping give misfits a makeover. She, of course, has motivation for doing so: they are paying her $400, which is enough to afford a one-way ticket to California, where her boyfriend, Thom now lives.

One thing that Melissa Senate excelled at was character development. Madeline's attitude change throughout the book was so well thought-out and so well paced. Her reasons for changing were completely legit, and they happened at a realistic pace. Well done.

Unfortunately, the YA voice was not up to par. The characters were in their sophomore year of high school, but acted much younger. Maybe it was in part because Madeline and her four amigos were truly convinced that every girl in California wore bikinis to school, or how Madeline would freak if Thom didn't text her back, or the lack of swearing. Actually, there was no swearing. Which was weird. As much as adults deny it, teenagers have really foul mouths. The characters in this book would say "beyotch" (I'd spell it biotch, but that's not a big deal) instead of "bitch." So, the YA voice was not a true, realistic depiction.

Still, The Mosts was a tender and sweet tale of Madeline's high school drama. I recommend it to anyone in search of a quick, breezy, and delightful summer read.

Grading:

1. Characters: 18/20
2. Writing: 19/20
3. Plot: 20/20
4. Accurate YA: voice 16/20
5. Cover: 10/10
6. Title: 10/10

Overall Score: 93 or B+