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Monday, June 14, 2010

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+

7 comments:

Emilia Plater said...

This is a great & balanced review, Bailey! Lol @ saying beyotch instead of bitch... I think my friends and I would have a field day if we caught on to someone using that, hee. I'm really curious to know how that makeover thing turns out. Sounds a little bit like The House Bunny!

P.S. LOVELOVE the blog layout! :)

middle grade ninja said...

I think a biotch should be a bionic bitch (who may or may not shoot lasers). Great review!

-k said...

I've seen this book featured on a couple of sites now and my curiosity is officially piqued.
On a side note, there is an award waiting for you over at my blog http://theladycriticslibrary.blogspot.com/.
Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

I read a Melissa Senate book long ago and loved it. It was romantic fiction geared towards adults. I'd be interested to read her YA work.

Melissa Senate said...

Hi Bailey, thanks so much for reviewing The Mosts. I love this review--and appreciate the wonderful comments along with the critical ones! (Although I especially love Most Adorable of the season, which I'm stealing for my website--thanks!)

:) Melissa

Jenn (Books At Midnight) said...

Great review! I was intrigued by the cover (it IS cute, haha), and the book itself sounds like a light summer read. Not entirely convinced on the characters, but I'll consider it. Thanks! :D

Kristan said...

What a thoughtful review. It's great that you can see both the good and the bad in the book; that skill will be especially helpful to you as a writer. :)

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i love the comments and appreciate each and every one. i try and return them on your blogs ;)

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