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freadomlibrary's review
3.0
Be aware that the only thing that saved this book from two stars was the amazing humor in it.
Critically
Plot - 3 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book was all over the place. Totally inconsistent with way too many characters thrown out at once. But it was very, very funny and entertaining.
Writing Style - 2 out of 5 stars
Really, really messy and juvenile. It's way too conversational with almost no thought processes. Bad pacing, incredibly rushed throughout, which if it were another genre would be great but it made it hard to digest everything. But really good with comedy and puns.
Characters - 2 out of 5 stars
I felt like all the characters were pushed to be way too stereotypical. There was nothing unique or quirky about their personalities, nothing that really set them apart from the box they were placed in, I'm also including side characters in this. Ally was smart, sophisticated, socially clueless and way too focused on having a boyfriend at the start of the story. Again, she was too focused on being the nerdy, smart girl. Sam, although really hilarious, is following in his father's footsteps as a player, mawhore type of man. He's rude and takes the "no feelings involved" approach to relationships. Again, too over the top and forced for his personality.
Emotionally
The plot was all over the place. We get introduced to a lot of characters in a short amount of time. Like 3 to 4 at once with no real descriptions. Things happened either too fast or way too slow. Certain plot points that seemed important were rushed and those that seemed trivial took too long. Sometimes it all felt unrealistic and completely juvenile.
I didn't like the writing style at all unfortunately. It was messy and it was too conversational. I like when writing is portrayed like the character is talking to you, but this was too much. They almost had no thought process and a lot of their actions are very confusing, so we had no way of really knowing their intentions behind what they said.
I felt like most of the characters were extremely stereotyped. They all seem to fit in predestined boxes and none of them really have a personality quirks. It's strange because there are a lot of characters so someone should have a interesting trait to them but no. We also have two foreigners, one English and one French, but even they are very stereotypical. The French, Etienne, is a player and a manwhore and the reason given for that is well, he's French. That pretty much explains every trait of every character in this book. Also, there were so many there were hard to keep track off and it was annoying.
The only thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the humor. It's very sarcastic and in your face with lots of banters between characters and I laughed a lot since it's similar to my humor.
Overall I wouldn't recommend unless you want a totally not serious, funny story.
Critically
Plot - 3 out of 5 stars
The plot of this book was all over the place. Totally inconsistent with way too many characters thrown out at once. But it was very, very funny and entertaining.
Writing Style - 2 out of 5 stars
Really, really messy and juvenile. It's way too conversational with almost no thought processes. Bad pacing, incredibly rushed throughout, which if it were another genre would be great but it made it hard to digest everything. But really good with comedy and puns.
Characters - 2 out of 5 stars
I felt like all the characters were pushed to be way too stereotypical. There was nothing unique or quirky about their personalities, nothing that really set them apart from the box they were placed in, I'm also including side characters in this. Ally was smart, sophisticated, socially clueless and way too focused on having a boyfriend at the start of the story. Again, she was too focused on being the nerdy, smart girl. Sam, although really hilarious, is following in his father's footsteps as a player, mawhore type of man. He's rude and takes the "no feelings involved" approach to relationships. Again, too over the top and forced for his personality.
Emotionally
Spoiler
Although I had quite a few problems, this book was really, really funny and I had a good time reading it.The plot was all over the place. We get introduced to a lot of characters in a short amount of time. Like 3 to 4 at once with no real descriptions. Things happened either too fast or way too slow. Certain plot points that seemed important were rushed and those that seemed trivial took too long. Sometimes it all felt unrealistic and completely juvenile.
I didn't like the writing style at all unfortunately. It was messy and it was too conversational. I like when writing is portrayed like the character is talking to you, but this was too much. They almost had no thought process and a lot of their actions are very confusing, so we had no way of really knowing their intentions behind what they said.
I felt like most of the characters were extremely stereotyped. They all seem to fit in predestined boxes and none of them really have a personality quirks. It's strange because there are a lot of characters so someone should have a interesting trait to them but no. We also have two foreigners, one English and one French, but even they are very stereotypical. The French, Etienne, is a player and a manwhore and the reason given for that is well, he's French. That pretty much explains every trait of every character in this book. Also, there were so many there were hard to keep track off and it was annoying.
The only thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the humor. It's very sarcastic and in your face with lots of banters between characters and I laughed a lot since it's similar to my humor.
Overall I wouldn't recommend unless you want a totally not serious, funny story.
aimeelio's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a surprise! And a solid 3.75-4.0 stars.
It's the story of Ally, an all around regular girl, who gets dumped by her boyfriend of two years, and the story of Sam who has been Ally's best friend since childhood. While Ally has always been a relationship girl, Sam enjoys random hook ups and onetime sexual encounters. When Ally's boyfriend leaves her, Sam agrees turn Ally into a hottie and to teach her the all his anti relationship secrets.
Okay, first off, I absolutely knew where this book was going right from the start. Normally this would have concerned me, but in this case, I had such a good time getting there, I didn’t care. Ally and Sam, as well as some of the lesser characters, were all likeable and interesting. The story was fast paced, funny, and was a bit hard to put down. Definitely a light summer read and did not leave me emotionally up or down.
There isn't much I can say that is negative. Although as a mom, I would have been more comfortable with all the sex if Ally and Sam were in college. That they were in high school, living with parents, and having a TON of sex with multiple partners put me off a little. Normally, I would recommend books with characters this age to early teens and tweens, but not this one. Because of the sex, I would push the age higher, and say late high school kids, or adults, would enjoy this. I do think the subtle message about evolving into the person you're supposed to be is a good one, but may be lost (due to excitement of sex) on younger readers.
.
It's the story of Ally, an all around regular girl, who gets dumped by her boyfriend of two years, and the story of Sam who has been Ally's best friend since childhood. While Ally has always been a relationship girl, Sam enjoys random hook ups and onetime sexual encounters. When Ally's boyfriend leaves her, Sam agrees turn Ally into a hottie and to teach her the all his anti relationship secrets.
Okay, first off, I absolutely knew where this book was going right from the start. Normally this would have concerned me, but in this case, I had such a good time getting there, I didn’t care. Ally and Sam, as well as some of the lesser characters, were all likeable and interesting. The story was fast paced, funny, and was a bit hard to put down. Definitely a light summer read and did not leave me emotionally up or down.
There isn't much I can say that is negative. Although as a mom, I would have been more comfortable with all the sex if Ally and Sam were in college. That they were in high school, living with parents, and having a TON of sex with multiple partners put me off a little. Normally, I would recommend books with characters this age to early teens and tweens, but not this one. Because of the sex, I would push the age higher, and say late high school kids, or adults, would enjoy this. I do think the subtle message about evolving into the person you're supposed to be is a good one, but may be lost (due to excitement of sex) on younger readers.
.
corieob's review against another edition
4.0
super cute. great boy pov. really enjoyed all the characters.
sk24's review against another edition
3.0
This review and more on SIK Book Reviews
This book is a very light and easy read. It's good for just a quick read to read in between books or if you're looking for a very easy, quick read. I found it to be a bit too young for my liking, so I would like to say that I would more so recommend it to a younger audience. However, there is quite a bit of sexual content (talking and acting), so that makes me unsure of the age group this book is actually intended for. I'm a bit confused. It seems to me to be too immature of a writing style and story line for adults, but too mature in content for young'ins. So, I'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone really. But only because of those reasons.
I didn't dislike the book. It was a decent little story. Definitely good as a filler book since I couldn't decide what book to read next. This one did the trick.
But, I found that I wasn't able to fully connect with the characters. Neither Ally nor Sam had me completely enveloped in their story. I can say, however, that the author did a good job keeping the two characters' voices unique (the story is told in alternating first person POVs from Ally and Sam). That's great, because I find that authors often struggle with that.
I'm a bit disappointed too, because I was under the impression that this book was going to have a strong comedic factor, but I didn't feel like laughing while reading. So, that was disappointing to me.
This book is a very light and easy read. It's good for just a quick read to read in between books or if you're looking for a very easy, quick read. I found it to be a bit too young for my liking, so I would like to say that I would more so recommend it to a younger audience. However, there is quite a bit of sexual content (talking and acting), so that makes me unsure of the age group this book is actually intended for. I'm a bit confused. It seems to me to be too immature of a writing style and story line for adults, but too mature in content for young'ins. So, I'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone really. But only because of those reasons.
I didn't dislike the book. It was a decent little story. Definitely good as a filler book since I couldn't decide what book to read next. This one did the trick.
But, I found that I wasn't able to fully connect with the characters. Neither Ally nor Sam had me completely enveloped in their story. I can say, however, that the author did a good job keeping the two characters' voices unique (the story is told in alternating first person POVs from Ally and Sam). That's great, because I find that authors often struggle with that.
I'm a bit disappointed too, because I was under the impression that this book was going to have a strong comedic factor, but I didn't feel like laughing while reading. So, that was disappointing to me.
fictionalkate's review against another edition
3.0
At times this book was crass and crude (the title character manages to have meaningless sex in a parking lot in the first chapter) but it did have its sweet moments to balance out the sex and swearing.
Seventeen year olds Ally and Sam have been friends forever – their mothers met at a mothers group back in the day. When Ally’s boyfriend of two years dumps her for someone else she approaches Sam to help her get some game. Sam, master seducer that he is, decides that is his chance to change the world. To create a girl who has sex like a guy and makes none of the messy relationship blunders that the fairer gender is so prone to making.
Needless to say it doesn’t exactly go the way either of them were expecting.
There were a lot of things I really liked about the book. It tapped into the teen flick vibe perfectly. Ally is a She’s All That girl especially with respect to the make over… just remove the glasses give her some clothes with shape, get rid of the ponytail and she goes from eco-warrior Hipster to dazzling man-eater. Sam is a player without a cause who leaves a trail of one night stands in his wake. But he does have a redeeming quality – his life long friendship with Ally. I loved the banter between the two. And if I’ve learned anything from TV and movies it’s that if a guy is nice to kittens then he must be a good guy (so I suppose that’s another point in his favour… ). The alternating point-of-view chapters were well done – there’s minimal overlapping of events which keeps the story pace going and it was great to see the thoughts of both the characters during the novel.
Other characters in the book were fun to read too – Ally’s cousin Rachel and her boyfriend Ian who were retro college students were my favourite of the supporting characters with their advice and drama.
This book was fun to read and I thought it managed to perfectly capture the sex-crazed teen movie vibe perfectly.
Seventeen year olds Ally and Sam have been friends forever – their mothers met at a mothers group back in the day. When Ally’s boyfriend of two years dumps her for someone else she approaches Sam to help her get some game. Sam, master seducer that he is, decides that is his chance to change the world. To create a girl who has sex like a guy and makes none of the messy relationship blunders that the fairer gender is so prone to making.
Needless to say it doesn’t exactly go the way either of them were expecting.
There were a lot of things I really liked about the book. It tapped into the teen flick vibe perfectly. Ally is a She’s All That girl especially with respect to the make over… just remove the glasses give her some clothes with shape, get rid of the ponytail and she goes from eco-warrior Hipster to dazzling man-eater. Sam is a player without a cause who leaves a trail of one night stands in his wake. But he does have a redeeming quality – his life long friendship with Ally. I loved the banter between the two. And if I’ve learned anything from TV and movies it’s that if a guy is nice to kittens then he must be a good guy (so I suppose that’s another point in his favour… ). The alternating point-of-view chapters were well done – there’s minimal overlapping of events which keeps the story pace going and it was great to see the thoughts of both the characters during the novel.
Other characters in the book were fun to read too – Ally’s cousin Rachel and her boyfriend Ian who were retro college students were my favourite of the supporting characters with their advice and drama.
This book was fun to read and I thought it managed to perfectly capture the sex-crazed teen movie vibe perfectly.
agrutle's review
4.0
Sam is a total player but he owns it. He doesn't try to act like he's a nice guy. He's literally down for sex without any strings. He just wishes he could find the female version of him, that would be the perfect girl. Scratch the itch and no drama afterwards. When his best friend Ally is dumped on her birthday by the jerk she's been dating she decides she wants Sam to teach her his ways. He's game and hopes he can successfully teach her how to be a player.
Ally's boyfriend, Jeremy broke up with her on her birthday and left her a mess. She thought she loved him, thought that things were more than they obviously were. She begs her best friend, Sam to teach her how to not care. So she goes through a transformation; new clothes, new hair and a new attitude. She enjoys the new look she has going and the looks shes getting. She's doing everything he told her to do and she's enjoying the sexual freedom.
I loved the banter between all of the characters. Rachel and Ian, Etienne and all of the people at the diner. It was hard to read though about these teenagers that just did what they want. I have a teenager and the thought of him doing all of these things and me not even knowing about it was a scary thought. I know her mom was around and Sam's dad was around but they weren't parents, not at all. It seemed like they could do what ever they wanted and there were no consequences. The basis of the story was friends to more and I loved that aspect of the book. Ally and Sam knew each other so well that they were in essence made for each other.
Ally's boyfriend, Jeremy broke up with her on her birthday and left her a mess. She thought she loved him, thought that things were more than they obviously were. She begs her best friend, Sam to teach her how to not care. So she goes through a transformation; new clothes, new hair and a new attitude. She enjoys the new look she has going and the looks shes getting. She's doing everything he told her to do and she's enjoying the sexual freedom.
I loved the banter between all of the characters. Rachel and Ian, Etienne and all of the people at the diner. It was hard to read though about these teenagers that just did what they want. I have a teenager and the thought of him doing all of these things and me not even knowing about it was a scary thought. I know her mom was around and Sam's dad was around but they weren't parents, not at all. It seemed like they could do what ever they wanted and there were no consequences. The basis of the story was friends to more and I loved that aspect of the book. Ally and Sam knew each other so well that they were in essence made for each other.
erinarkin20's review
4.0
So a few people I know were tweeting/talking about this book so I was super happy when I received a copy.
Sam is a player and best friends with Ally who is a self-proclaimed geek. When Ally's boyfriend of 2 years breaks up with her, she asks Sam to teach her how to be more like him. I loved the switching point of views as it gave both sides of how the story progressed without creating a lot of repetition.
One of the great things about this story was the way the relationship changed between Sam and Ally. I liked the main characters and yes, even Sam. He was up front and honest about what he was willing to give and only as roles were reversed did he start to realize how lonely a life it was. The secondary characters (Rachel, Ian, Etienne, etc.) were great too.
The fact that there are Angel/Buffy/Spike references in this book along side Pinky and the Brain only made it that much better. I enjoyed the dialogue and thought it added to the interactions between all of the characters.
I liked this book and it was a fairly quick read. Also a good sign - I didn't really want to put it down.
Sam is a player and best friends with Ally who is a self-proclaimed geek. When Ally's boyfriend of 2 years breaks up with her, she asks Sam to teach her how to be more like him. I loved the switching point of views as it gave both sides of how the story progressed without creating a lot of repetition.
One of the great things about this story was the way the relationship changed between Sam and Ally. I liked the main characters and yes, even Sam. He was up front and honest about what he was willing to give and only as roles were reversed did he start to realize how lonely a life it was. The secondary characters (Rachel, Ian, Etienne, etc.) were great too.
The fact that there are Angel/Buffy/Spike references in this book along side Pinky and the Brain only made it that much better. I enjoyed the dialogue and thought it added to the interactions between all of the characters.
I liked this book and it was a fairly quick read. Also a good sign - I didn't really want to put it down.
thecozyreaderwbo's review against another edition
4.0
Now this book….was interesting and not really in a good way. This is YA but it is way mature for a budding teen. It’s focus is purely on sex. Two best friends, Sam and Ally, manage to cross the line to friends with benefits. It’s vulgar yet hilarious. The tone is true to teens, especially Sam’s. I couldn’t really relate to Ally’s character too much. A quick read.