Friday, October 5, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: The Gossip Web by Chelsea Lynn Charters


BLURB FROM BACK OF BOOK:

Jade Cannon's life is a mess. She's the laughing stock of West Havenbrook High, and is hopelessly in love with Trace Gibson, the boy every girl dreams about---but that's not the worst part. Her father is dating a beautiful young woman named Erika, whom Jade is convinced is after his money.

Nothing seems to be going Jade's way....Not after Trace asks her to the dance, or even when he claims his undying love for her. As Jade struggles with her fears and her innermost desires, she eventually realizes that the only true obstacle standing in the way of her happiness is herself.


REVIEW BY: Charity, The Mom

SPOILER ALERT:

Jade Cannon is described as a smart, pretty girl that is unpopular and picked on by the "mean girls". The head of the "mean girls" is Gloria, whom Jade describes as a "bitch". Gloria picks on Jade almost every single day and for no reason at all. Gloria is at the center of this story and in the very beginning of the book, Jade consoles her best friend Heidi in the bathroom and leans to close to the sink. By doing such, she gets her jeans wet, but doesn't realize this. Jade and Heidi arrive to class late and their teacher wants to know why they are late. Gloria raises her hand and says that Jade is late because she peed her pants. Jade is humiliated as the whole class laughs at her and for the rest of the day, she is snickered at by everyone. Jade has a major crush on Trace, but doesn't think he could ever like her like she likes him because he is popular and hangs out with Gloria. Throughout the story, Trace tells Jade he wants to be with her, but she lets her fears of Gloria get in the way. 

This book reminded me of the movie "She's All That". Throughout the whole story I was just waiting for Trace's attraction and love for Jade to be part of a dare, and was thoroughly surprised when that wasn't the case.  This book definitely kept my attention and it was hard to put down. This book was enjoyable, but also made me mad at Jade. Jade cared too much of what people thought of her and she had absolutely no self-esteem. She let Gloria's meanness and evilness get into her head and in turn, she pushed away all the people that loved her. Finally, Jade starts to see her self worth and realizes that the people that love her are always going to love her no matter what she looks like. 

With all that being said, I enjoyed reading this book and think that it is best for eighth graders and above because of the story line and the cuss words that are present throughout the book. This is a great book to read about bullying and the danger of "gossip". I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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