Review: Lessons I Never Learned At Meadowbrook Academy by Liz Maccie
Title: Lessons I Never Learned At Meadowbrook Academy
Author: Liz Maccie
Publisher: Diversion Books
Format: Ebook ARC
Pages: 193 pages
Published: November 4th 2014
ISBN #: 1626813124
"Liz Maccie's debut novel is as tough, optimistic, and beautiful as her heroine, Roberta Romano. Roberta's voice is heartfelt and funny. Her story is exceptionally moving and honest. I love this book and the hope it has for young women everywhere." —Stephen Chbosky, New York Times bestselling author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower The most important lessons aren't learned in the classroom. It’s the first day of sophomore year for Roberta Romano, but instead of the comfort of her local high school, she's been thrust into the elitist embrace of the affluent Meadowbrook Academy. Surrounded by wealth, Roberta battles her own insecurities, as well as evil teachers and mean girls, to prove her worth and maybe land the boy of her dreams. With the help of two unlikely allies—and an inflatable toy raft—Robert embarks upon a journey of dark secrets and self-discovery to learn the true meaning of friendship and acceptance. "Roberta will charm and delight you with a voice that’s candid, hilarious, and hopeful, as she narrates her first day at a new high school, reminding us of the epic nature of each hour in our adolescent lives. Lessons I Never Learned at Meadowbrook Academy will make you laugh, cringe, cry, and cheer for the power of friendships that can change us in a single day." —Ava Dellaira, author of Love Letters to the Dead "You wish your first day of prep school was this epic! Every single page of Lessons I Never Learned sparkles with heart and humor. Like a teenage Bridget Jones, Roberta Romano will make you laugh, cry, and cringe as she tries to navigate her first day at Meadowbrook Academy. She finds friends and enemies, earns detentions and serious respect, and makes memories that will last her a lifetime." —Siobhan Vivian, author of The List
First off I want to start this review off by saying that I really enjoyed reading Lessons I Never Learned at Meadowbrook Academy. With that being said it did however take me some time to get into the story and really be stuck in the plot. It actually took me about four or five chapters, but once I was there I was stuck till the very last page and even after actually. I couldn't stop telling my friends about this one.
This book is very different from the books I've been reading lately, which all in all was a great change for me. I enjoyed how faced pace the story was and the author's eye for detail when it came to the main character going throughout her day at school. Which is what this whole book is about, the main characters first day at school. Even the classes that I would think would be skipped over weren't and I really ended up loving that about this story. I will also say that I never knew what was going to happen next with this book and that was another thing that I couldn't stop raving about. Honestly, books that are predictable are getting a little boring lately, so this was the best change of pace for me as a reader.
After I got over the little bump of the first four or five chapters of this book I was hooked and I know you will be as well. As for the characters, some I wanted to throttle at times and that did include Roberta, there were times that I wanted to shake her and yell at her, but then there were times that I wanted to just cry and hug her.
I absolutely loved this book and hope you all will as well.
All in all I gave Lessons I Never Learned At Meadowbrook Academy an Ali's Bookshelf....
Mainly, I gave it the 4 puppies and not 5 because of how long it took me to get into the story.
Plot: 19/20
Writing: 17/20
Creativity: 20/20
Characters: 19/20
Ending: 10/10
Cover: 10/10