Summary:
This book is a little hard to summarize because it is not a typical chronological story line. Because of the unusual timeline, how do you figure out what to say in a summary that doesn't give a spoiler? If you have found that part of this summary is a spoiler, I'm sorry. If you are worried, just skip this section.
Gabby wakes up in a hospital bed after a horrific car accident, but she doesn't remember it. What happened to her? Through a mix of flashbacks, IMs, text messages, Gabby starts a dialogue about her life. Her parents, both very rich, are not very active in her life. Her mother is rarely home and spends most of her time servicing her own desires and materialism. Her father is an alcoholic. Both of these characters fit in with the rich lifestyle of southern California (I'm from there, I can be critical). Even after the accident, her parents aren't really there for her. This lack of interest from those that are close to her make Gabby feel like she is nothing. She describes herself as not very good at anything and almost a waste of space. That changes when her mom gives her a make over. After the make over, Gabby becomes Ms. Popular. She lands THE guy, Billy, and really becomes obsessed with him. Because she doesn't feel worthy of him, she is easily manipulated by him and is a rather weak character when they are together. All through her recollections of before and after the make over, Gabby is also piecing together the accident. Was Gabby the drunk driver?
My thoughts:
I was very conflicted with this book. I generally can forgive a weak plot line (not to say this was a weak plot) if the characters are very well developed. I'm a sucker for a good character. Gabby is an excellent character. Stampler does an AMAZING job with character development. The reader is with Gabby throughout the story. The inner monologues are brilliant. I felt extremely close to Gabby, even though for most of the story I didn't want to be. This is the conflicted part. I didn't like Gabby. There weren't times that I felt bad for her and felt like she was a close friend. I genuinely disliked her; however, I wasn't rooting for her to die or be punished either (like I would for a really good villain). Gabby is very sarcastic and equally hard on herself. The sarcasm is an attempt to hide insecurities and self-hate. I think the reason I dislike Gabby is because I wanted her to be stronger and less obsessive about Billy. Although Gabby does improve throughout the novel, she does not become someone that I would like a teenage girl to look up to.
Stampler also does an amazing job with minor characters and setting. I knew what was going to happen in the end. I would be surprised if people did not figure it out by about 2/3rds or so of the book and it did take me about 3 chapters to really get into the novel. Neither one of those issues would deter me from reading another Stampler story. If she can give me characters that I feel strongly about (even if they aren't likeable), then I will read her endlessly.
This book is a little hard to summarize because it is not a typical chronological story line. Because of the unusual timeline, how do you figure out what to say in a summary that doesn't give a spoiler? If you have found that part of this summary is a spoiler, I'm sorry. If you are worried, just skip this section.
Gabby wakes up in a hospital bed after a horrific car accident, but she doesn't remember it. What happened to her? Through a mix of flashbacks, IMs, text messages, Gabby starts a dialogue about her life. Her parents, both very rich, are not very active in her life. Her mother is rarely home and spends most of her time servicing her own desires and materialism. Her father is an alcoholic. Both of these characters fit in with the rich lifestyle of southern California (I'm from there, I can be critical). Even after the accident, her parents aren't really there for her. This lack of interest from those that are close to her make Gabby feel like she is nothing. She describes herself as not very good at anything and almost a waste of space. That changes when her mom gives her a make over. After the make over, Gabby becomes Ms. Popular. She lands THE guy, Billy, and really becomes obsessed with him. Because she doesn't feel worthy of him, she is easily manipulated by him and is a rather weak character when they are together. All through her recollections of before and after the make over, Gabby is also piecing together the accident. Was Gabby the drunk driver?
My thoughts:
I was very conflicted with this book. I generally can forgive a weak plot line (not to say this was a weak plot) if the characters are very well developed. I'm a sucker for a good character. Gabby is an excellent character. Stampler does an AMAZING job with character development. The reader is with Gabby throughout the story. The inner monologues are brilliant. I felt extremely close to Gabby, even though for most of the story I didn't want to be. This is the conflicted part. I didn't like Gabby. There weren't times that I felt bad for her and felt like she was a close friend. I genuinely disliked her; however, I wasn't rooting for her to die or be punished either (like I would for a really good villain). Gabby is very sarcastic and equally hard on herself. The sarcasm is an attempt to hide insecurities and self-hate. I think the reason I dislike Gabby is because I wanted her to be stronger and less obsessive about Billy. Although Gabby does improve throughout the novel, she does not become someone that I would like a teenage girl to look up to.
Stampler also does an amazing job with minor characters and setting. I knew what was going to happen in the end. I would be surprised if people did not figure it out by about 2/3rds or so of the book and it did take me about 3 chapters to really get into the novel. Neither one of those issues would deter me from reading another Stampler story. If she can give me characters that I feel strongly about (even if they aren't likeable), then I will read her endlessly.
