A Crazy (Illegal) Weekend, As Directed By The Girl With a Topknot

Hello everyone!!! What a wonderful Thursday, isn’t it? Before you either 1, turn me in to the police, 2, pepper me with questions about my sanity, 3, freak out, or 4, get excited, I HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING ILLEGAL FOR THE MAKING OF THIS POST. In other words, welcome to a book review for an incredibly amazing book.

So… First, let’s all point out the elephant in the room. (This is Amy, by the way.) I disappeared for a month! Yikes! That hasn’t happened in a long time! If you’re waiting for an explanation as to why I was gone, there really isn’t one. Except, well, blogging was no longer a priority! Sad, but true. However, I have been reading a lot, and for some insane reason, buying more books! Back to the absentee situation. I really hope that this doesn’t happen again. The whole month, I’ve been catching myself thinking like a blogger- “I love this quote! It would look great with a ___________ picture!” or “I can’t wait to review this. The plot was just planned out so well. I could make a discussion post, too!” The point being, I really missed you guys! Anyway, this whole post CANNOT be sad, because that would be… Sad? AND I LIKE HAPPINESS! PUPPIES, RAINBOWS, WHAT AM I LISTING AGAIN??? Right. Moving along now….

Today’s review is for a realistic fiction book that absolutely made my heart melt. I stayed up late last night finishing it, because it was just that good. Say hello to…

It’s All Your Fault by Paul Rudnick!!! Now, I gotta say, this was not at all what I expected. In a good way. Promise. So let’s look at my before versus after overview:

What I Thought This Book Was Going to Be (Based on the cover & Synopsis): A fairly normal girl, whose cousin is a “popular” girl, and also her best friend. They had a falling out four years ago because the cousin, Heller Harrigan, went behind her back. They get together for the weekend because of some family thing, and Heller coaxes her into doing all these crazy things (with a little help from some alcohol). In other words, a quick, ludicrous book.

What This Book Actually Was: A home-schooled teen, who has been sheltered by her eight (!!!) siblings (and kneesocks), is “called by God” to watch over Heller Harrigan for the weekend, while she talks to all the reporters, etc., about her new movie premiere. Caitlin (the main character) has anxiety, and their falling out four years ago was about a near-death experience. OH, and Heller Harrigan is an alcoholic. And there happens to be a girl with a topknot. Mmmhmmm.

What a beautifully written story. Whereas I thought this would be just a hilarious, quick, on-the-surface-type story, it was actually a deep story about an alcoholic, a girl with anxiety, and a girl with cancer (AND DID I MENTION THE TOPKNOT YET), coming together for a, yes, hilarious weekend, with lots of new discoveries about themselves, their friendships, and what family means to them. And a couple of guys. Now for the characters:

Heller Harrigan was an alcoholic, who really just needed her best friend back. As the huge star in the movie for the series that everyone was talking about, she had a lot riding on her shoulders. Her mom was also an addict (I think), and as far as I know, her dad wasn’t ever in the picture. Throughout the book, she was trying to find her purpose in life, and to get past the fact that not everyone would like her or her acting. I struggled with connecting with Heller for the majority of the book, because, well, we’re nothing alike. I’m much more similar to Catey than Heller, so I related more to Catey’s hatred/painful memories with Heller than Heller’s issues. However, as the book went on, more of her past was revealed, and I was able to understand her better.

Caitlin Singleberry had anxiety, and eight siblings. She was homeschooled, and did not watch TV, have any electronic devices, understand why anyone wouldn’t wear kneesocks, or cuss. She was a huge Christian, and her family performed as the Singleberries. Heller was truly her best friend, and Catey tries to get over her.

The Girl With The Topknot was so sweet. That’s all you get. Guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out about her, huh?

As for The Plot, I thought it was well-rounded. You really don’t understand what happened to Catey and Heller 4 years before until the end of the book, and everything just clicks. And okay, as illegal as the weekend ended up being, it was totally hilarious. It was well-paced, keeping the action moving without making the story and relationships go unrealistically fast (for the most part).

Overall, this book was really amazing. I’d give it a 9.4 out of ten, and you should all read it! Although it turned out to cover some a lot of dark topics, I still ended up with my ludicrous book and happy ending. I just couldn’t put it down! Again, GO READ IT!!! It’s all your fault that you’re missing out! (XD) Don’t miss another moment… 😉

So, I’m back! And again, I missed you all SO MUCH. SOOOOOO much. What am I getting at here? SAY HI IN THE COMMENTS!!! I don’t want to miss any of your latest posts either! You can be sure that I’ll check out your blog if you comment, and although I’d like to promise I will anyway, there’s something funky with my laptop that doesn’t like many of your websites. Boo! But I’ll figure it out. Just talk to me! How’ve you all been? 😀 Toodles!

~Amy

No really, though, what have you all been up to? Tell me all about it! Have any of you read It’s All Your Fault? Do you plan to? Have you read anything else by this author? Is it worth reading? Have you read anything else similar to this? What was the best book you read in the last month? Comments, guys! 🙂

 

 

 

 

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