Sometimes a person just gets so sick of angst ridden books for teens that it's nice to see a novel that portrays teenage life for what it is. Not all teens life lives of quiet desperation. Some of us actually enjoy our lives. Seriously, as soon as I'd read the first sentence I was hooked for the night. Loved loved loved it!!!! How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend
This book was... good. I read it in less than a day, but I don't think I'd credit that to it being overly fantastic. I just think it was good. Nothing more than that, at least not in my opinion. It was kind of original, with the student body president election and everything, but it just seems like everything worked out too perfect for it to be taken realistically. I can understand a happy ending, but something about this just seemed too peachy for me. But in all honesty, the book kept me entertained. It was good for a light read. It was funny, and fun to read.
When Giovanna's twin brother, Dante, announces he's running for student body president against her boyfriend's friend and popular candidate, Wilson, things between Giovanna and her boyfriend, Jesse, get a little tense. Jesse's great, the best boyfriend a girl could ask for...Until he agrees to support Wilson over Dante, who is also a good friend of his. Both Jesse and Dante say Giovanna's too emotional, and she might agree after she impulsively breaks up with Jesse.
Even though she's campaigning for Dante, she sort of regrets dumping Jesse. Even if he is campaigning for the opposition. Okay, that's a lie--she completely regrets it, and she wants Jesse back, but Giovanna doesn't want to give up her pride or her brother's campaign, either. What's a girl to do?
HOW TO TAKE THE EX OUT OF EX-BOYFRIEND is a fantastic book! It's absorbing, entertaining, and moves quickly enough to be read in an afternoon. All of the characters are great, but Giovanna is an awesome and well-developed main character, with a great voice. She's someone I definitely wouldn't mind hearing more from! This is a book that is completely worth reading, and pretty hard to put down, too!
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
This book is entertaining and to my surprise actually has some funny moments.
Although the author tries to interject some "deep" moments - such as the twins dealing with life in different ways since the death of their mother - the overall tone of the book is light and airy. The main characters are cute and our heroine actually has a couple of laugh out loud funny episodes (and some of her thoughts are hilarious) - and the main storyline of Dante the male twin wanting to win a school election is harmless.
But what worked best in this story is definitely the love that the siblings have for each other and our main heroine's discovery of what is important to her - including her determination to stick to her principles.
The stepmother is the requisite 'ogre' and the father is barely mentioned here.
Having said all of this, I would not say that this book touched me or made me stop and think - rather its a delightful beach read and is cute and harmless.
How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend
We received an advance copy Janette Rallison's book, "How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend," and LOVED IT!!!!! Couldn't put it down. Read it all in one sitting.
To tell you the truth we don't normally go for romance type reads so we actually started reading it at 11 p.m. with the idea that we would read a little and then put it down...well, thanks to Rallison's awesome writing it was 3 a.m. before we put the book down and only because we got to the last line, "I laughed and went inside." We've posted the review of this title to the ChildrenComeFirst.com website as well.
While this book was light, airy, and quite fun in the beginning, I could not find any of the characters besides Giovanna to be realistic, and the plot had absolutely no subplots.
OF COURSE, I only read until about page 80 or so..I just couldn't take anymore of Giovanna's flat and boring friends and their unbearable conversations. I needed some substance.
The author does not interject anything at all, does not shy away from anything but the class election for even a second. I found that to be quite annoying, as I the reader needed a break. Jesse and Giovanna breaking up can be considered a subplot, and I technically is, but the author did not really touch on it, not from what I read.
Over all, I would not recommend this book.
Giovanna Petrizzo is an average girl dating a very popular guy, Jesse. She and her twin brother Dante don't really mix with the gorgeous, wealthy students, but Jesse is good to them both, so he's their one connection to the upper echelons of high school society. That is, until Dante gets fed up with the snobby kids and announces that he's running for student counsel president against Wilson, the leading snob. Giovanna rushes to her brother's aid but is appalled when she learns that Jesse plans to support Wilson instead of Dante. Giovanna breaks up with Jesse, but she learns that getting over him isn't easy, and being her brother's campaign manager isn't all that glamorous of a job.
Oddly enough, this book seems more like a friendship-and-family story than a YA romance. A lot of focus is drawn to Giovanna's brother Dante, who is a pretty cool guy that fixes up old motorcycles and calls out the student council kids for being vapid (well, when all they're given to do is plan the prom and design homecoming floats, how could they be otherwise? But I digress...). Her loyalty to Dante is sweet, but it's misplaced or overzealous a lot of the time. Dante wants her support in the election, but not as much support as she actually gives, because he has a lackadaisical approach to the whole thing himself. He's an idea man, not a commander, and he wants to make a statement, not govern.
There are some great wacky things in How to Take--Giovanna is on probation for a frog cadaver incident that spiraled out of control until she had to do community service for it. And there's some funny parts with her English teacher who is an aspiring writer and reads her rejection slips out loud to the class, and some really bad blind dates that Giovanna gamely goes on to try to forget Jesse. It's light, cute comedy.
I suppose to me, the conflict feels very low-stakes. The rich kids that Dante's opposing aren't going to do anything bad, they're just going to not make a memorial for a student who died. I guess I want more of a threat and more of a reward in the whole election scenario--if Wilson wins, nothing happens, and if Dante wins, his friend gets a memorial. It's very honorable of Dante to pursue this in memory of his friend, but I don't feel the impact as a reader since that character wasn't actually introduced.
As far a romance goes, there's some of it, but not as much as the title indicates. Jesse is basically a pleasant but normal guy, though does get more interesting after the break-up; he's smart and level-headed, and just slightly jealous--enough to show that he cares but not enough to be obnoxious. Giovanna doesn't even do that much planning or scheming to get Jesse back, she just goes on a few un-fun dates with other people. Overall, it's a short, sweet story and though it's YA, it's suitable for Mid-Grade readers. - Teen - Ya Romantic Comedy - Humor - Screwball Comedy'
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