Cracked up to Be by Courtney Summers

3/5 Stars

B&N:


Gr 10 Up

Parker Fadley has it all-head cheerleader, honor roll student, Winter Ball Queen, perfect boyfriend, Chris. Then at a wild "school's out" party, she catches her friend Jessica's boyfriend kissing another girl and tells Jessica, who retaliates by hooking up with an older guy who crashed the party. The next day Jessica is missing, and Parker, suspecting that she could have done something to help her, nosedives into a downward spiral, drinking heavily, and attempting suicide in a motel room. All of this is revealed in flashback as Parker begins her senior year at her Catholic high school. She cuts class, goes to school drunk, ignores assignments, and goes out of her way to make everyone leave her alone. New guy Jake, intrigued by her self-destructive determination to be ostracized, persists in trying to get inside her head. The problem is that what's inside Parker's head is a fear she can't even admit to herself-that she knows what happened to Jessica and could have stopped it. Summers creates a gritty world of teenagers living on the edge, complete with explosive interactions and rocky relationships without getting mired in angst. Parker narrates the story, darkly fascinating in her turmoil as she slowly lets herself remember details from the drunken night of Jessica's disappearance. In her relationships with Jake, Chris, archrival Becky, her parents, and even her dog, Parker struggles with self-revulsion and a desperate need for love and acceptance. Marked by explicit language and frank sexuality, this compelling read is taut with tension.-Joyce Adams Burner, formerly at Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS




My Review:

This book was good. Again, not a amazing. I wouldn't read it a second time. I actually liked her other book, the one she wrote after this one better. In this story, Parker, who used to be perfect, isn't perfect anymore. Something traumatizing happened to her and she goes off the deep end. She starts drinking, acting recklessly, and fails her classes.

One part I didn't really like was how her parents acted. Yes, they were concerned, but I'm pretty sure if that was me, I would have tried a bit harder and a bit sooner to get her help. I would have put her into a hospital. She wouldn't have wanted it, but to me the whole parents being "OK" with her behavior (concerned yes, scared, yes...but kind of OK) didn't work for me.

I did like her relationship with her ex. I found that part interesting to read about.

You don't find out exactly why she's so messed up until the very end. Like, the very end. Then the author kind of throws together an ending. You don't get everything answered that you may want.

It was interesting to see how this teenager reacted to trauma- the negative aspect of it. But again, the way others reacted to her...didn't mesh well with me.

Although, I did stay up pretty late reading it. I did want to know exactly what it was that happened. After I read it, I was like, "Oh. Ok, well that would suck." But then I got mad at the main character for not doing anything. Which in a way is exactly why she's so troubled.