Today has just been one of those weeks - busy central! In fact all this course reading and essay writing got abit too overwhelming this week and I just needed to read something for fun! So my work-free evening on sunday was spent curled up on the sofa reading Paige Harbison's New Girl! I started at about 8ish and could not stop until I had finished just gone midnight! What a way to spend an evening! It just goes to show that I could not put this book down, I had to finish it in one sitting!
"They call me 'New Girl'...
Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.
Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.
Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.
And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back." (Goodreads Summary)
"They call me 'New Girl'...
Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.
Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.
Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend…but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.
And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back." (Goodreads Summary)
I found reading New Girl strangely compelling! It's a high-school teen drama novel with a darkened edge to it, similar to those in her previous novel Here Lies Bridget.
We only find out the 'new girl's' name in the last few pages and it was only when my attention was drawn to the name that she was given just how unfamiliar it was. You don't really realise that she is never named until it is finally given, which I think is a clever concept in showing how everyone else just went along with her being the no-named new girl at the school.
We only find out the 'new girl's' name in the last few pages and it was only when my attention was drawn to the name that she was given just how unfamiliar it was. You don't really realise that she is never named until it is finally given, which I think is a clever concept in showing how everyone else just went along with her being the no-named new girl at the school.
I actually felt really sorry for her character (who wouldn't!) she spends her only year in the boarding school being essentially bullied by Becca's shadow and it made me want to scream repeatedly at Dana and the others who kept having a go at her for 'trying to be and replace Becca'. I felt like She should have got another year at the school with her friends and surrounded by nice people to actually make the most of her last year of school, rather than being made to hate it for the majority of the year.
I thought it was really clever written so you did not really know whether Becca was coming back or not until right at the end and I think this is why I basically read it in one sitting... I wanted to know what happened and the suspense kept me reading and reading!
It's a great book, Paige Harbison has done it again! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, perfect feel-good, rainy day novel to curl up with!
