Cracked Up to Be

I loved this book! It's another great emotional read from Courtney Summers. These characters are real, and always make me feel sort of uncomfortable. They feel like people I know. The moral to this story is nobody is perfect.

Reader reviewed by Jadore

I
thought Some girls are was a good
book, but Cracked up to be is even
better.

What
can I say? Courtney Summers did it again! That was an amazing story. Im sure Summers
have touched millions of teenagers life.

The
writing is amazing. Better Yet, the story is incredible. It was the best book I
ever read. You dont want the book to end, you want more and more of it. You
want more of Parker.

The
only thing I can say is, Poor Parker!

Parker
was a self absorbed person (Just like Jake, the new kids at her school,
described her) but I liked her. A lot! She was interesting and challenging. She
was outstanding, controlling and popular! She had it all but all she wanted to
be was alone and & Im sure, thats all wed want if we were HER. Everybody was
trying to help her. They were all nice and gave their best shot. Parker didnt
want it.

An
outstanding story. Well Written!

Cant
wait to read more of Summers book! 

Reader reviewed by Sara

From back cover: WHATS THE WORST THING YOUVE EVER DONE? When Perfect Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all the St. Peters High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular girl in school, consummate teachers pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesnt want to talk about it. Shed just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, theres a nice guy falling in love with her and hes making her feel things again when shed really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed shed turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.
Something horrible has happened, and I just might be her fault.

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Parker: I read in a review that Parker was a lot like Veronica Mars& and Id have to agree, that was actually one of my favorite aspects of the book, I also really liked how Summers was so realistic about Parkers guilt; Jake: I was definitely rooting for him!; Chris: He was really caring and composed considering what had been happening between him and Parker, etc.

When I finished this book I felt: This book was really intense& it wasnt what I expected, but it was really, really good. It made was deep, it was emotional, and it was entertaining: all at the same time.

Other books to read by this author: this is her first novel

I would recommend this book to: everyone& it really is appropriate for all readers (above elementary school for the most part&)

Reader reviewed by Steph Su

Parker Fadley used to be perfect:
cheerleading captain, honor roll, most popular boyfriend. Now, however, in her
senior year of high school, she has none of those, and its all by her choice.
Shes constantly getting in trouble, and has to meet with her guidance
counselor once a week to discuss her issues.

What happened to make Parker act
this way? As Parker pushes away her old friends and struggles with her feelings
for the new boy, Jake, she also grapples with her guilt over a terrible event
that happened the year before.

CRACKED UP TO BE is pretty much
perfect. Its a short but dense read that will keep you impatiently engrossed
in Parkers convoluted world, unable to tear yourself away until you find out
what happened to make Parker deteriorate so much.

Of course, it is Parker who
carries the novel, Parker who makes me love this book. One of the most
difficult things for a writer to do is to create characters who are not
necessarily likable but still make readers empathize with them. Parker and all
her friends are such characters. They are the most popular people at their high
schoolsomething I, along with most of us, have never experiencedbut even so
they are bitchy, emotional, hurt, in love, in lust, manipulativein short, relatable,
complex, and one hundred percent real.

The novel is set up in a way that
we dont find out about whats been eating at Parker until the very end, and
the setup is wonderfully appropriate, for it allows us to focus on the
character development while being intrigued by the backstory. I said that this
book is pretty much perfect, and not just in the foundations, like the
characters and the plot. Courtney Summers is also a writing master: she writes
in an unassuming, straightforward prose that doesnt beat around the bush.
Thats the way Parker talks also; she gets straight to the point in wonderfully
sarcastic lines.

All in all&does this review even
need a conclusion? Are you confused about how I feel about this novel? Run out
and buy it right now!

Reader reviewed by sammyjones57

Now if you're like me and read a lot of book blogs, you've probably seen this one up about...oh everywhere. All the reviews for it are amazing. It got me thinking, can it really be that good? Because sometimes when everyone else finds something so great, I get horrible disappointed with all the hype.

When taking on how to write a story there are authors that show you the characters and those that tell you about them. This book definitely shows you, which made it all more real in a sense. I could picture this book like a movie playing in my head. See the characters for who they were, hear their voices, and all those other great things we as readers love. Out of the all the characters in the book I warm up to Parker easily...who really isn't exactly a warming character at first. Might be the sarcastic wit she holds that sucked me in. But she's got a secret and a major problem - only if everyone would just leave her the hell alone, she might finally be okay...or so she thinks.

The fact is that no matter how much Parker tries to shove everyone away, they're still there. Even though Parker is...ahem sometimes....they all still care, which made me care. Immediately I had to know why and what happened to make her like this.

The mystery behind this story is fantastic. There are little hints here and there, but not enough for me to really guess what it was. You will be hooked from the first chapter and unable to put it down. Unless you realize you have to be at work in four hours and have no clue what you just read in the last five pages because you're so tired. Then after you get off of work, you go straight home, hyped up on caffeine, and pick this book back up to finish it. Only to get to the end and realize how much it was worth it.

I love reading debut novels and Courtney Summers has swept me away. I cannot wait to read more from her! Oh and my only complaint is that the story ended. So to answer my own question in the first part of this review: Yes, it's THAT good!

Reader reviewed by thea

Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers
I
really had no expectations for this book, so I was pleasantly surprised
when it turned out to be very funny and psychological. Parker seems to
be a typical smart-mouthed, teenager. Except for one tiny fact: she
committed suicide, and failed. When reading this book, the dialog was
so blunt, but that made the story seem all the more real and risky.
Many authors these days go for the safe storyline, but Courtney Summers
took this book to its full potential and I ended up really liking it. I
literally could not put it down and read it in 2 sittings(it was a
school night).
The book begins with a bunch of mysteries:Parker quit the cheer leading squad, she stole her ex boyfriends' money, etc. They are all resolved and it makes sense in the end.
This book really reminded me of I know its over
by C. K. Kelly Martin(which I also loved) because of how it really
draws you in by the first page, and you just can't do anything else
'till you finish it. The characters were so believable and I felt like
I knew them. I'm not just saying this. This type of book makes me feel
good to read. It captures me and doesn't let go. I miss YA books that I
can really, deeply relate to, and this one made all the other
trashy-gossip-girl-type-junk worth it.

Reader reviewed by the book muncher

Parker Fadley used to be perfect, but now, shes a perfect mess. She used to be captain of the cheerleading squad, the girlfriend of the hottest guy in school, and on consistently on the honor roll. But shes traded all that popularity away for frequent visits to the school counselor, minimal privileges at home and school, and social difficulty. But why? Why would a girl who had it all do such a thing to herself? To everyone else, its a mystery. People think shes just messing around, but shes not. Theres a reason Parker has withdrawn from everything good, and it has everything to do with before and a series of horrible events Parker blames herself for.

Cracked Up To Be is an incredibly written and emotionally charged debut novel I seriously could not put down. Its one of those novels that makes you think twice and not only just about he story, but your own life as well. Parker Fadley is such a complex and unforgettable character. Theres something so endearing about her brutal honesty yet at the same time, its so easy to hate her guts. Parkers flashbacks to a certain night, the night everything changed for Parker, only magnify the suspense and urge the reader to flip the pages faster to discover the big secret. And its definitely a juicy one, a twist in the plot I never saw coming. This novel shocked me, and not just because of the well-drawn characters and masterfully written plot, but because of how relevant it was to me and other teens as well, Im sure. Everyone faces pressure to be the best and has petty friendship disputes, but sometimes it becomes so great we crack, like Parker did. But whats so phenomenal about this story is that it ends on a hopeful note after such an emotional roller coaster, and that makes Cracked Up To Be by such a satisfying read.

Cracked Up To Be has definitely made my favorites list, and I would even consider rereading it several times even though my schedule is busy; thats how much I liked it. I recommend it to fans of Alyson Noël, Lisa Yee, and Aimee Friedman. Summers is an author to watch, and I enthusiastically look forward to more incredible writing from her.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com