Guyaholic (V Valentine #2)

Reader reviewed by Mariah

This is the companion book to Vegan Virgin Valentine but this is
written about Mara's niece V. This book like all of Carolyn Mackler's
books is very funny but has a strong message behind it even if you like
the story so much you don't even catch the message.

I really
liked getting to know V better after VVV because she seemed like such
an interesting character. She has such a different background from her
aunt and that put a good parallel, her experience with her mother is
also a very good story that made me want to keep reading! Also Sam
sounded really cute! This book had a cute story but unfortunately had
parts that were kinda boring which made me less anxious to continue
reading it. This book approaches some interesting issues that are
becoming more prominent in YA books. So it is following the trend.

Reprinted here with author's permission

Reader reviewed by Sara

Ideas expressed/message/plot: From inside cover: V Valentine is the queen of meaningless hookups. Ever since her mom dumped her with her grandparents, she has bounced from guy to guy. Bu then, in the spring of senior year, a fateful hockey puck lands her in the lap of Sam Almond. Right from the start, things with Sam are different. V is terrified to admit it, but his might be meaningful after all.

On the afternoon of graduation, V receives some shocking news. Later, at a party, she makes an irreversible mistake and risks losing Sam forever. So when her mom invites her to Texas, V embarks on a cross-country road tip with the hopes of putting two thousand miles between herself, Sam, and the wreckage of that night.

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: V was realistic she was the cliché slut: this just goes to show that you cant judge a book, or in this case a person, but your first look people have more to their stories than the average passerby can see

When I finished this book I felt: I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I was expecting it to be a short, cute read (based on the cover and title), but it actually was a deeper, more honest portrayal of first love and mistakes than I ever would have expected. I definitely want to read more of Macklers books. I like the brutal honesty there was no dancing around unsavory descriptions in this book.

Other books to read by this author: The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, Vegan Virgin Valentine, Love and Other Four-Letter Words

I would recommend this book to: readers who usually read YA books but want a, perhaps, more realistic portrayal of first love

Reader reviewed by mine

i think this book is awesome. The in it is very strong.in it she meets a boy named sam .she absolutly loves him.I liked it becouse some of the things she got through amazed me like when her mom didnt com to her graduation and she drove a lone way t see her.I think if my mom didnt come to my graduation i woul of been very mad!So the way she handled that was very strong indeed.i also liked it becouse she goes through a lot of adventures to see her mom.

Reader reviewed by nadia

V really messed up this time. she really misses scott.she didnt really mean for what happend.go into the journy o a girl who wishes so could go back in time aand change what happened.but in reality you cant really do that so whats she gona do? lets se...

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

V Valentine, the insuppressible anti-hero from VEGAN VIRGIN VALENTINE, is back in a story about her own growing up and falling into love. All her life, V has flitted from one boy to the next at breakneck speed, never stopping to allow any possible emotions to cling to her. Then one fateful hockey game she crosses paths with Sam. Somehow things with him are different.

Could it be that Sam is V's first real boyfriend? V isn't so sure. And given her own mother's history with numerous men, she's pretty certain that love, the kind of emotion that causes you to remain faithful to only one person, doesn't exist. So she constantly pushes Sam away, denying her feelings and, finally, permanently wrecking any relationship they had.

Ashamed, V decides to take a cross-country car trip by herself to visit her mother, whom she has not seen for a while now. Her adventure is nothing spectacular, but it's the thinking that V does on the trip that causes her to realize how she's different from her mother, and how she's grown and is, just maybe, ready to open up to love.

While not one of my favorite books of hers, Carolyn Mackler's novel GUYAHOLIC is nevertheless entertaining, a heartwarming overture for a girl who, despite her faults, we love. It's impossible not to cheer for V as she survives her car trip and learns about herself in the process.

Reader reviewed by abscae

This is definitely just as good as the first, catching me by surprise, and just eating my heart out.

While the other novel featured Mara as the narrator, it's not V's turn: the trial and tribulations of V's love life. V, now 17 and a senior, faces hard disappointments: the fact that her mother once again canceled oh her, first promising to be there, and then missing out on her own daughter's graduation. Everyone but V sees the disappointment, all V feels is hurt.

But the story doesn't start from there. It starts with a puck hitting her in the forehead. And it starts with the boy who cradles her head, wiping away the blood, while making underhand comments at the stupidity of others in the stands. Sam's character automatically caught my eye, and the same goes for V. Trouble is, she's not ready to commit to saying it's love: not ever. And when V cheats on Sam, she drives across the country to meet her mother, Aimee. Through that journey and at the end of it, comes realizations for V.

Charming and beautiful, this book could stand alone or with it's previous; it doesn't really matter. What matters is the subject matter.

Reader reviewed by mlecompt

V has moved all over the country with her mother and has finally settled in with her grandparents in Brockport, NY, where her mother sent her when she decided to move to Costa Rica to follow some guy. V hooks up with guy after guy until she meets Sam, whom she dates for five months. She won't acknowledge that they are de facto boyfriend and girlfriend and eventually drives him away. Her solution to her heartbreak is to drive all the way to Texas to visit the mom she hasn't seen in 18 months.

V's behavior is sometimes annoying, at times I wanted to reach into the book, grab her shoulders, and give her a good shake, but she has reasons for keeping everyone at arms width. This is a sort of fluffy book with some deeper themes and it was a pretty good read. It's a companion books to Vegan, Virgin, Valentine, but you don't need to read that first in order to understand what happens in this book.