Review: Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

3.5 soft peanut butter cookies.

Cover Love: I don't really like it, but I can tell you that this cover with that title would be very attractive to many readers in my library.

Why I Wanted to Read This: I adore Jenny Han and she and this author are writing a new trilogy that will come out this fall. When I heard that I had to look up what this author had written. The synopsis for this book piqued my interest. Here it is from GoodReads:

Natalie Sterling wants to be in control. She wants her friends to be loyal. She wants her classmates to elect her student council president. She wants to find the right guy, not the usual jerk her school has to offer. She wants a good reputation, because she believes that will lead to good things. But life is messy, and it's very hard to be in control of it. Not when there are freshman girls running around in a pack, trying to get senior guys to sleep with them. Not when your friends have secrets they're no longer comfortable sharing. Not when the boy you once dismissed ends up being the boy you wants to sleep with yourself - but only in secret, with nobody ever finding out. Slut or saint? Winner or loser? Natalie is getting tired of these forced choices - and is now going to find a way to live life in the sometimes messy, sometimes wonderful in-between.

I Kept Reading Because: Well I couldn't fall asleep the other night so I picked this up and just raced right through it. It's a quick read!

Romance?: Yes! Such a weirdly sweet and private romance.

What I Liked (& Didn't):
I didn't really like Natalie for most of the book, but I did root for her. The whole time I kept thinking of Tracy Flick from Election. However, you just knew that Natalie was going to have an epiphany and I kept reading for that moment.

I LOVED Connor Hughes. He was so good for Natalie. I just wished Natalie had taken the time to get to know him. For someone who hated rumors and the things that were said about other students, she was sure quick to believe everything she had heard about Connor. You got the feeling that most of it wasn't true, but they never talked about it so we don't actually know.

Spencer was well written, but she seemed way to knowledgeable for 14. I would have liked to see a character like this as an older person, perhaps someone who used to babysit Natalie. The things Spencer said just don't seem true coming from a 14 year old.

I also would have liked more of a back story for Ms. Bee, why she felt the need to pressure Natalie so much, and to only support her when her choices matched her own beliefs. Not a very good mentor!

To Sum Up: Good high school romance with some very realistic characters. Enjoyable read.

Book checked out from public library.