Author: Claire LaZebnik
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: August 2011
Summary (taken from Amazon):
Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?
At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:
As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.
When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.
Review:
Epic Fail was just the book I needed to get me out of this reading hump I’m in. I finished it in two days which is really great since its been taking me up to two weeks to finish a book lately.
The book takes place in a boarding school in California, one where the wealthy and famous send their children to. Elise Benton and her sister, Juliana, are new to the school and having your mother as the new principal isn’t really winning them any points. Elise’s sister, Juliana, catches the eye of Chase and the sisters start spending a lot of time with both Chase and his best friend, Derek Edwards, who being the son of Hollywood royalty is a hot commodity wherever he goes.
I loved Elise. She speaks her mind, doesn’t conform to anyone else, and best of all she didn’t get sucked into the glitz and glam of her new surroundings. But her mom and little sister were a another story. Elise’s mom is annoying and frustrating both at school and at home. And there were times I wanted to wring Layla’s neck by being so self absorbed and immature.
With Pride and Prejudice retellings/adaptations you basically know what’s going to happen…there will be misunderstandings between Elsie and Derek, Elise’s mother will be a pain and Layla will cause trouble. Well that’s exactly what happened and I loved every bit of it. There were the elements of P & P but Claire LaZebnik put her own spin on things making Epic Fail a fresh, up-beat and feel good read.
Rating 5 Stars
* I bought a copy of this book.
7 comments:
Elise sounds like an awesome character! Gotta love a protagonist who speaks her mind :)
Great review, Jenny!
I liked this one quite a lot, too. It's 'just right,' as Goldilocks would say - not too much of anything, and a lot of fun (without being completely fluffy). Glad you enjoyed the read!
Did someone say pride and prejudice? :D yes I heard and I want, lol
I always feel so incredibly grateful to books that pull me out of a reading funk. They get placed on a special shelf my office.
Of course, I'm a huge fan of P&P, so I can't wait to try this one.
I thought this was really cute. I do like P&P retellings because you know exactly what you're going to get. I loved the Hollywood element.
I like your review!
I thought this book was funny. I also loved the way Elise always helped her sisters!
I totally understand your situation about books taking super long to read. It's one of the reasons why I really liked this one too: it's relatively small and easy to read. Plus, Elise and Chase are really likeable.
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