Review of “how to be bad”

…written by E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle, and Sarah Mlynowski
The book “how to be bad” is a book originally written for teens, not the usual YA I normally read, something I realized shortly after I read it. Had I know before hand, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. Am I happy I ended up picking it up? I honestly don’t know…
In the book, we meet three different girls: Jesse, Vicks, and Mel, who all have alternating chapters. The only thing bonding them is that they all work at a diner called “Waffle House”, aka. “Awful Waffle”. Jesse and Vicks are best friends, and have been for some time, and then Mel, the new waiter, shows up. Right of the bat, it is clear to see she doesn’t belong with her designer jeans and fancy car. Yet, she ends up going on a road trip across Florida with Jesse and Vicks on one condition, that she pays for everything.

I am not really sure on my feeling towards this book. The beginning was a bit slow, and frankly so was the middle. The end picked up speed a little, but still not enough for it to salvage the rest of the book.
The language of the book was a bit divided, and it may have something to do with the fact that it was written by three different authors. I liked the chapters from Mel’s point of view the best, because they seemed sincere and her character was well thought through. The chapters on Vicks were also pretty enjoyable, and the chapters where her wild characteristics came through were some my favorite parts of the book. Jesse however, I couldn’t stand. I dreaded reading her chapters, not necessarily because they were badly written, but because her character was absolutely awful. She was judgemental, arrogant and cold hearted, and even at the parts of the book where we were supposed to feel bad or sympathetic towards her, I just couldn’t do it.
The plot itself was also flat. The love interest intended for Mel was boring and the roadside attractions they stopped at along the way didn’t add much to the story. (In my opinion)

 

Still, the book was an easy read, and I got through it in a couple of hours. The simple plot made it easy to digest, and I didn’t sit back with an empty feeling afterward like I sometimes do after reading a really good book. Overall, I would recommend it for younger readers, maybe aged 12-15, or someone older looking for a light, easy read.
3/5stars