Sometimes it Happens by Lauren Barnholdt
July 12, 2011 by Simon Pulse
Hardcover, 320 Pages
Review Copy (ARC)
On the last day of her junior year, Hannah's boyfriend Sebastian dumped her. Facing a summer of loneliness, Hannah turns to her best friend Ava for comfort. Ava does what BFFs do: she stays by Hannah's side...until it's time for Ava to head up to Maine for the summer. Also left behind is Ava's boyfriend, Noah, who's such a great guy he gets Hannah a job at the diner he waits tables at. Slowly, Hannah comes out of her funk thanks to Noah's good conversation and their fun times at the diner. But things get complicated when their friendship turns into attraction--and one night, into a passionate kiss. The novel opens on the first day of senior year; the day Hannah is going to see Ava, Sebastian, and Noah all in one place.
Over the course of the day secrets and betrayals are revealed, and alliances are broken and reformed. In the end, everyone is paired up once again, but not the way you might think...
Review
Sometimes it happens that your bff steals your boyfriend and its ok because your the snotty character who everyone hates...sometimes your the everything but girl and still scum-bag 16 yr old boyfriends will cheat on you with sophomores who do it better.....at least that's whats happening in Hannah's life. On the last night of being Jrs, Hannah and Ava hit the big end of the year party where upon arrival Hannah sees her boyfriend making out with another girl. Heartbroken and embarrassed Hannah just wants to go home, Ava however thinks revenge is the best option and sets Hannah up with another ding-dong to make out with to get back at the boy cheating on her in the pool...and this all happens in one night. As you can already tell, Hannah is your A-typical gal who just wants to have a boyfriend and please her best friend, while Ava is your B-type, trendy gal who takes all the risks and bosses less confidant friend around.
Depressed and feeling like life is over...the next DAY, Ava breaks the news to Hannah that she will be going away for the summer to be a camp counselor. Now Hannah is really depressed and begins eating tremendous amounts of ice cream to make her feel better. During this ice cream eating depression zombie phase (2 days) Ava sends her boyfriend Noah (first mistake) to check on Hannah and make sure she's doing well. Noah winds up getting Hannah a job at a local diner, the one he works at (mistake #2) and the two begin hanging out, building a friendship (mistake #3) and slowly begin to feel an intense mutual attraction. Well by the time the end of summer hits and Ava comes home the two have fell-in-love, had sex and are attempting to keep things from getting hostile on the first day of school.
Depressed and feeling like life is over...the next DAY, Ava breaks the news to Hannah that she will be going away for the summer to be a camp counselor. Now Hannah is really depressed and begins eating tremendous amounts of ice cream to make her feel better. During this ice cream eating depression zombie phase (2 days) Ava sends her boyfriend Noah (first mistake) to check on Hannah and make sure she's doing well. Noah winds up getting Hannah a job at a local diner, the one he works at (mistake #2) and the two begin hanging out, building a friendship (mistake #3) and slowly begin to feel an intense mutual attraction. Well by the time the end of summer hits and Ava comes home the two have fell-in-love, had sex and are attempting to keep things from getting hostile on the first day of school.
You know that saying while the cats away the mouse will play....well, well, well I think we have some very naughty mice in this book. First off cheating on your girlfriend with her best friend is about the lowest thing you can do if your a guy and sleeping with your best friends boyfriend is probably about the crappiest thing you can do if your a girl. But those rules dont apply to these characters, because hey sometimes things just happen. Don't get me wrong not all the characters were completely hopeless, I liked Noah, however rare he may be in high school reality and was the most mature out of this flock of estrogen ninny's. Hannah was a clingy, co-dependant mess, while Ava was selfish, Lacey was spazzy and Hannah's mom was off at work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even with Noah's few redeeming qualities, he still cheated on his girlfriend....and the whole cast was almost worse than real high school.
I find it kind of sad that most of these YA books, feature a girl who's entire life is wrapped around some guy...most likely some guy she wont marry or even be with that long. Hannah had nothing going for her outside of guys, outside of being the everything but girl.....what a trend setter, a girl who will engage in "everything but" but still calls herself a virgin. It was her senior year and not once did she reflect on school, her future, her non-existent family, just guys, guy drama, guy hotness and telling the reader what she was doing sexually. I cant say this wasn't an entertaining read waiting to see who would smack who and Barnholdt certainly knows how to write overboard teen drama, but I was disappointed that Hannah came off as a shallow dish-rag. Oh well, hopefully somewhere in her after the book future she will go to college, marry Noah and have a happy ever after.
I find it kind of sad that most of these YA books, feature a girl who's entire life is wrapped around some guy...most likely some guy she wont marry or even be with that long. Hannah had nothing going for her outside of guys, outside of being the everything but girl.....what a trend setter, a girl who will engage in "everything but" but still calls herself a virgin. It was her senior year and not once did she reflect on school, her future, her non-existent family, just guys, guy drama, guy hotness and telling the reader what she was doing sexually. I cant say this wasn't an entertaining read waiting to see who would smack who and Barnholdt certainly knows how to write overboard teen drama, but I was disappointed that Hannah came off as a shallow dish-rag. Oh well, hopefully somewhere in her after the book future she will go to college, marry Noah and have a happy ever after.
Rating
Sometimes it Happens is recommended for mature teens/adults (over 16) and contains sexuality, language mild to graphic, drug use, teen party's, underage drinking and non-parental guidance.
3/5- YA-Contemporary Romance
Copy-ATWT
Great review and don't like that life is all wrapped up in boy too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great review. I am concerned about the themes in these types of books, but I guess that's like being concerned with what comes on tv. It isn't really going anywhere. Am I being too pessimistic?
ReplyDeleteThis review is hilarious, T! I love your brand of snarky!
ReplyDeleteAnd believe me when I say I feel your frustrations. In the book I just finished, the girl didn't realize her 'true' potential until the boy pointed it out in her. *sighs*
Maybe I'm just becoming too far removed from my teenage years to understand, but it is getting rather pathetic.
Still, I believe even dishrags deserve a happy ending, so all the best to the everything but girl.
Great review Tina. It sounds like this book has a lot of drama (not in a good way though). I really don't like the whole girl sleeping with bestfriend dirt bag of boyfriend theme. I just find it so hard to like the characters that do that.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI'm Kate Evangelista, author of Taste, and I just wanted to take this time to introduce myself. If you have the time, please stop by The Coffee Bar by using the link below:
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I agree. Sometimes I just want to shakes these girls!! There is more to life than boys, although not in YA
ReplyDeleteI have trouble with this whole scenario because I would be absolutely devastated if my boyfriend slept with not only another person, but my best friend. I honestly can understand how things can "happen" but as hard as it would be, I would want everything out in the open so things could move forward. I'm not loving the sound of Hannah, but this still sounds like an interesting read despite it's flaws. Thanks Tina!
ReplyDelete@Missie- I think you hit the nail on the head with the YA...I love it I really do and in my job and life teenagers are a huge part of it...I just see so many messages that are wrong pointed at young women, its just sad that these beautiful 14, 15 16 yr old girls waste their time and energy on guys that cant give them what they need. I feel a disconnect as well I guess thats what happens when you have your own teenager...and Im a young mom!!
ReplyDelete@Jenny- it was worth the read, I just get mad at typical shallow girl who finds a guy and then DING- like Missie said finds her real potential....ARGH so annoying!
ReplyDelete@Katie- Right On!
@nic,alexis and Julie- That was my biggest problem...the cheating aspect and with people who are friends....its just wrong but it seems there is no moral conscious in the YA market lately besides a few authors.