Review: The Julian Game - Adele Griffin

Where I got it: Princess Bookie's Around the World Tours
Rating:  2 stars
Cover Rating: 4.5 stars (Pretty excellent looking, the only bad thing is the wig is clearly photo-shopped.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 26, 2010
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Page Count: 201 p.

Raye Archer is trying to be popular after transferring to an all-girl school full of already formed relationships.  They have all been going to the same school together since...forever. Raye finds a friend in Natalya a fellow outcast of the school. Together they create a fake profile on facebook for a girl they deem Elizabeth. Elizabeth sits dormant for awhile, after that initial development, but when one of the popular girls, Ella, seeks revenge Elizabeth might be just what she needs. Elizabeth seems to get Julian, the very hot boy from the near-by all boys school, into a lot of trouble when they lure him to a party. Raye feels bad and wants to confess, so she confronts Julian who seems to be interested in her despite what happened. As the school year continues though, sabotage and taunting seem to be high on the list of things to do for Ella's crowd and Raye is the perfect target.

I kept reading this book waiting for it to get better. It didn't. I just kept waiting and waiting for something, anything to happen. The book sets up all these nice plot lines that could be quite viciously executed by the characters, but instead nothing happens. From the cover and the book tag line on the back cover("The blue wig was supposed to win Julian's heart...not wreck the game") I was expecting a much more action-driven plot line. This book was a big disappointment for me. The characters' emotions were also lacking, it was a case of telling not showing. No one really seemed that driven by their own emotions at all and no one ever seemed to feel that much. Everyone was just walking around in Bland City. Another thing that I didn't really enjoy was the dialogue. The characters were not that witty, yet sometimes when they spoke they were full of wit and cunning turns of phrase. The dialogue was just too inauthentic for me to believe these kids were real people. All in all I can honestly say this book wasn't that good. It was a very short read but had me dragging my feet waiting for the climax that never came.

First Line: 
"'This is the craziest idea you ever had,' said Natalya."

Favorite Line:
"'She said you had a shrine to me, but I didn't believe it.'"