Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads summary:


At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Cast 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.


My review:

Meant to write this review last night, but the words were just not flowing.

Apparently, my writers block was short lived. I know the four people reading my reviews are relieved =)

This was one of the cutest stories I've read in a long time. It's not classic literature, it's not the next great American novel, and it's not breaking any new ground.

What it is, though, is a very enjoyable story of how first impressions can shape our relationships - both good and bad - and how sometimes we let those impressions get in the way of what might really be there waiting.

Elise was a joy of a character to read. I loved her sarcastic snap backs when answering questions, the elaborate stories she'd craft ("I'm not a miracle worker, man!") on the fly. I loved her relationship with her older sister...and seriously wanted to slap her other sister Layla.

Her parents were believably eccentric and odd, but they were consistent about it. The only thing that didn't seem to fit was the mother being all starstruck about Derek. For parents who wouldn't allow cell phones to be used in the house, and didn't want living in such a posh area to change them...she was practically crawling into limos and simpering to Derek.

I probably could have done a little less time with the beginning of the story, though, because I wanted the second half to go on a lot, lot longer.