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Wicked Sweet

3.51 of 5 stars 3.51 · rating details · 43 ratings · 6 reviews

Chantal is a planner, and her summer-before-senior-year plan requires best friend Jillian, resumé updating, and studying for AP classes. Jillian wants something different and is afraid to leave introverted Chantal in the dust. All that changes, though, when popular classmates Parker and Will suspiciously start hanging out with the girls.

Chantal only sees one thing: Jillia...more

Hardcover, 328 pages

Published May 22nd 2012 by Feiwel & Friends

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Oct 24, 2012 Danya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-debut-author-challenge, just-contemporary-challenge

My reaction:

I wasn't that impressed with this one; in fact, I even skimmed towards the end. The main reason I kept reading was to see if Chantal and Will would end up together and if Will was a good guy underneath his misogynistic, chauvinistic pig attitude ((view spoiler)) I also wanted to know what was going to happen with all the cakes and the final reveal, which was unfortunately a let-down.

I wasn't a big fan of any of the char...more
My reaction:

I wasn't that impressed with this one; in fact, I even skimmed towards the end. The main reason I kept reading was to see if Chantal and Will would end up together and if Will was a good guy underneath his misogynistic, chauvinistic pig attitude ((view spoiler)) I also wanted to know what was going to happen with all the cakes and the final reveal, which was unfortunately a let-down.

I wasn't a big fan of any of the characters (it's told from 4 perspectives). Parker is a boring, clueless dope who is very self-absorbed in some ways. Things just tend to go right over his head. And yet, somehow he's the kind of guy that everyone loves — and he knows it. Jillian's a typical YA teenage girl, who's trying out something new by entering the world of dating and fashion. The story involving her mom and brothers was more interesting, but not exactly feel-good, and it meant that Jillian was stressed all the time because of what she had to deal with at home. Plus, she and Parker didn't have much chemistry, which meant a bland romance for the pair of them.

Chantal comes across as a little strange (intentionally, I'm sure), as she's not so adept socially and she's quite geeky. She's a pretty relatable character and I had to sympathize with her being the butt of all these jokes and getting bullied. Chantal feels scared and unsure a lot of the time, and has panic attacks, so there's definitely an element of anxiety that she struggles with. When she starts baking cakes, she starts losing weight and gains significant measure of self-esteem. It was neat to see that coordinated with a hobby like baking. But the only character I found really interesting was Will, and not in a good way! He was slimy-jerk kind of interesting — although he undeniably had personality.

The actual storyline was super implausible in terms of the whole cake-as-revenge scheme (who would really care if some guy was receiving cakes from a secret admirer?). It really wasn't logical and the whole celebrity aspect was just preposterous. Basically, the plot ended up being a bunch of build-up for something that wasn't particularly spectacular.

Best aspect: its portrayal of different kinds of families. Jillian's family is unusual — she has lots of brothers, a terrible mother, and "dads" who wander in and out of her life. Chantal has parents who pressure her to do well in school, presenting the image of a "perfect home" but not really being there for her emotionally. The only thing that makes Will sympathetic at all is that he has a really mean dad who is verbally abusive to him and his mom. Will's mom is a bit of a pushover and gives into his dad but really loves Will. Parker has rich, elitist parents who care a lot about status and want the same kind of lifestyle for their son.

Also, I liked the friendship that develops between Chantal and Anneliese. Anneliese appears at the start to be a stereotypical popular girl, but she ends up taking Chantal under her wing a little and helping her out. It was sweet to see that friendship grow between two such completely different personality types.

If I could change something... Good grief, where do I start?

I'd:

a) come up with a better way for Chantal to get back at Will. Seriously, she can discover her love for baking on her own time.

b) bring Mitch into the picture as a potential love interest much earlier in the book, so we actually have a chance to get to know him and aren't left going, "Mitch? That guy who appeared in, like, one scene earlier? Huh?" Either that or make Will's character far more appealing, and axe Mitch entirely.

c) Give some of the characters much-needed depth — for instance, Chantal's parents. Right now they're more like cardboard cut-outs.

d) Breathe some life into the Parker-Jillian romance!

e) Wrap it up with an exciting finale. The ending here is all about how Chantal stands up for herself, demonstrating that she's gained confidence. I see the point, but it was just kind of cheesily cliche. More importantly, Will deserved greater humiliation!

If you haven't read it: don't bother, unless this is the only book you've got at hand and you've run out of other options for filling your time.

If you have read it: agree with my assessment? Disagree?

Quote:

"Visions of Will laughing at me make me cough, as if I'm allergic to mere thoughts of him. I cough harder. I have to turn the mixer off because my coughing fit is becoming a panic attack.

I can't catch my breath. Past my kitchen windows is the darkest night and I'm under the lights. The shark is out there. I fly through the house pulling down blinds, shutting curtains, turning off lights, until it's only me again, in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. How could I have been so exposed?

I'm so desperate I consider calling my mother to ask for her advice. She'll say, with friends like that you don't need enemies. Next year, I'll be homeschooled."

Final verdict: 2.5 shooting stars. This book wasn't terrible, it was just a pretty boring, flat kind of read. I was quite into it at one point, but then it got so far-fetched and the characters weren't developing the way I wanted them to. In the end, it just didn't go in the direction I was hoping for.

Disclaimer: I received this as an ARC for review from the publisher.

This book counts towards my goals for the Just Contemporary reading challenge and the Debut Author reading challenge.

(less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Jenni Arndt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.

A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wicked Sweet was a light, easy read. There are some heavy underlying issues but overall it's pretty fluffy, though not annoyingly so. It's a split POV novel (those seem to be very popular nowadays) that switches between Chantal, Jillian, Parker and Will. Chantal and Jillian have grown up best friends and so have the boys. The chapters are extremely short in this novel, sometimes...more You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.

A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wicked Sweet was a light, easy read. There are some heavy underlying issues but overall it's pretty fluffy, though not annoyingly so. It's a split POV novel (those seem to be very popular nowadays) that switches between Chantal, Jillian, Parker and Will. Chantal and Jillian have grown up best friends and so have the boys. The chapters are extremely short in this novel, sometimes only a page, so at first the POV switching was hard to get into but as the story wore on I definitely got into it. While I do have some complaints about this one, I did quite enjoy it.

The 4 main characters of this story all appeared to be emotionally scarred in their own way by the selfish actions of their parents. I don't think there was one adult in this book that really listened to their child and helped them out. Jillian's story is the most heartbreaking of all, she comes from a broken family where her mother doesn't give a crap about her or her 6 brothers and she refers to the men who come and go as Dad 1, Dad 2, Dad 3 and so on and so forth. The burden that is placed on her shoulders by her mother is really sad, she's a young kid and all summer she is forced to be the parent to her siblings when she should be out enjoying her last summer before she goes out into the real world. Yes I think that responsibility is important and her looking after the boys sometimes would have been a good thing, but I'm surprised those boys didn't call her mommy.

Parker's story is the lightest of all, he comes from a rich family and their only fault is expecting too much of him. His parents expect him to fit into this cookie cutter mold set forth by his older brothers and never really ask him what he wants to do with his life. His life is a stark contrast to that of his best friend Will whose family isn't so put together. Will was a hard one for me to like, knowing that he was a bully and did terrible things to Chantal just because he "liked to watch her freak out" really turned me off of him. I can honestly say that I never even felt bad for him once when the revenge was being served on him.

Chantal was the most confusing to me. She was a very smart girl and she came from a supportive family. What bugged me the most about her story was that she was obviously mentally unstable, she was not O.K. I think that at some point this should have been addressed in the story and it never was. Her mother's constant expectations of perfection and strict lifestyle clearly had a very negative effect on Chantal's thought patterns, and I felt that went largely unnoticed throughout the story.

All in all, this was a good, light read. I enjoyed it even though it was far from perfect. I felt for the characters (even though others in the book did not) and I was interested in the rise of the Cake Princess. (less)

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Jun 24, 2012 Mariah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, arc, boy-friendly, own-arc, may-12

I picked up this book because of the cover. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover but we all do it. I was pleasently surprised to find that the cover fit the book perfectly.

One thing I didn't know about Wicked Sweet was that it is told in alternate points of view of not only Chantal and Jillian but also, occasionally, Parker and Will. I liked this because it let me understand the boys' motivation and made them slightly more sympathetic characters.

Chantal's pov was my favorite...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Katie Tuccelli rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review was originally posted at BlookGirl.
---------------------------
"Two good girls, two deceitful guys, and one wicked sweet plan for revenge."

A revenge story involving cake and other scrumptious delights? What could make for a better light-hearted summer read?

Wicked Sweet is narrated by four different people: Chantal, Jillian, Parker, and Will. Sometimes a chapter and switch in narration consists of a few pages; other times, it's only one page. This made for a few jarring scene changes...more

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May 29, 2012 Amy Fournier rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

*3.5 out of 5 stars

To start, I totally loved the cover. I thought it was super cute and then I read the synopsis and knew I had to read this. It wasn't quite what I thought it would be, but it was really great! It's in a multi POV so it switches from Chantal, Jillian, Parker, and Will. It is done really well, and you really get to take in all that is happening. It has some important underlying issues in it, but overall I enjoyed it. It was never really too intense or emotional, but it also wasn'...more *3.5 out of 5 stars

To start, I totally loved the cover. I thought it was super cute and then I read the synopsis and knew I had to read this. It wasn't quite what I thought it would be, but it was really great! It's in a multi POV so it switches from Chantal, Jillian, Parker, and Will. It is done really well, and you really get to take in all that is happening. It has some important underlying issues in it, but overall I enjoyed it. It was never really too intense or emotional, but it also wasn't as light and fluffy as you would think it would be. All of the characters are so different and all have issues that come from their parents.

Onto the characters. Chantal is the type of person who needs routine and structure. It is how she grew up. Her mother is pretty awful actually. She is miss perfect who has to have everything organized, have lists, schedule the family to exercise, and is against having junk food. She won't even let Chantal bake deserts in the house. She puts Chantal down and makes her feel bad about herself. When Chantal was in 3rd grade and cut her won hair, she yelled at her and told her she looked like a fat little boy!! I mean, how horrible is that. Chantal is a great character, who is just trying to find herself. She is terrified of losing her BFF because she fells like she needs her. They kind of complete each other.

Jillian is the character that you feel sorry for. Her mom is a freaking train wreck. She has seven kids with three different guys. Jillian is the one who ends up taking care of them all the time. Not only is she taking care of six kids, but they are all boys. Triplets, twins, and a two year old. Her mother doesn't think it's wrong to let Jillian take on the responsibility. Jillian has always just gone along with Chantal's summer plans. She actually really enjoyed then too. They always plan a project. They are smart and are at the top of their class, but now she wants more. She wants to have fun, be noticed, and not have to deal with her horrible home life. She just wants to fit in.

Parker is from a well off family. His parents are pretty much perfect, but it's not really as it seems. They want so much out of him. They expect him to be class president like his brothers were. Go to college and be super successful. Hang around the "right" people. Parker sees the good in everyone though. He wants to do big things, but not like his parents want. He wants to help charities, and raise money for good causes. Parker is overall a really great guy who just does some really stupid things because of Will and his family.

Will is a character that I still disliked by the end of the book. He didn't have any redeeming qualities at all. His dad is a complete jerk, and his mom doesn't stand up for him or care because she will always choose his father over him. It's sad, but it's hard to feel bad for Will because he is just such a tool. He is just a jerk in general. You think you start to see a better side of him, but then he ruins it again. He is self-centered and thinks he is awesome, when really he is just a loser. I get it, he wants something better out of life, but his behavior is just horrible.

The overall story was pretty fun. Chantal finds herself through baking, Jillian finally does what she thinks is right for her family, Parker knows what he wants and he doesn't care what his parents think, and Will is still a jerk, but somehow manages to get his way a little bit. The story follows Chantal as the Cake Princess and there is some pretty yummy tasting cakes that she makes. She has this whole pretty awesome plan to expose Will and it's quite entertaining. I really enjoyed seeing how the characters changed and grew through the story. The thing that I didn't like was some of the word choices they used. Profanity doesn't bother me, but offensive terms do, and there was a part of this book that did that. I really did enjoy this book though. I think it was a great quick contemporary that will leave you craving tasty cake! (less)

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Jun 22, 2012 Sydney rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was a little slow at first, but had a great storyline and it continued to keep me guessing. I felt that Will didn't neccessarily deserve all of the humiliation that Chantal doled out, not to mention that I didn't think that the whole Cake Princess thing was very thought out nor was it a punishment. I thought that the "revenge" Chantal gave Will was silly, well the way she went about it was silly anyway.

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Jan 25, 2013 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, canada

Quite good. I hope there's a follow up.

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