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Faking 19

by Alyson Noel (Goodreads Author)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 1,470 ratings · 120 reviews

On the surface, 17-year-old Alex has it made; she is beautiful and smart. Plus, she's best friends with M., the absolute most popular girl in school. Feeling bored with their fancy Orange County suburban town, Alex and M. decide to check out L.A.'s glitzy nightlife scene.

Pretending to be 19, Alex and M. meet Trevor and Connor, two rich older guys. At first, Alex can't beli...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published March 1st 2005 by St. Martin's Griffin

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Community Reviews

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Sep 04, 2012 Merary rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Shallow airheads

Recommended to Merary by: NOBODY!!

Shelves: the-worst-i-d-ever-read, you-are-an-idiot, backstabbing-fun, drugs-are-the-deal, it-just-wasn-t-for-me, it-s-all-about-sex-baby, strangle-them-with-a-chain-please, mediocre-writing, cheating-partners, chick-lit, ya, left-me-with-a-passionate-fury

Before Reading: Oh, look! Alyson Noel's very first book!
I can't wait to read it! The Immortals was so goddamn awful that it made me so ANGRY!! I hope her first book is so much better than her immortal fantasy crap!

After Reading:

What the damning fuck did I just read!!!??

WARNING: This review has A LOT of spoilers. But, then again, SINCE WHEN DO I GIVE A FUCK?!

Almost, but not quite.

This is the stupidest girly book I'd ever read!!
Alex is a fucking idiot, the plot is ridiculous, and the writing was...more

15 likes · like · see review

Nov 24, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com

Alyson Noël took me for a joyride in FAKING 19 into the oh-so-fabulous, wild party life of two beautiful high school seniors in SoCal. At first glance, Alex may seem like she has it all. She's pretty, smart, and her best friend is the most popular girl at school, M. But the truth is, Alex has some pretty hefty family problems and she's undergoing a major identity crisis. Oh, and on top of all that, she's failing all of her classes and might not gradua...more

5 likes · like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Sarya Mrowa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my favorite books so far and I enjoyed reading it. I liked this book because I felt i could relate to the characters in it. It is a fun and simple book to read which I think any girl would love. It's about a teenage girl called Alex who is a senior and gets bored of school,fails her classes and ditches school some times and instead goes out to the city and parties with her best friend M.They both meet guys which they find cute and say they're 19 years old.But this lie gets them to...more

1 like · like · see review

May 22, 2013 Demi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Unlike most people, I actually found this book in my library as part of a two-novels-in-one book called 'Keeping Secrets.' The blurb was as follows:

'We usually tell our best friends everything. Our crushes, our embarrassing stories, our secrets-but sometimes there are truths so deep and dark that we can't tell anyone. Not our parents, not our sisters...not even our best friends. Some secrets are so unspeakable that we keep them safely locked away so no one will ever discover them.

But what happen...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Annabel ♥ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: lol, ok, two-stars

You can find this review and others on my blog: http://inlovewithbookishthings.blogsp...

Chic-lit, for me, is a guilty pleasure. I don't read a whole lot of it, and the only chic-lit author I really like is Sarah Dessen. I was expecting this book to be cheesy, girly, and mindless. And it was, but you could tell that Alyson Noel tried to add a layer of depth to it that just didn't really end up working out that well. Alex, 17, is beautiful, popular, and smart. But she's failing all of her classes,...more You can find this review and others on my blog: http://inlovewithbookishthings.blogsp...

Chic-lit, for me, is a guilty pleasure. I don't read a whole lot of it, and the only chic-lit author I really like is Sarah Dessen. I was expecting this book to be cheesy, girly, and mindless. And it was, but you could tell that Alyson Noel tried to add a layer of depth to it that just didn't really end up working out that well. Alex, 17, is beautiful, popular, and smart. But she's failing all of her classes, despite her talent for writing that she has been secretly hiding away. Her parents are divorced, her father has no interest in her life, and her mother is lonely and vacant. Her best friend, M, is even more beautiful and more popular than she is. So to get away from their seemingly sucky lives, Alex and M visit LA and explore the clubs and meet older guys. And even though the premise seems remotely interesting, and the cover is your typical chic-lit cover, the inside of the book wasn't so great. The staging was atrocious and the writing was absolutely terrible. There were also grammar mistakes which I almost never see in books. I have to admit, I was disappointed with this book, especially since my friend said it was so good.

I think what made this book so uninteresting to me is that it wasn't very relatable. I've never faked my age to be with an older guy or anything like that (obviously :p). This book revolves around the lives of two 17 year old girls, and needless to say I couldn't relate to anything that they were talking about. There didn't really seem to be any central plot line, and that drove me crazy. I kept waiting for something interesting or action-packed to happen, but it just didn't. It seemed like a typical mindless read. The writing wasn't too great either. Noel would write something and then repeat herself two sentences later. The paragraphs were long and rambling, and sometimes I just wanted to scream, "Get to the point, Alex!" Speaking of which, Alex, as a character, drove me insane. All of her decisions were immature and stupid. I knew that she was under stress with everything with her parents, but she drove me up the wall. I also hated M, her best friend.

This book was just your typical chic-lit and I didn't see anything special or note-worthy about it. Sometimes there would be good moments where I'd want to keep reading but this was a fast read that didn't make me think at all. The characters and writing were what really annoyed me, though, and I really wish I liked this book more. Hopefully there'll be some better reads next.
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Mar 16, 2013 Tara Kheir rated it 1 of 5 stars

Okay, I'm going to be the good person here and take the high road. One star. That's right. One star out of five, 20% out of a 100%.

To begin with, my friend gave me this book as a suggestion. Now, I had ultimately thought that because she suggested this book, it would be great; considering she has great taste in books. However, I have a feeling she was probably having an emotional mental breakdown when she suggested Faking 19.Maybe both.

Ah, Alyson Noel. I have absolutely one important, life-chang...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Maddie Mashek rated it 4 of 5 stars

Plot summary:
Faking is about two main characters, Alex and Alex's best friend, who she calls "M," Her full name is never revealed in the book. The story takes place in California, near L.A.
Alex comes from a low income family since her parents got divorced ten years ago. M and Alex are 17, so she still lives with her mother, who got the bad end of the divorce settlements. She is a very good writer and is very intelligent, but after her sophomore year, she hasn't put much effort into her grades...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 16, 2012 Theblondebookie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I first would like to say that I am very tired at the moment and apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors you might see throughout this review.

We might not even call this a review. More of a rant. If you are a fan of Alyson Noel's book "Faking 19," I think that is grand. We are all entitled to our own opinions and that's what makes literature and life, in general, great.

However, I have a very different view and perspective of this book. The author must have been drunk while writing thi...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2012 The-vault rated it 4 of 5 stars

By Alyson Noel. Grade: A
This seems to be a year for firsts. After reading numerous amazing authors for the first time, the next writer to be added to the list was Ms. Noel. And she turned out to be as amazing as the others.
WARNING: This is the first good book that I am reading after weeks, so I might be just a bit biased.
On the surface, 17-year-old Alex has it made; she is beautiful and smart. Plus, she’s best friends with M., the absolute most popular girl in school. Feeling bored with their fa...more By Alyson Noel. Grade: A
This seems to be a year for firsts. After reading numerous amazing authors for the first time, the next writer to be added to the list was Ms. Noel. And she turned out to be as amazing as the others.
WARNING: This is the first good book that I am reading after weeks, so I might be just a bit biased.
On the surface, 17-year-old Alex has it made; she is beautiful and smart. Plus, she’s best friends with M., the absolute most popular girl in school. Feeling bored with their fancy Orange County suburban town, Alex and M. decide to check out L.A.’s glitzy nightlife scene.
Pretending to be 19, Alex and M. meet Trevor and Connor, two rich older guys. At first, Alex can’t believe her luck–she gets to hang out at hip Hollywood house parties and downtown L.A. clubs. These weekend trips into the city become the perfect distraction for Alex, who is secretly struggling with her failing senior year grades, her absentee father, and her clueless mom.
But, after the initial fun wears off for Alex, she is forced to revaluate her friendship with M., who is hiding some secrets beneath her perfect Burberry-clad exterior,

Alexandra a.k.a Alex, a seventeen year old, and M are great friends. M is the straight A, perfect chic; Alex is failing almost all her classes. Formerly an excellent student and homecoming queen, she is quite the opposite now. Her mother and father are divorced and she lives in Orange County with her mom while her sister is in NY. Her father is the poster boy for what not to be. He has refused to pay for her college fees and has married a girl younger than Alex’s elder sister and his own eldest daughter. Traumatized and feeling abandoned, Alex has given up on herself. She doesn’t even make an effort to get back into the league which she formerly belonged to. The story follows her journey of self discovery and where it leads her.
To begin with, I absolutely and totally LOVE the cover. It is amazing, and so aesthetic! Also, the title is great. Coupled together, both the cover and the title serve to make the novel an immediate eye catcher.
And the author, like, writes in a way, that is, um, exactly like the way we teens, you know, speak. Or talk. Whatever. Its, like, good research on her part.
You get the gist. ;)
Also, the novel has been written in first person. That allowed the author to explore Alex’s emotions deeply, and fully, something that I liked.
My problem with most YA novels remains the same: I can never understand the point of view of the main characters, despite being in that same age group. And that bugs me no end, because it just goes on to show how the author hasn’t researched that much or how the author has not stayed true to the character. Though we’re all unique individuals, frankly speaking, teenagers do react to some situations in much the same way. So I was pleasantly surprised when I liked this novel. Though I would have reacted differently in some of the situations, undoubtedly, yet, Mrs. Noel got lots of it right. Kudos to her for doing what most authors cannot!
There was, however, one thing I didn’t quite like. The blurb is not true to the story. Neither is the title very relevant. I know I said I liked it, and I am not chewing my own words. I do like it, but that doesn’t mean it is relevant to the story. It catches your eye before you know the story. That’s it. The part that is talked about in the blurb; about M and Alex meeting Connor and Trevor, is not what the whole story is based on. Both of them do meet the guys, and do fake being nineteen, but that gets over pretty soon. There is way more to the book. Also, Alex does NOT have it made. She’s failing her classes, and is pretty much aimless. I don’t see how that could be ‘having it made’, even if its only on the surface.
Another one of my complaints is regarding the character development. I’d have liked it if the author had developed the characters just a little more. Of course, writing through first person, Alex was relatively good, but the others weren’t so descriptively portrayed. But then again, since the novelist is seeing everyone through Alex’s eyes, I understand how she cannot properly develop each of the others. Yet, I still feel that she could have tried a little more.
All in all, Faking 19 is a great story, has an amazing concept, and is very engaging. I loved it, and I’d recommend it for sure. Worth every cent spent.

Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc (less)

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May 25, 2011 Caroline Saltzman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book. It kind of gave me a tiny "epiphany". Like, In school lately my grades have been slipping and I've been late. The exact same thing happened to the character in this book, except she's a senior. The things that Alex went through, like losing a scholarship, having everyone think she was a bad kid, and having her teachers hate her, made me realize I need to improve. Also, Alex meets Connor. A business man who's cute, classy, and starting his own company. Alex's best friend M meet...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 09, 2010 Jessica Lawlor rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Faking 19 by Alyson Noel tells the story of Alex, a high school senior who has lost sight of everything that used to be important to her. A former popular girl, Alex has let her grades slip and spends all her time traveling to LA with her best friend M.

Alex and M meet two guys at a party in LA and quickly fall for them. Alex lies and tells her new friend Connor that she is 19 years old and a student in college. M is a wild girl and Alex often leaves her out partying because she isn’t ready to go...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 12, 2012 Esperanza Writes Too rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book amazed me, that's all I can say. It's a very different style of what I read of Alyson (Immortals & Riley Bloom series).
The story made me think of how love books influence us, because I bet everybody thought once that finally she was going to stay with Connor, the kind of boy that would have cheated her. But that's we all thought, because Alex fell in love with him and it was the best way to finish it, right?
Fortunately, it wasn't that. It was better, an overcoming story of a girl...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Lisa (Badass Bookie) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Short Story? - I'm going to have to eat my own words again. You know how I don't like coming-to-age novels OR dark contemporaries? Well, Faking 19 was a little of both and I loved it. Absolutely loved it, I was expecting something along the lines of Gossip Girl and I get something better! Beautifully written, fantastic characters and a great message behind it all, Faking 19 a novel every teen should read!

The Long Story? - I really don't know where to start with this novel. I have to say it w...more The Short Story? - I'm going to have to eat my own words again. You know how I don't like coming-to-age novels OR dark contemporaries? Well, Faking 19 was a little of both and I loved it. Absolutely loved it, I was expecting something along the lines of Gossip Girl and I get something better! Beautifully written, fantastic characters and a great message behind it all, Faking 19 a novel every teen should read!

The Long Story? - I really don't know where to start with this novel. I have to say it wasn't what I expected but it past my expectations. It's a novel with great messages behind it, it's little bit of a coming-to-age novel but not in the traditional sense, it's not embarrassing or gross or badly written. I would say that this one would appeal to Deb Caletti, Lauren Barnholdt and Susane Colasanti.

The plot was rather simple, there wasn't really any conflict or "action". There was no boy to stake claim ( not really) or any school to conquer yet it was typically YA contemporary. It wasn't fast-paced but it flowed nicely along. It's one of those novels that everyone can relate to. Faking 19 circulates the fact that since the divorce of Alex's parents, she's kind of slipped away. She's neglected and she doesn't care anymore, her grades are slipping and she's pretty much hit rock bottom. Faking 19 is more of a emotional journey or better described as a "finding yourself" kind of novel. I'm not normally a "finding yourself" reader but this novel really touched me, the problems Alex faces could be the problems of any teenage girl, it hits close to home ( not that close since I'm not neglected or anything) but it's a novel that has importance.

The characterisation was great. Alex, our protagonist, is someone I'd grown to admire. She's hit rock bottom, she's pretty much blown her chance at college but yet she manages to work her way around all her problems and deal with it. She hopes and sets herself goals, she pushes past her anger and grows to accept that not everything is going to be perfect, that people make mistakes. Alex was strong and willing to put faith into hope. She was realistic and someone I could connect to. M, Alex's best friend, wasn't someone I had grown to like but she was a necessarily character because she played the role of the better, prettier and smarter "cliched" best friend. The boys, Trevor and Connor were also a milestone that Alex had to over come, she had to realise that taking the easy way out isn't going to solve everything and she can't rely on others. Overall, it was a very neat cast, very well portrayed.

Alyson's writing style in Faking 19 is very different from her writing style in the Immortal series, honestly I couldn't tell they were written by the same author. I really liked how Faking 19 was wrote, it was so "teen", the narrative voice was angry and sarcastic. The language used is simple and easy to read. It's a really comfortable read, not difficult and not very long ( only about 200 pages), it's definitely a one-sitting-read.

Faking 19 is a novel about finding yourself and holding onto hope. It's novel with an important moral, no one's perfect and even when you make mistakes you can't give up, you just have to move on. It's a very inspirational read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great characters, well-written and a novel everyone can connect to. Faking 19 is perfect for anyone whose ever been a teen. This is your story.(less)

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Sep 28, 2010 Kelsie rated it 3 of 5 stars

What is your escape? For high school senior Alex, she chooses the Los Angeles scene to escape her problems. Alex used to be actively involved in school and was known for it. These days she is dealing with divorce in her family, an absent father, failing grades and no way to afford college. Instead of making sure she graduates on time, she finds herself hopping into her best friend M's BMW and heading to Los Angeles with her to party at clubs and house parties.

Soon she meets Conner, an older Eng...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book. I love Alyson Noel books. They have always seem to capture me with a great adventure and lead me on and on. But this book I can't help but dislike. I was really put off by the characters and their actions.

I am all for a character rebelling. I know that a characters needs to fall in order to grow. But this character Alex was just too much. She did nothing but think of herself, sex, and drinking. I understood that her back round was a troubled one. She didn't hav...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Simona rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A HOR SA DO LA!

Ach, priznám sa hneď na začiatku, že som čakala katastrofu. Väčšina ľudí v mojom okolí Alyson Noël práve nemusí. Ja som s ňou veľa skúseností nemala a krátky príbeh o Riley Bloomovej, ktorý bol venovaný skôr 10 ročným slečnám ako niekomu staršiemu, sa veľmi nepočíta. Avšak po rozhovore s ňou, ktorý som mala možnosť si prečítať, som sa rozhodla dať jej šancu a pustila sa do jej úplne prvého románu. A neoľutovala som.

Alex má 17, rozvedených rodičov a hrozí jej, že sa nedostane na vy...more A HOR SA DO LA!

Ach, priznám sa hneď na začiatku, že som čakala katastrofu. Väčšina ľudí v mojom okolí Alyson Noël práve nemusí. Ja som s ňou veľa skúseností nemala a krátky príbeh o Riley Bloomovej, ktorý bol venovaný skôr 10 ročným slečnám ako niekomu staršiemu, sa veľmi nepočíta. Avšak po rozhovore s ňou, ktorý som mala možnosť si prečítať, som sa rozhodla dať jej šancu a pustila sa do jej úplne prvého románu. A neoľutovala som.

Alex má 17, rozvedených rodičov a hrozí jej, že sa nedostane na vysokú. Dokonca prepadnutie. Čo sa stalo s tým múdrym dievčaťom, ktoré sa ustavične zapájalo do školského diania? Povedzme si úprimne – obdobie od tých 12 do 18 rokov je u väčšiny ľudí prelomové. Začíname si uvedomovať dianie okolo seba, závažnosť situácií a ak nám naše okolie práve neprihráva tak, ako by malo, môže to mať všakovaký dopad na našu psychiku. Alex je pekná a múdra. Má talent a šancu dostať sa tam, kam iní nie. No bohužiaľ sa v jej živote stalo niečo, čo ju zlomilo. Čosi, čo ju donútilo byť ľahostajnou k okoliu a viac sa nezaujímať o svoju budúcnosť. Stačí len málo, aby sa krehký svet tínedžera zrútil a prestal dávať zmysel. Alex je toho dôkazom tak, ako mnohí iní ľudia, ktorých môžte bežne stretnúť na ulici.

Nechcem nejako vychvaľovať zápletku, pretože je predvídateľná až strach. Povedzme. Kniha neskončí tak typicky, ako je zvykom pre iné romány z tejto sorty, avšak celý námet je klišé až hrôza. Ak hľadáte čosi, pri čom môžte vypnúť a odreagovať sa, Alex na ex je perfektnou voľbou. Dôvod je jednoduchý – Alex je úplne neobyčajné obyčajná hrdinka v obyčajne neobyčajnom prostredí (Los Angeles – kto by tam nechcel ísť?). Má svoje muchy, ale i svoje klady a je zaujímavé sledovať ako sa jej názory na svet postupne menia. Jediná vec, ktorá mi tak trochu vadila, bolo to, že Alyson občas až príliš tlačila na pílu. Až príliš sa snažila zvýrazniť tú mravoučnú myšlienku, ktorú do príbehu vložila.

Alex na ex som si prečítala v slovenčine (v rekordnom čase) a nestáva sa to často, ale musím pochváliť i prekladateľku (nestáva sa to často = preklad nezvyknem komentovať). Jazyk je svieži, svižný, typický pre mladých. Občas sa stretávam s tým, že knihy pre tínedžerov dostanú do rúk starší – síce ostrieľaní, ale predsa – prekladatelia, ktorí nedokážu tak presne vystihnúť svojimi slovami podstatu „debát“ medzi mladými ľuďmi. Avšak pri tejto knihe to odsýpa jedna radosť a ani si neuvedomíte a ste na konci.

Alyson napísala príjemnú oddychovku, ktorá nevyrazí dych, ani neurazí. No poteší utrápené duše, ktoré toho majú vyše hlavy. Alex ich totiž vtiahne do svojho sveta veľmi ľahko a dovolí im vypnúť. Ani si neuvedomia, že sú už na konci a Alex im bude chýbať. Veľmi.
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Aug 07, 2012 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, drugs-alcohol

Alex and M are best friends. M is the most popular girl in the school, so Alex gets a pretty high ranking too. They decided that L.A. is the place to be, since there are nightclubs and older boys. Even though Alex should be studying to improve her grades, she follows M into the city. There they meet so guys and pretend to be nineteen, legal. Alex is struggling with a lot of things though, and faking nineteen just adds to the complications. She gets a much older boyfriend and spends almost all of...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Gracie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Yes, so, I finally finished the book. I haven't been reading physical books lately, and only today, starting in English Class, did I start reading full on again.

Now the beginning of the book kinda bored me. Maybe that's why I didn't exactly read it continuously, like other books. Once I started nearing the middle section though, it started to get interesting.

Noel can add in funny things in the strangest of times. It's not really a direct joke, but more like an indirect one. The character ju...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Lori rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: divorce, identity, yal

I'm not sure what I expected. I like Alyson Noel's writing style, but I'm not sure what she was thinking. I remember my college professor saying that there is no parent supervision in some novels and I kept asking myself why these girls were able to do the things they did. As a parent of a new high school graduate, the story did make me realize I had not been alone in watching my child make the choices he did during his high school years, but I couldn't imagine him staying out all night without...more

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Oct 22, 2009 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think that this was a great book. It shows the porblems that M and Alex go through. they both change even though they hardly realize it to the end.

M and Alex start off as best of friends. But then everything changes in Alex life and it makes her open her eyes. She meets a guy who she falls for but the problem is he is 23 and she`s almost 17. But before any of that happeneds alex becomes depressed and starts to fail in school and couldnt get over the fact that her dad had left the family and sh...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Magdala rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-stars-the-good-books

Alex is just one of those girls who doesn't have it all and doesn't kno wht to do wit herself, so she decides to not care and deal n do with every day life n pretends to "be in the moment". But later on its getting tiring, n she won't be able to hold it down long enough because her important future is counting on the actions she makes. She meets conor and decides to slack off n fool around(dirty details), so thn Conner, leaves. she thn meets another guy that is much better than Conner. Her frien...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Amy H rated it 4 of 5 stars

I honestly was disappointed in this book, but it wasn't all bAd. It's about a girl named Alex. She was a straight a student. President of everything in school and was offered tons of scholarships. Then her parents divorced and everything's changed. Now she is failing every subject and seems to find was to sabotage herself. Alex has a best friend name m. She is rich. Has everything a teenager wanted and was alway left alone. Alex and m skip school and head to la were they use fake id's and go clu...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 11th-grade-advisory

I thought this book was hilarious. The main character who is 17 basically pretends to be 19 to hangout with this boy that she likes, who is in his early to mid twenties. I thought the reason why she was pretending was so that she can feel like she is higher in the social class and to feel more mature. She just had to wait one more year to go clubbing, but no she wanted to get involved with the boy earlier. I personally cannot relate to her because I know I would never fake my age for anything. I...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Juhina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: review-books, raincoast, ebook

Faking 19 was a fluffy enjoyable contemporary for the most part. You've got two seventeen year old girls who hit the clubbing scene and pretend they are nineteen. The two girls, who are best friends, are total opposites. We've got the protagonist, Alex. Rewinding a couple of years back, she was the perfect student. Extracurricular activities, an A student, and just responsible. However, now? she's the opposite. She doesn't care about school, attending classes, bothering to submit her assignments...more Faking 19 was a fluffy enjoyable contemporary for the most part. You've got two seventeen year old girls who hit the clubbing scene and pretend they are nineteen. The two girls, who are best friends, are total opposites. We've got the protagonist, Alex. Rewinding a couple of years back, she was the perfect student. Extracurricular activities, an A student, and just responsible. However, now? she's the opposite. She doesn't care about school, attending classes, bothering to submit her assignments and just as unmotivated as one can get. The other best friend M, is the A student that Alex used to be, on the fastback to princeton. Another difference is that Alex's parents got a divorce and her mom is struggling to make ends meet financially while M is a 90210 rich kid. I really didn't like their friendship; the opening scene shows Alex forgetting to write an important paper for a class and promising herself to write it when she gets back home, now M, who submitted the paper, asks Alex to go out, and Alex tells her she has to write the paper. M, being the good friend she is, tells her to write it after she comes back home! however Alex doesn't end up writing it and keeps on promising herself everyday for the next week!. Does anyone find this annoying? Shouldn't M guide her and motivate her and help her since she want's whats best for Alex? I just felt M was unbelievably selfish while Alex was unbelievably annoying.

However, ignoring that sorry excuse of a friendship I found the novel to be a cute contemporary and while I had issues with the absentee father and, I did like how Alex's mother realized how her daughter was sinking fast. Also, Alex learned a few lessons the hard way, by dating a 23 year old guy (while pretending she's 19) and then her lie backfires on her. Also, I am glad she realized her friendship needed some mending or a makeover or something. All in all, I liked how Alex figured things on her own and did not have a sudden realization in the last 10 pages. It was a pretty realistic fiction of a girl who lost her way and motivation and dreams. I do recommend it to any realistic fiction lover, but not to the younger YA population.

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Nov 26, 2011 Zoe Cohen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-2012-advisory

Faking 19 is about a high school girl named Alex who starts to skip school and spend all of her time with her friend M in LA. Alex meets a guy named Connor and quickly falls for him, telling him that she is 19 and a college student, which ends up hurting her grades at home.

The book was not anything special, you were interested for a little but by the middle you were bored. By the end you had predicted the last 3 chapters. The characters used the word "like a lot" which for some reason bothered...more

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Jun 06, 2013 Levian rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

17-year-old Alex was beautiful and smart, and also the best friend of M, the most popular girl in school, so rich and perfect. bored with the small town they were in, they often drove to LA for its delicious night life. often pretended to be 19, they hit it off with guys. the last trip introduced them to 2 rich guys, Trevor and Connor, working for the music industry. Alex couldn't believe her luck, for she was secretly struggling with her failing grades, her divorced father had refused to pay fo...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Carol rated it 1 of 5 stars

Só dei duas estrelas para o livro porque acabei me identificando com algumas características e situações vividas pela personagem, Alex. O livro não tem uma moral de história, é bastante clichê e um pouco fútil. Na verdade comprei pois queria mesmo ler uma história de adolescentes. Exatamente o que o livro traz... mas a história é muito pobre em conceitos. Não passa nenhum sentimento para o leitor e sequer demonstra uma grande lição ao final. Quando você lê o resumo do livro na contracapa, acha q...more

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Jul 09, 2012 MyTeenReads rated it 5 of 5 stars

To read the original review and others, go to: http://www.myteenreads.blogspot.com

Alex is a smart, popular, beautiful Orange County girl who is best friends with the most popular girl in school. It may seem like she has it all, but she is having family problems, failing all her classes, and might not even graduate. But she wasn’t always doing so poorly in school. The first two years of high school she was a straight A student and was involved in many honors classes and extra curricular activitie...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cover Opinion: 4/5
I think it's a very pretty cover! But when I see sand, I automatically think beach, ocean and summer, which doesn't happen in this book. So that threw me off a little.
But besides that the car and the font used to write "Faking 19" is cute(:

Characters-

Favorite:
Alex! Hands down, no questions asked. You see her grow A LOT through out the book. At the beginning Alex shows how much she doesn't care about school, even when she finds out that she has lost all of her scholarships and h...more Cover Opinion: 4/5
I think it's a very pretty cover! But when I see sand, I automatically think beach, ocean and summer, which doesn't happen in this book. So that threw me off a little.
But besides that the car and the font used to write "Faking 19" is cute(:

Characters-

Favorite:
Alex! Hands down, no questions asked. You see her grow A LOT through out the book. At the beginning Alex shows how much she doesn't care about school, even when she finds out that she has lost all of her scholarships and her GPA might be to low to get into college, she still doesn't care. Alex was more worried about her relationship with her friends (M, Conner, her mom, etc).

When she finally realizes that these friendships aren't healthy for her, Alex starts doing homework again, begins to study, "tries" to forget about Conner, and rebuilds her relationship with her mother. *SPOILER ALERT!* When Alex receives the scholarship for her writing, it proves to everyone that if you missed up, no matter how bad, and you try hard enough, you can always make things better.

Least:
Alex's dad is the worst character in this book! Even though his barely even in the story, he's just a big fat jerk. I don't know what else to call him besides that! He has so much money, but instead of paying his own daughter's college he decides to go get married. People like that amaze me, why would you pick some other person over your own child's future?

Story Line: 5/5
There was no real conflict in this book (which is okay), Alex just learns and sees what been in front of her the whole time. So what if she's not rich and her dad bailed out on them? She still has a loving mother, who's trying to make the best of things and a sister who's in college. Alex learns that M (her former best friend) isn't exactly the kind of person she wants to be around.
I really enjoyed the story! I loved it and recommend you to read it, its definitely in my top 5. Honestly, next time I go book shopping, I'll make sure to pick up another Alyson Noel novel:D(less)

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Apr 29, 2008 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everyone knows what senior year means: it’s party time!

At least, that’s what it’s like for best friends Alex and M. During the week, they do their schoolwork, but on the weekends, they let loose and get wild. After their traditional weekend snack, they go shopping or to whatever party sounds interesting. And everything seems to be going great, until the seams in Alex’s life start fraying.

Despite giving off the appearance that her life is perfect, Alex’s life is far from it. Her parents split whe...more Everyone knows what senior year means: it’s party time!

At least, that’s what it’s like for best friends Alex and M. During the week, they do their schoolwork, but on the weekends, they let loose and get wild. After their traditional weekend snack, they go shopping or to whatever party sounds interesting. And everything seems to be going great, until the seams in Alex’s life start fraying.

Despite giving off the appearance that her life is perfect, Alex’s life is far from it. Her parents split when she was young. Now her dad is busy working and hitting on other women while her mom just ignores her. Alex’s grades are steadily declining until she’s failing, loses her scholarship, and even faces the possibility of not graduating with her class. On top of that, there are problems with her best friend M and also with an older guy Connor. It might not seem that Alex and M could have difficulties with their friendship because they’ve known each other since Alex moved to Orange County. And as for Connor, he just seems like the perfect British hottie.

Throughout the book, Alex is forced to reevaluate her life and what she wants. There are some harsh realizations she is forced to face about her M and others about her dad. She has to figure out what she wants to do with her life, but for Alex, that’s a lot easier said than done. She can’t figure out where she wants to go, and since her grades have hit a new low, she might not even be able to attend college.

Of course, this is the kind of book that won’t be good unless it has a happy ending, which it does. I was glad that the ending wasn’t too perfect, because then it wouldn’t be realistic. In my opinion, Faking 19 was a very well-told story that could happen in real life. I appreciated how the story sounded like it could take place where I live. Contrary to what a reader might infer from the title of this book, Faking 19 is not all about fake IDs to get into the next hottest club. It’s more of a story of a girl finding herself and discovering what she wants. I would recommend this book for a light read.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com (less)

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About Alyson Noel

*Note to readers: I'm slowly trying to add to the long list of books I have read, books I am reading, books I want to read, and books I loved reading. I only add books I loved, hence all my ratings are 5 stars!

Alyson Noël is the #1 New York Times best selling, award-winning, author of FAKING 19, ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS, LAGUNA COVE, FLY ME TO THE MOON, KISS & BLOG, SAVING ZOË, CRUEL SUMMER,...more

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“Do you realize how important it is to be independent? To be able to take care of yourself? To not rely on someone else for your most basic needs? And to not get so damn attached to stuff that you'd rather demean yourself than live without it?” — 3 people liked it

“Non, je ne regrette rien. Because you just can't regret the things you learn from.” — 2 people liked it

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