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Top 8: Book 1 (Top 8 #1)

by Katie Finn (Goodreads Author)

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 1,118 ratings · 168 reviews

Social networking sites are THE place to be for today's teens -- this fun, juicy novel explores the ups, downs, and scandals of a group of friends online!

Madison MacDonald is seriously freaking out

Madison MacDonald
16
Putnam, CT

Status: Single?

About Me:
Everything in my life was working out. I had my three best friends, a brand-new boyfriend, and the lead in the school play. A...more

Paperback, 244 pages

Published October 1st 2008 by Point

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Lists with This Book

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty

Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman

YA Internet Novels

16th out of 48 books — 81 voters

Aimee's 100 in 2010

51st out of 98 books — 21 voters

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Nov 09, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

TOP 8 was a book that I didn't want to put down once I started reading.

Madison MacDonald is stuck going on a trip to the Galapagos Islands with her family for spring break. She's not thrilled about it at all. She's recently started dating Justin Williamson (seventeen days) and doesn't want to leave him or her friends. And to make matters worse, she can't take her cell phone or laptop with her because they'd be useless.

The trip turns out to be okay, and th...more Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

TOP 8 was a book that I didn't want to put down once I started reading.

Madison MacDonald is stuck going on a trip to the Galapagos Islands with her family for spring break. She's not thrilled about it at all. She's recently started dating Justin Williamson (seventeen days) and doesn't want to leave him or her friends. And to make matters worse, she can't take her cell phone or laptop with her because they'd be useless.

The trip turns out to be okay, and there was even a sort of cute boy about her own age on the trip, but the whole time she just wanted to get home. Had she known what was awaiting her return, she might have changed her mind.

The minute she got home, she ran to her temperamental laptop to check her Friendverse account. She can't believe what she sees. She's so stunned that she reboots her laptop to make sure she logged onto the correct profile. Friendverse is the latest in the Facebook/MySpace trends. Someone has totally changed her profile! The photos that are uploaded are the most unflattering possible. And the comments she's received from her friends leave her flabbergasted. The things that they're saying she's said about everyone. This just can't be right! And Justin has broken up with her!

Madison calls an emergency session with her three best friends: Schuyler, Liz, and especially Ruth. After struggling to explain the situation, all three friends believe her and vow to help her discover the culprit. Madison can't imagine why anyone would do such a thing to her. The four girls come up with a list of two possible perpetrators: Kittson
Pearson, who is in charge of the junior prom and has just stolen her boyfriend, and Connor Atkins, who has lost the student secretary election to Madison.

Madison vows to discover the evildoer and to get Justin back. But what she doesn't count on is running into the sort of cute boy from her trip. He's not just sort of cute, he's really cute, and his family lives in the next town over!

Madison is far from perfect and comes to realize her faults by the end of the story. The things her friends accuse her of saying are true, in a way. But she doesn't deserve the headaches that the hacker sets her up for.

TOP 8 moves so quickly that you will find yourself determined to finish the book in one sitting. I thought I had the culprit figured out early on, but I was totally wrong in my assumptions! Ms. Finn wrote an amazing first novel. Having enjoyed this as much as I did, I can't wait to see what her future books will bring!
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Mar 24, 2009 GirlwiththeBraids rated it 5 of 5 stars

Madison was a normal teenager. She had a great boyfriend of 17 days and counting, a trustworthy best friend, and 349 friends on her Friendverse profile. After a two-week long vacation out of the country with her family, Madison comes home to find her Friendverse account hacked. No more boyfriend, no more gang of people who like her … all because of the things that were written on the profile. I mean, Madison did say those things but writing them is totally different, right? While collecting clue...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Reiley added it

TOP 8

By: Katie Finn

Everything in Madison MacDonalds life was perfect. She had the popular boyfriend, three best friends and awesome parents. That is, of course, until she got back from her vacation to the Galapagos with her family. It seemed like something or someone had caused her friends and her boyfriend not return any of her phone calls or text messages. Madison hadn’t thought much of it until she went home and logged on to her social networking profile. Something was wrong. There were mean...more TOP 8

By: Katie Finn

Everything in Madison MacDonalds life was perfect. She had the popular boyfriend, three best friends and awesome parents. That is, of course, until she got back from her vacation to the Galapagos with her family. It seemed like something or someone had caused her friends and her boyfriend not return any of her phone calls or text messages. Madison hadn’t thought much of it until she went home and logged on to her social networking profile. Something was wrong. There were mean posts, awful pictures, and all of her friends had de-friended her. What had happened while she was gone? Whoever had done this to her had a mission set in mind; to ruin her life. Mission accomplished. The mystery of who did it lies in the hands of Madison. She couldn’t trust anyone anymore, not even her Top 8.

I very much enjoyed reading Top 8 by Katie Finn. The book had great detail and relatable characters. I think that is why I enjoyed reading this book so much. Finn did a good job of making the main character, Madison, really speak out and relate to the reader. “ Everything in my life was working out. I had my three best friends, a brand- new boyfriend and the lead in the school play. Aside from that history paper I haven’t started yet, things felt perfect.” ( Finn 3). I think that this quote represents Finn bringing her characters out because I feel like that is something most teenagers would say. How their social life is more important than their schoolwork. The detail in the book was great too. Like at one point, Madison says “ I’ve recently started dating Justin Williamson; for seventeen days” ( Finn 5). In Top 8, they added immense amount of detail and character relatability.

I would give Top 8 a four out of five stars. The only reason I would not give it all five stars is because it lacked important parts that I felt like should have been included. “ Were headed to Daves tonight for a party” ( Finn 87). I feel like it should have described where Dave’s house was and when the party was occurring to give the reader more of a setting to imagine. If iI were to compare this to another book, I would compare it to Unfriended by Katie Finn. I think these books are similar because they both have the main character get blackmailed or getting personally staled. I would recommend this book to an older group because it says something’s that are not appropriate for the younger ages. Although, as an overall book I would most definitely recommend it.

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Feb 09, 2013 Remedyleaf rated it 4 of 5 stars

So... Top 8's protagonist is a girl named Madison MacDonald. She is a typical high-school girl with 4 best friends, and a super hot boyfriend. But when she get's back from Spring Break, where she had no connections to the outside world, she finds her FriendVerse (Like a Facebook or MySpace) has been Hacked!!! And someone has posted all the horrible comments and secrets!!! It seems that nothing is ever going to be the same again.

The way this book appeared was very interesting. A few times, the bo...more

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May 06, 2012 Katie Miller rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: 12 year olds and parents who dont actually know how to internet

As a teenager who practically lives on the internet, when I received this book as a gift I thought, "meh. okay, I'll read it." I find that most "internet based" books are written from a parent "OMG YOU NEED TO WATCH WHAT YOUR KIDS OD ONLINE BECAUSE EVERYONE IS AN EVIL HACKER EXCEPT YOUR KID" perspective. This book did not fail to bring out that perspective. Aside from the predictable parent-esque attitude about the internet, I mostly found this novel shallow and unrealistic. Most people, if they...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Stephany rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-since-starting-blog

If a book ever made me smile nonstop, giggle uncontrollably, made my stomach flop, made me verbally exclaim different sentiments ("I saw that coming!" "Omg, I knew it!" "I totally saw that coming!!"), it is this book. And I rarely get into books that much.

From the beginning, I didn't understand what was so great about her boyfriend, Justin. When she first explained what he's like and how happy he makes her, I was like, "Aww, how sweet." But then she would think about him and think of his hair an...more If a book ever made me smile nonstop, giggle uncontrollably, made my stomach flop, made me verbally exclaim different sentiments ("I saw that coming!" "Omg, I knew it!" "I totally saw that coming!!"), it is this book. And I rarely get into books that much.

From the beginning, I didn't understand what was so great about her boyfriend, Justin. When she first explained what he's like and how happy he makes her, I was like, "Aww, how sweet." But then she would think about him and think of his hair and his muscles, and I was like, "Really?" Madison appeared very shallow, and honestly? She was. But as the story went on, I saw her change as she realized that if people have accused her of telling their secrets behind their back and she claims "I'd never post it online!", that doesn't really make her a better person.

I greatly enjoyed the interactions between Madison and her four best friends, Ruth, Lisa, and Schuyler (my only problem with Schuyler was that they apparently pronounced it "Shyler" instead of "Skyler"). They each had unique personalities, although at first it was a little difficult to discern which friend had the "sailing accident," which had cheated on their boyfriend/girlfriend, and which had gotten grounded because of exposed online pics of his without-permission parties.

So the "kinda-cute" boy Madison describes in the beginning of the book? Yeah, I knew he'd be comin' back. And I knew she would realize that Nate (Nate from Jonathan--adorable!) was way better than Justin, although it took her much longer than I expected. It definitely doesn't help (does help?) that, since this book is mainly about a social networking site, there is a picture of said adorable Nate in the book, and frankly? I want one. :D

The search for who hacked Madison's Friendverse account seemed very middle-grade and cliche-Nancy-Drew, but the way Madison grew from it and became friends with the people she ends up accusing made it seem more mature. Of course, at first Madison is very melodramatic and "Omg" about it (no joke there), but she begins to realize that it wasn't only her life that was "ruined"--it was the lives and relationships of her friends.

The way this book was written also helped with how addicted I was. I enjoyed the pages filled with the Friendverse website profiles and chats and texts; it made the story seemed even more real. And Madison's erratic way of thinking is so hilarious and cute that you can't help but fall in love with her, even if she does start out as a shallow...female dog.

This book is a quick, easy, and incredibly enjoyable read that anyone who enjoys girly love stories with a slight Sarah Dessen feel is bound to love, too. Obviously, I loved it very much.(less)

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May 30, 2010 Noelle rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mostly teen girls for there is SOME bad language

Recommended to Noelle by: found it in a book order

This book was spectacular. Katie Finn did a wonderful job.

Madison goes away on vacation to the Galapagos for spring break with her family. She spends her time on a boat, wanting desperately to go on Friendverse, a website much like Facebook or Myspace, and see what is going on back in her home town of Putnam, Conneticut.
While on the boat, she meets a cut guy named Jonathan, or Nate. But then she remembers her heart belongs to Justin, her boyfriend from back home. The internet there is really slo...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Patricia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grade-8-ir-reading-books

This book is about a girl in Hgighschool who has got hacked on her friendverse profile. She finds out that she has been hacked when she got back from vacation from Ecuador. She is on a mission to find out who her hacker is. She is going through erveryone on her list to find out who did it. But does she have the right people on her list? The main chararcters were Madison, Nate, and all her friends. The setting is in Putnam, Connectitcut.

Text to world. Maddie (madison) has been hacked by someone...more

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Oct 22, 2009 sprinkles_84 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Top 8 is a book written by Kattie Finn. It is about a girl named Madison Macdonald. After Madison comes back from a vacation, she finds that someone changed her Friendverse profile. Her hacked profile has bad pictures of her and secrets people told her. Also, many of her friends are mad and her boyfriend broke up with her. Madison comes up with possible suspects but after asking them and they all said no, she is left completely clueless. After a party, Madison finally finds out who did it. When...more

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Jun 03, 2009 Em7921 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Top 8 Round up the Usual Profiles
By: Katie Finn
Reviewed By: Emily K.

Friendverse is the new Myspace to the highschoolers in Putnam Connecticut home of the fighting pilgrim. One student; Madison Macdonald is very attached and thinks of Friendverse as her life. She goes on vacation with her family to the Galapagos Islands for spring break. While Madison was enjoying her time someone was working hard to destroy her “life” on Friendverse.
Madison narrates the story as a 16 year old girl who makes...more Top 8 Round up the Usual Profiles
By: Katie Finn
Reviewed By: Emily K.

Friendverse is the new Myspace to the highschoolers in Putnam Connecticut home of the fighting pilgrim. One student; Madison Macdonald is very attached and thinks of Friendverse as her life. She goes on vacation with her family to the Galapagos Islands for spring break. While Madison was enjoying her time someone was working hard to destroy her “life” on Friendverse.
Madison narrates the story as a 16 year old girl who makes the book become much more alive. Her character tells the story exactly from her point of view and how she understands things. When she becomes stressed or angry or even filled with butterflies you can easily relate and truly understand how she feels.
Her friends Ruth, Schuyler and Lisa all try their hardest to try and narrow down the search for their good friend Madison. They all know that Madison is being blamed for talking behind peoples backs and posting stories that were never supposed to be shared. When Madison's friends made a list of all the possible hackers she approaches all of them but they all deny her accusation.
During her spring vacation in the Galapagos Islands she says that her family“stayed on a small ship with about twenty other people-including a kind-of cute guy my age” that she eventually met when she came back from the vacation. His family only lived a town away and they came over to Madison's for dinner. Then she was properly introduced to him and found that his name is Jonathon Ellis.
Ruth, her best friend tries very hard to help Madison find out who the hacker really is. But sometimes she seems awkward. Madison thinks that she's acting strange but she tries not to really think about it. Ruth always wants to be filled in on Madison's and Jonathon's relationship, but Madison tries hard to make it seem like nothing is going on especially since the hacker made her ex boyfriend break up with her because of the lies the hacker put onto her Friendverse.
Nate (also known as Jonathon Ellis) happens to have a Friendverse as well and he tries to explain to Madison that its nothing more than just a couple of words and your picture. After awhile Madison gives up with her ex boyfriend Justin and tries to become more than just friends with Nate. But sometimes things just seem very wrong between the two.
This book is based in the modern world where the Internet is very important to many students and a necessity to some.
Friendverse is a make believe site and Madison explains it as “the new black” and “a necessity.” She thinks of it as her life and when her and Nate talk about it she just keeps saying that its so important to her. He just doesn't see it that way at all.
Top 8 Round up the Usual Profiles begins slow. It seems like shes just another girl who's having problems with friends. But when you keep turning pages the story becomes more complex and exciting.
If someone was hacked from their Myspace or Facebook, depending on how important they are to people it would either be a huge deal or just a small incident. People today still use phones to talk to each other not just e-mails and comments left on Myspaces and Facebooks.
When someone gets hacked it becomes a big issue. Who hacked them? Why did they share that information? So the real lesson is don't share anything you don't want to be put into the public. But who really did hack Madison Macdonald? You might just have to read Top 8 Round up the Usual Profiles to find out.

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Apr 20, 2009 Adele rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book didn't knock my socks off. I think the whole solution to having one's friendverse site hacked would be to delete it. Or is that just me? Despite this, I think it had an interesting message about dissing people behind their backs. The hackers (of which I guessed very, very early) parroted Madison's own comments about people on her myspace-like site while she was on vacation. So while she had been hacked, she couldn't really defend heself against the comments. An interesting predicament...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Alina rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an addicting novel about a girl named Madison MacDonald, who is used to everything in her life going her way except when she comes back home from Ecuador, for spring break vacation, it seems as though her biggest nightmare comes to life. Her account on the wildly popular social networking site, Friendverse, is hacked and completely altered to something unimaginable to her. As she scrolls through her profile, her social life unravels as she sees all of the humiliating pictures of her, hat...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Jessica Eckert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Top 8, by Katie Finn, is about a teenage girl, Madison McDonald, who has it going pretty well for her. The plot of the book is when Madison comes back home after being on vcation with her family and discovers that her FriendVerse has been hacked into. Friendverse is a social networking site similar to Facebook and Myspace. Madison had a great boyfriend and many friends and also had the lead in the upcoming school play. Unfortunately, the hacker that hacked Madison's profile did not want her to...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Jory rated it 3 of 5 stars

Top 8 is the perfect disaster young adult novel. In this book we have Madison, a 16-year-old girl who is obsessed with this website called Friendverse, which is the MySpace of YA. She's got her three best friends, this gorgeous boyfriend, and she's going to the Galapagos Islands for Spring Break! What could be better? She has a perfect life. But GASP! DISASTER STRIKES! Someone hacks her Friendverse profile while she is on vacation! TEEN. NIGHTMARE.

But hacking Madison's profile is not the only th...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Leia rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I first picked up this book, I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. But as I started reading more, I found myself actually enjoying the unfolding of the story. It's a book that you would think would be typed up like a text or a messenger online, but it only uses this when absolutely needed, and even then it's done in such a way that doesn't look terribly atrocious.

The story itself is about Madison McDonald, a girl who goes on a trip for Spring Break for a week and returns home to...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

*3.4*

I have to admit I was bit hesitant to read this one and to tell the truth I'm not really sure why. Thankfully, I did give it a try, and let me tell you I'm so glad I did because it proved to be not only be filled with funny parts and mystery but some substance as well! A mix I simply adored!

Madison, the main character in this, was one I liked a lot and could relate to, because she was funny and filled with a lot of heart, and someone who while made mistakes, fixed them and learned from the...more

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Sep 27, 2010 Larenda added it

this book is really...really...AWESOME. I couldn't really think of another word that can be used to decribe this book. I wasn't really expecting it to be a mystery. I know a mystery, nut it was! I was never a mystery book reader but when i read this book i went through a major mystery phase. The main character was i guess you could call an average teenager.

 "I felt like i finally understood the cliche about wanting to pinch yourself to make sure you weren't dreaming. Because although I was looki

...more

this book is really...really...AWESOME. I couldn't really think of another word that can be used to decribe this book. I wasn't really expecting it to be a mystery. I know a mystery, nut it was! I was never a mystery book reader but when i read this book i went through a major mystery phase. The main character was i guess you could call an average teenager.

 "I felt like i finally understood the cliche about wanting to pinch yourself to make sure you weren't dreaming. Because although I was looking at the images and words on the screen in front of me, they didn't feel real.". This particular qoute make you really think, because at one point in our lives we've all had that particular feeling. Its like getting a bad grade on a final or someone telling you you've just been fired. You dont want to believe it. Thats exactly how she felt whenever...something happens, im not giving it away!!!!:)

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Apr 07, 2012 Joyce Baker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Joyce Baker
Mystery

For two weeks, Madison MacDonald goes to Galapagos Island for spring break with her parents and her little brother Travis. She comes home and discovers her Friendverse account has been hacked. The hacker was relentless. Madison meets with her three closest friends. They forgive her but others are not so easily persuaded.

To Madison’s dismay, she is hacked again. This time the hacker stole and returned her laptop out of her locker to do the crime. Madison cannot figure out who ha...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Meg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sent-for-review, read-in-2010, young-adult

Katie Finn’s Top 8 is a light, highly entertaining look at life for high school junior Madison MacDonald, a whip-smart girl with a bevy of close friends and a gorgeous new boyfriend, Jason. Fresh from a vacation in the Galapagos Islands, Madison returns stateside only to discover someone has hacked into her Friendverse (read: Facebook, MySpace) profile and completely changed her profile.

And broken up with her boyfriend. And said terrible things to her “friends,” who promptly unfriend and alienat...more Katie Finn’s Top 8 is a light, highly entertaining look at life for high school junior Madison MacDonald, a whip-smart girl with a bevy of close friends and a gorgeous new boyfriend, Jason. Fresh from a vacation in the Galapagos Islands, Madison returns stateside only to discover someone has hacked into her Friendverse (read: Facebook, MySpace) profile and completely changed her profile.

And broken up with her boyfriend. And said terrible things to her “friends,” who promptly unfriend and alienate her. And posted the most unflattering, somewhat incriminating photos of Madison — and others — imaginable.

What follows is Madison working eagerly to get to the bottom of who did this — who disliked her so much that they would purposely set out to destroy her reputation, friendships and relationship. And as a little slice of the times, it all involves plenty of cyber-research, interrogation and the help of unexpected allies. By the end of the book, there’s quite the shake-up among Madison’s top 8 friends . . . and that’s probably a good thing.

Despite my early reservations about being "too old" for a novel like this, I really, really liked Top 8. Finn’s debut novel was funny, fast-paced and felt like a genuine high school experience with dimensional characters. As a narrator, Madison was intelligent, witty and someone to root for — basically, a cool girl. And though her friends could be a little taxing on the brain (particularly Lisa, whose Francophilia translates into her constantly spewing French sayings), overall? Well, I liked these kids. And got to know them.

The mystery surrounding who hacked Madison’s profile was the story’s anchor, and what propelled me through the plot. With a number of “suspects,” all who appear to have good cause to hurt Madison, I truly didn’t know who did it until the pieces came together toward the end. And by that point? Well, I was all kinds of invested -- and in love. Nate, who happened to travel with his family and the MacDonalds on their Galapagos adventure, makes a reappearance partway through the story — and he won me over immediately with all his broody hotness. Nate is my personal archetype for awesome teen love interests in novels.

Fans of young adult fiction looking for a quick, light and undeniably fun read need look no further than Top 8. I’m not going to hit the hay tonight with visions of Nietzsche, philosophy and changing the world in my head, but who cares? Sometimes, girls just want to have fun.(less)

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Sep 13, 2012 Mirrani rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-and-reviewed

I have to admit that I really, really hated this book at the beginning. I couldn't stand the main character and her constant whining and I was seriously bothered by the fact that everyone in this school was so stuck up that plastic surgery and corrective eye surgery were commonplace. Who actually believes that someone hacking into their online social account is actually ruining their life? Who among the people that were affected would actually continue to blame you once you corrected the hacking...more

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Oct 08, 2010 Kenzie Hoffman rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book is titled “Top 8”. Its about a teenage girl names Maddie who goes on vacation for 13 days. Her life is absently perfect; she has a new boyfriend and three best friends. When she gets back from the vacation after no cell phone or computer use, she gets on her Friendster account and see’s that her account has been hacked. None of her friends believe her, and the hacker broke up with her new boyfriend over there wall post. Now she has to get her life back, and find out who did this.
I loved...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was one of those books I read because I found nothing else in the bookstore, and it was better than I had previously anticipated. It was about this fairly good girl who comes back from vacation to find her account hacked and almost all of her best friends's deepest secrets leaked to the whole world. It seems that her life is pretty much ruined. Her boyfriend dumped her, and for a while her best friends are really, really mad at her. but they get over it, and then they end up on this huge se...more

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Oct 11, 2009 Hannah Sautner added it

I heard about this book from my friend on the bus and she told me it was a good back and suggested i should read it. I liked the authors style, how she wrote some of the book as the "Friendverse" profiles. I think the author wanted me to take away that online blogs like Facebook and MySpace should not become your whole lives because someone can hack into your account and do what ever they would like to on it. I think the author also wanted me to know that sharing other people's secrets with your...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Tegen With rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was another great book for me to read. The book is about a girl, named Madison, and someone hacks her Friendverse, a playoff of Facebook. Madison, a typical teenager obsessed with social media, goes on a wild goose chase to find the person who hacked her account and put her opinions and judgments about everyone else online. During this search, her whole school hates her because they know what she thinks of them and she learns a valuable lesson. Madison learns that the things she says b...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Jenna Reed rated it 3 of 5 stars

"Top 8", by Katie Finn, is a novel for teenagers about a junior from Connecticut and her dramas in high school. "Top 8" was published in October of 2008 and is the first of the "Top 8" series. Not only is this book the first to the series, but it is also Katie Finn's first novel ever written. Katie Finn currently lives and writes in California.

Madison MacDonald had everything she wanted; three amazing best friends, a new boyfriend, and the leading role in her school play. Her life was flawless a...more "Top 8", by Katie Finn, is a novel for teenagers about a junior from Connecticut and her dramas in high school. "Top 8" was published in October of 2008 and is the first of the "Top 8" series. Not only is this book the first to the series, but it is also Katie Finn's first novel ever written. Katie Finn currently lives and writes in California.

Madison MacDonald had everything she wanted; three amazing best friends, a new boyfriend, and the leading role in her school play. Her life was flawless and drama free, but that all changed quickly in a blink of an eye. Someone had hacked her "FriendVerse" page while she was on vacation! Now her friends' terrible secrets were posted on the Internet and half the school hated her for sharing them with the world. The hacker even managed to break her up with her boyfriend. With her life thrown into chaos and turmoil, Madison is determined to reorganize this mess and corner the hacker that ruined it. Madison has conjured up a list of possible suspects that could have betrayed her and begins a wild goose chase to restore everything that she lost. After being at school for a few days and realizing how many people she has hurt, Madison realizes that her old life might not be worth fighting for, and that she should start over and become a better person and a better friend. This quandary brought on a life lesson for Madison, but it also crushed her heart as she discovered her traitor could be one of her closest companions.

My favorite part of the book was the end, when the traitor is revealed and she begins her new life as a trustworthy, loyal friend. Madison went on a hero's journey and her atonement was satisfying to me. I also enjoyed the humor and romance that Finn tied into the novel. The lowlight of the book was figuring out who the traitor was fifty pages before that person was revealed. The book became too predictable after awhile and became monotonous as she continuously blamed person after person. Not only that, but I did not feel any connection to the characters. I enjoyed the book overall, for the romance, humor, and the ending, but I do not think that it is a book I will cherish and remember forever.

If you enjoy reading books like "The Princess Diaries" series, by Meg Cabot, then "Top 8" is the book for you! It is a novel that will keep you turning the pages until you find out who Madison's hacker is!

I give Katie Finn's book, "Top 8" 3 out of 5 stars.(less)

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Apr 12, 2009 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up on a whim yesterday while visiting my local bookstore. It was a really nice spring-break sort of read! I was afraid that the ending might end up a little too predictable, but the author managed to mix it up by the end. I still managed to figure it out before the main character, but come on! I mean, what book does that NOT happen in? I liked the premise of this book, where Friendverse is obviously a Facebook/Myspace parallel, but hands down the part that I liked the most abo...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Peyton Miller-dalberg rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-fiction

Top 8 was a realistic fiction book and a mystery so it gave it an edge that made it interesting. My favorite character was Madison because she related to me because she can relate to me by being able to hang out with anybody from the popular, the Goths, to the theatre geeks! My favorite part was when Madison first started hanging out with Nate. When she started hanging out with him they went to an ice cream place. He loved taking pictures but she didn't know why until the end of the story he sai...more Top 8 was a realistic fiction book and a mystery so it gave it an edge that made it interesting. My favorite character was Madison because she related to me because she can relate to me by being able to hang out with anybody from the popular, the Goths, to the theatre geeks! My favorite part was when Madison first started hanging out with Nate. When she started hanging out with him they went to an ice cream place. He loved taking pictures but she didn't know why until the end of the story he said, "I only take pictures of beautiful things." and gave her pictures of her and places they went together. To me the title doesn't relate to the title because this book is about Madison's Friendevrse getting hacked and her getting to the bottom of it. She thinks her best friend Ruth is helping her find out that it is but really she is the person who HACKED HER! Her own best friend! She didn't have a clue until her and Nate ere on a date in his town sandwich shop. He lives only one town over. So when she saw Ruth at the sandwich shop she got a little suspicious of her. When her dad said, "he answer is right in front of you but you just don't know it, she knew who had done it. She called 3 people. 1 for mural support and the other two are the people who she taught done it. Ruth thought she was there for mural support, but she wasn’t. Dell and Ruth were the people who Madison Thought hacked her, and Tutrell was there for mural support. Madison said, “Ruth I know you had Dell help hack me because you aren’t good with computers. Tell why you hacked me?” Ruth started giving reasons and that made Madison feel really bad. Ruth also broke up Madison and her ex-boyfriend Justin because she liked him. Ruth said, “I hacked you because you were the new girl with the designer clothes and everyone wanted to be your friend in 1st grade. Now i'mm casted in the shadow of you!" Madison was in tears by then. She really didn't care if Ruth broke up her and Justin because she is now dating Nate! I can't wait to read more books by Katie Finn!
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Oct 02, 2009 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was amazingg!! It started out with a girl named Madisyn going to some island on spring break. during spring break she meets a pretty cute boy, but she thought she already had the perfect boyfriend. so any, she gets back from the island and goes straight to check her friendverse which is the website that everybody at her school has, and she finds out she's been hacked!! and whoever hacked her knew everything about her and broke some hearts, including madisyn's!! her & her boyfriend...more

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Mar 25, 2010 Wendy added it

Shelves: friendships, romance, relationship-problems, 9th-grade, mystery, drama, project-for-9th-grade-humanities

the theme of this book is that don't trust what you hear, and do what is right in your heart. Madison MacDonald goes out with Justin. then the break came and Madison went on a trip and didn't have service to go on Friendverse to update it. when she came back she opened her computer and saw that her Friendverse account got hacked by someone. then most of the people in her school was mad at her. that's where Madison starts trying to solve the case. she uses all her evidence that she has to fine ou...more

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Jun 04, 2009 Dawn rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is about a girl who has a profile, much like MySpace and Facebook, that gets hacked. However, in the book it is called Friendverse (I looked it up and no, it doesn't exist). Lol.

This book was a little predictable, but at the same time it kept making me change my mind. It turns out my first instincts were right, but I didn't know WHY the person would do it, just that they COULD. As I read on, I discovered who WOULD want to do it, and I started piecing the clues together. This is a very...more

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Young Adult

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Realistic Fiction

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Mystery

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Womens Fiction > Chick Lit

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Romance

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Young Adult > High School

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Contemporary

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Childrens > Middle Grade

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About Katie Finn

Katie Finn grew up in Connecticut, in a town that looks an awful lot like Putnam. During high school, she was a total theater devotee (like Madison) and never dreamed she’d be a writer. But lots of Katie’s high school misadventures have made it into her books…which just goes to show that you never know!

She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, in a house she wishes was a lot closer to the be...more

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Books by Katie Finn

Broken Hearts, Fences, & Other Things to Mend

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