High School Hero

by Sherri Renee

Kristen McDonald has dreamed of being crowned prom queen for the past three years. Now, with prom only weeks away, her boyfriend starts becoming someone she doesn't even recognize. Sure he's got a lot on his mind with college decision and football playoffs coming up, but that doesn't excuse him for acting like a major jerk.Matt Brady, the annoying but gorgeous bad boy who moves in next door, lets Kristen in on a little secret, her boyfriend's using steroids to help win the state championship. When George takes his new temper out on Kristen, Matt's there to help pick up the pieces, and Kristen soon realizes bad-boy Matt isn't so bad at all.Kristen's over George's mean new attitude. Prom or no prom she's breaking up. Only he won't let her. Steroids aren't the only illegal activity George is involved in, and now he's got to pay the price, only he's dragging her along with him. Can Matt help her escape the dangerous game George is involved in? With a target on her back, prom is suddenly the least of her worries. Read Michelle's story in High School Heartbreak !

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Amazon, Contemporary Romance

249 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2018

Reviews

[Britt Nichole]

*this review contains a few unmarked spoilers*
I looked through reviews on Amazon and Goodreads because I really wasn't sure how to begin writing this review. After seeing what other people said, though, I'm not sure we actually read the same book. The book has a fair array of mixed star ratings, but most of the actual reviews... come with a 5-star rating.
?????????
I'm... not really sure where to begin. The story is basically your average love triangle, which I'm usually not a big fan of to begin with, BUT I agreed in reviewing this book because the summary actually sounded compelling and totally, 100% had the potential to be darker than most other love triangles I've read. ESPECIALLY with the steroids plot. I'm so disappointed. (I wouldn't spoil something like that normally, but the mention of steroids is literally in the summary, so... 🤷🏽‍♀️)
In the summary of High School Hero, we're introduced to our three most important characters - Kristen, her boyfriend George, and the boy-next-door Matt. Now, as far as characters go, Kristen and George were fine... well, not "fine" because they certainly had their own issues as characters that I'll be sure to go over later, but, for the most part, they more-or-less stayed true to the impression that I got when I read the summary. That, at least, the author stuck to.
It's Matt that I want to talk about first.
Matt, who is promised to be an "annoying, but gorgeous bad boy." Matt, who "lets Kristen in on a little secret {about her boyfriend George}." Matt, who is a "bad-boy, who isn't so bad after all."
Matt, who... literally displays NONE of his promised characteristics. Except maybe that last one - because he is most definitely NOT the intriguing bad boy that the summary promises. Not. Even. Close.
The ONLY time Matt is ever displayed as being a "bad boy" is in the very first chapter - and that's only after he rightfully calls Kristen out for staring at his "perfect, six-pack abs" when he's changing his shirt (they're next door neighbors so she can see straight into his room, naturally). After that? Nada. Zip. Zilch. The bad boy persona is totally, 100% thrown into the wind so he can just drool after Kristen - though he claims, multiple times throughout the book, that he "won't compete for another guy's girl."
Yeah, right.
And, the summary plot point where he "lets Kristen in on a little secret" is a total joke. He lets her in on a little secret, all right - by straight-up verbally telling her that George is on steroids. He ends up being right (of course), but when he initially tells her about what's going on with George, he has ZERO proof to back anything up. When he tells Kristen about the steroids thing, it's all pretty fucking ridiculous. It's more-or-less along the lines of:
"Hey, did you know your football-playing boyfriend is on steroids?"
"He is not!!! You're lying!!!"
"No I'm not. He's totally a 'Roid." (Yeah - an actual name that was actually used for someone on steroids. I don't know if that's actually a thing, but I'm banging my head on the wall).
"Oh shit!!! You're right!!! I gotta break up with him-even-though-we're-not-even-together-in-the-first-place!" (a totally messy plot point that I don't even want to get into because you're introduced to that conflict 0.2 seconds into the first chapter)
"Cool. Wanna face smash?"
"Ireallyshouldntbecausewe'renottechnicallybrokenupyetbut... hell yeah!"
And, honestly, I don't even know.
As for the other characters, Kristen and George are fine - compared to Matt, anyway (I know George was supposed to be the villain but I think Matt annoyed me more than he did) - but they're just sort of... dull. Kristen is your average pretty cheerleader who's hyper-obsessed with prom (there wasn't much substance to her character at all, honestly), and George is your average star athlete jerk. Fine. Whatever.
There was, however, a line that completely rubbed me the wrong way. I'm going to hope that the author did not have this intention with the line, and maybe it's just coming off as a misinterpretation, but...
“Every other girl in school—including most of the female teachers—already fawned all over him.” —narration from the main character, a high school Senior, about another high school Senior.
I'm going to HOPE that the implication isn't what the quote makes it sounds like, but if it is what I think it is... then I'm going to have to suggest that the school hires some new female teachers. That, y'know, don't drool over 12th grade boys.
Anyways.
The plot delves into other things that only further the steroid issue. These things had the total POTENTIAL to be cool and dark and interesting - as I said before, it's why I agreed to review the book in the first place - but it's totally, absolutely not. Literally, everything after the steroids reveal is dealt with so messily that I don't even know where to begin. And a LOT of that has to do with the fact that the writing was... not great.
Honestly, I don't know whether I accidentally got a pre-edited copy, or if the author gave me a copy with the intentions of it being an ARC, or what, but I counted so many spelling and grammar errors, it was ridiculous. Not to mention, the your/you're mixups alone were enough to be a headache. I counted four or five your/you're errors. Four or five! In a published freaking book! That's not supposed to happen! IF the author uses an editor and IF I didn't get a pre-edited copy by mistake, then I... might consider switching.
I literally cannot get over how messy and TOTALLY RANDOM that whole football game ended up being. I don't get it, I still don't, I don't think I ever will. A potentially dark situation turned so... cringey and cheesy. How'd that happen?
Sigh.
IN CONCLUSION, I... just... ugh. Of course, if the summary of the book interests YOU then by all means, check it out! One opinion is just one opinion and I'm not going to advocate that this book is, like, blacklisted or anything. Of course not. But writing this review has just... brought all my annoyance to the surface, and I think I'm going to deduct a star from what I'd originally thought. My second one-star of the year... I'm quite disappointed.

[Gerri]

Wow

I couldn't put it down, took me 3 hours to read it. It was awesome. I highly recommend this book. Excellent read.it had me from the beginning.

[Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review]

I really liked this book. A bit more edgy than I expected. Great plot. I will definitely read the next books in the stories.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (12/14/2019)! 🎁

[☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ ѕℓιм ☠︎︎༒︎✞︎]

This was a good book.

Smh 🤦🏽‍♀️

Let me say this I knew Kristen was going to be mad annoying...

https://ladiikeiii.wordpress.com/2019...

•••• wait before I get into what I got to say; there’s going to be a lot or a few spoilers in my review•••***

So anyways I knew she was annoying because, for one thing, she was mad dumb; naive little girl; due to the fact she let “George” do mean things to her, and not only that use her as a pond in the game him, and Laurie was playing. Instead of her dumb self removing herself from the situation; she kept herself there smh; for these men to come after her like you can’t be that stupid; then get scared; when you find out more truth; then the final truth when the game about to start. I just had to roll my eyes. Because In the beginning, I knew Laurie was up to no good; she ’s not any friend instead of keeping Kristen away from trouble (her uncle) she leads this naive girl into a lion dean. Smh; I hope in the end Matt be there for this girl because lord she’s not smart when it comes to a lot of things; there were so many signs in this book and the signs she was receiving from both George and Laurie; even seen the signs at the mall. She got a peanut brain. It’s crazy how she was that dumb smh. Not to figure out that something wasn’t right. Kristen was so concerned with George getting hurt not realizing both he and Laurie was setting her up to possibly getting hurt or killed. You could tell by the way the author wrote this book; she made Kristen naive and not bright; that’s the whole point of the book to make it more interesting to see what happens next. But; I just wanted to shake Kristen her friend Michelle, and even Matt was smarter then Kristen. Then looked dumb scared when she learned the truth 😂😂😂 I’m like girrrrrl this could’ve been avoided if you broke up with the meat-head..... heck Even Danny didn’t like George; that should’ve told her something. 😂 Towards the end though; I was ready for it to be over with already. These are the hands I would like to use for both George and Laurie 👋👋👋👋 (slaps-two hands-same time) for making that girl Kristen scared to death and scared that something may happen to her.

But I did sort felt bad for Laurie though, because she could’ve threatened her if she didn’t go along with his plan. I hope she did save enough actually to get away from her uncle. Hopefully, the police find her uncle Melvin in the end, so he won't try to hurt Kristen and even Laurie. Her uncle seems like trash for using teens and harming or killing them; like he did the last quarterback. That freaking George I still don’t feel bad, because he knew it could’ve turned bad he didn’t listen. Would’ve been worse if Matt wasn’t there to save Kristen; I was so glad he was because as I was reading and reading about the knifed and he the guy coming toward Kristen I’m like where’s Matt... At least Laurie tried to save her. But she disappears fast 💨 as heck lol. Like poof and she’s gone.... but glad in the end; It was a happy ending.

[Siobhan Yilmaz]

Not a typical YA read...

This book is so much more than just your average young adult story - it's part thriller, part mystery, a little bit of crime, and a whole lot of loving! Basically, way above what I was expecting when I started to read.
Kristen has goals in life to become prom queen and with the perfect boyfriend it should be a shoo in, but suddenly everything starts going off in the wrong direction, and it all starts with rumours from a recent party. George (the perfect boyfriend) quickly becomes the centre of her problems, and somehow the bad boy next door proves her wrong about her judgemental opinion of him. I can't begin to explain the plot here without giving too much away, but trust me - this is worth reading and is an absolute page turner. Lives are at risk, dodgy behaviour from multiple characters, an unexpected romance and so much more...just read it!

[SD Jericho]

When I started this book Kristen irritated me no end. I feared that I’d ended up in another Sweet Valley High Universe and Kristen was Jennifer… or Jessica… Who was the shallow twin obsessed with popularity?? Anyway, she wasn’t as jealous, completely self-obsessed and dodgy as Jen/Jess and she had some redeeming qualities – I like a girl who can honestly say that her friend is more gorgeous than her without whining about it and she does give credit where it’s due even if it does initially come across as contrived. I liked her friend Michelle much sooner and much more than I liked Kristen.

Proof that you can’t always trust a blurb is that Matt is not annoying – in Kristen’s case, he’s only annoying because she’s fighting a very inconvenient attraction – and he knows it. He’s apparently a bad boy because he drives a muscle car and plays his music loud enough to rattle windows. So apparently (yes, I’ve used apparently twice), I’m a bad boy too.

George is a typical macho, possessive ass with aggression made worse by the use of steroids. He’s nasty and mean and we glimpse some of his motivations and triggers and I still can’t feel any sympathetic feelings for the boy…

Matt knows that George is using steroids; something that Kristen was completely oblivious to even if she is on the receiving end of the side effects – which is understandable because she’s incredibly naïve and her world is incredibly small.

Truthfully, in a perfect world our kids would be naïve and unaware for as long as possible, including right through high school. Sadly, in this case of art imitating life, it is very unlikely that our kids will remain untouched by the harsh temptations, worries and fears of life.

I do think that if you’re going to touch on these dark and relevant issues with high school kids then you need to fully commit to it and delve into it properly and comprehensively – I feel like those topics were short changed and the potential good that could’ve come from truly delving into them wasn’t fully achieved. It was, to me, a wasted opportunity and the difference between a book that was nice and a book that could’ve been phenomenal.

I could appreciate that the author tried to balance the harsh realities with a sweet story (complete with a puppy), in an effort to dull the sharp edges. I especially appreciated that unlike some High School stories, both in books and on television, that in spite of this book dealing with some very adult issues, it did not glamourize sexual activity between high school kids. Call me a prude but as a mother of kids about to embark on the high school journey, I am so grateful that there are books that don’t turn sex into normal high school activity. Yes there are hormones and feelings but that is natural and normal and I’m glad that it wasn’t taken further. This book dealt with too many grown up challenges and I’m grateful that sex wasn’t added to the maelstrom. There is a sweetness to a boy and girl liking each other and having feelings without taking it too far. I wish more kids were experiencing the sweet without giving into the pressure of taking it too far.

Kristen, who speaks freely to Matt and Michelle about her interactions with George after regular dramatic episodes, just isn’t as worried about herself as she should be in light of the situation so I question her ability to make good choices. She never even attempts to speak to an adult, like either of her parents, even when alarm bells are ringing loudly that she’s in over her head. Because this is not a situation that should be handled by kids. I expected Matt, with his level head and his lawyer father to at least try to convince her to speak to an authority figure especially when there are physical issues at play. No, these young folks can just go ahead and fix this all themselves and involve the adults when they’ve “handled” it. No. just no.

The ending is so rushed and again, it could have been wrapped up in a much better way instead of just “Oh, boom, all done! Enter HEA.”

One the upside, at the last part of the book, I will admit that Kristen finally stops floundering and listening to other people who have to tell her what to do and grew into some spine and substance. I liked her a bit more at the end which I was happy about because I was starting to feel bad for not liking someone who was truthfully sweet, kind, and innocent and just suffered from a case of naivety. Maybe I was expecting too much from a girl who was just that... a girl. The world needs more sweet and it would be nice if there was less cynicism and exposure to the dark side of life.

All in all, it was a nice book, it was sweet and innocent except for the parts that weren’t – even so I am going to read the other books in the series because I would love to see if the loose ends get tied up better than they were. I am hoping so hard that it will be.

p.s. I really want to give this a 2.5 - It was a bit more than okay and I kinda liked it but... I'm torn...

[Erin Bishop]

Fantastic read

This book was nothing short of amazing. I found myself becoming emotionally invested with the main character Kristin from the 1st page. I could easily see myself in her as she navigated life as a high school student. I found that I was tearing through each page in anticipation of what was coming next for our main character and all her friends. I thought I had one character Laurie figured out, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. You know that an author is truly gifted and has written a great story when you just have to "read one more chapter", which turns into several more or you're contemplating calling out of work just so you can finish the book uninterrupted! I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series and anything in the future that Sherri Renee may wrote in the future. Thanks so much for writing such a fantastic book Sherri!!

[Rebecca Sousa]

This book was really good, I could not put it down if your a fan of pretty little liars or 13 reasons why you will definitely be a fan of this book! It was full of secrets and mystery as well as more sensitive subject matter such as steroid use and seeing the negative side affects that comes with drug abuse. However the key theme that was discussed throughout this book was the pressure high school stereotypes put on young adults and how it can negatively impact the overall high school experience. Another important theme was to never judge a book by its cover you never know what someone is going through or who a person is until you dig a little deeper and look past your first impressions of someone. The romance aspect of this book was really sweet and cute pushing this book over the edge for me on how well rounded and balanced this book is I am super glad I was given the chance to read this book thanks to Voracious Readers Only

[Terra Wilbanks]

This book is highly addictive. I was hooked from Chapter 1. I love how sweet and kind Kristen is. I want to punch George. Oh sweet Matt, what a guy! I couldn't have asked for a better story. Definitely interesting turn of events. I am beyond happy with how it all turned out.

Well written and honestly just a great book!

[Terra]

This is a highly addictive book!

I couldn't put this book down for a second. Kristen is such a sweet character, I wanted to punch George! I was truly Happy that the boy next door Matt was her prince charming.

This was beautifully written, a good clean fun book with an interesting turn of events.

I highly recommend this book.

[Leeann]

I thought this book was a sweet high school romance that dealt with some quite serious issues- steroid use, cheating, suicide, it had it all. I liked Kristen's character, she went from a shallow girl to someone who was caring and kind. It was an easy to read, enjoyable story

[Jody]

Very good book

I love young adult romances and this one was really good. It had ministries some suspense and then the romance extender one but what a great read!

[Dorothy Morris]

I enjoyed reading this book about two people that are opposite attracted to each other.

[Kelly Bugler]

Really enjoyed this book

[BookwormHG]

Pros:
Well written
Realistic
Fast paced
Good dialogue

Kirsten, Matt and George's stories all intertwine around what seems to be potentially harmful situation which quickly moves to full blown danger at Forest Ridge high. The writing overall was enjoyable with little innuendo; however there was at least one occasion where the main characters spend the night, but they didn't move further than kissing. At first Kirsten appears shallow, because of her single goal to become prom queen, however throughout the book she develops into a stronger character who realizes there is more to life than prom. Frankly, by the time I was half to three-quarters of the way through the story, it became too realistic for me to enjoy; even though I assumed there would be a happy ending. It saddened me to think that characters like George exist in our world and that the people who surround them may not have such a happy outcome. For those readers who love realistic settings involving intrigue and danger with a splash of romance this novel is just right for you!

[Valery]

Engaging enough to keep reading.

I found this one to be a bit on the overdramatic side and a bit cheesy. But let's talk about the elephant in the room.
The manipulation and abuse displayed by some of the characters should be a warning to all young girls. Sure, the relationship started out great, but the warning signs were still there. That and major personality changes should always be a red flag.
A good way to remind girls that not all guys are prince charming.
At the end I kept expecting another monkey wrench because it seemed to wrap up way too easy.
The grammar started to take a dive toward the end. Quite a few prominent mistakes that leave the reader confused that should have been caught by the editor.

For my clean readers: includes abusive relationships, both verbal and physical, underage drinking and drug use, attempted murder, fist fights, bullying, and a bunch of making out.

[Leslie Latchaw]

Not For Teens

This book is about a teen named Kristen who is manipulated and abused by her boyfriend George. In my opinion, this is not a book a young teen should read. Kristen does not make wise choices, does not inform authorities and continues in the abusive relationship. In the end there is a HEA, but from my own experience in the same type of situation, there was no HEA and innocent people other than myself got hurt. There are so many young people in the same situation and this book only reinforces what should not be done, but often is.

[Once Upon a Page]

Dnf 29%

Main character was frustratingly stupid. All she cared about was being prom queen and she made lots of judgy comments about Matt being a bad boy which either meant she was incapable of critical thinking, or the author messed up and forgot to include those bits, because he was (at least as far as I read) a golden retriever.

Definitely not the worst book in the world, but I couldn’t find any reason to keep reading when there are better out there.

[Madie]

I enjoyed this book. It’s very much Young Adult, romance, and highschool drama. This book had me finished with it in one day when I first read it. So this is my second time reading this book and it’s still a good read. I love how caring the love interest becomes, and any scene with them together is actually really adorable.

[Geo]

I received a free copy for an honest review. It's a drama-filled story, that's for sure. I might have given it more stars if Kristen wasn't so naive and gullible. Matt seemed decent. I kinda wanted more of AB in the story, but that's just because I love dogs so much.

[Rachel]

Very much a young adult book, which was not what I was expecting, but in hindsight should have guessed that it was. Again found the main female character very passive but if a young adult story I suppose it would be more relatable for the reader. The storyline was well written overall.

[Rebecca]

I love Matt !!!!

I don’t like K she a complete idiot. She put with G crap way to long but continued to do so . It just annoyed me. Like I understand why but it was kinda a turn off and I almost quit reading. I love Matt

[Carolina Colleene]

I stopped reading because the conflict was repetitive. Kristin and Matt rehash the same problems without learning anything or changing their behaviors, which is just annoying to read.

[Patricia A.Bunn]

Great Book

Great Book I love it it was great and powerful and I think that you might love this book
Thank You For Letting Me Read This Book I love 💘💘💘💘💘💘

[Heather]

Not for me, but I'm not everyone.

I really wasn't a fan of this book, but just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean others won't. Just wasn't my favorite.