Amelia O'Donohue Is So Not a Virgin

by Helen Fitzgerald

"I Never Tell Other People's Secrets..."

Amelia O'Donohue was stunning. We all knew we were in the presence of tremendous beauty, humbled by her eyes and by her expensive designer clothes. We all deferred to her, waiting for her to initiate conversation, and hanging on every word she said.

So when Amelia asked for my help, What was I to do? Did I have a choice? It's not like I could tell everyone that she sneaks off in the middle of the night in her pink silk nightie to sleep with her boyfriend. Right?

But this one favor leads to a secret so big it just might change everything-for Amelia and for me...

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, High School, Realistic Fiction, Scotland, Fiction, Boarding School

217 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Helen FitzGerald is the second youngest of thirteen children. She grew up in the small town of Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, and studied English and History at the University of Melbourne. Via India and London, Helen came to Glasgow University where she completed a Diploma and Masters in Social Work. She works part time as a criminal justice social worker in Glasgow. She's married to screenwriter Sergio Casci, and they have two children.

Follow her on twitter @fitzhelen

Reviews

[Nomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Helen Fitzgerald's Adult Fiction, which are darkly funny, wild and always surprising. So I was pretty much absolutely thrilled to hear she had a YA novel coming out.

And it's got a different flavour to most YA out there. It's got the same trademark gutsy pacing - it doesn't linger over scenes but keeps pushing on forward making it a swift and page-flipping read.

I LOVED ADORED the Scottish setting. More please.

As a protagonist, Rachel is pretty different. She's a perfectionist, she's angsty towards her parents, she's drumming it out to her own beat, unconcerned with making friends - more concerned with making grades. She's a keeper of secrets (of which she knows many) and regarding the little bit of romance she has going on the side, she's strangely, infuriatingly indifferent at times. She may take a bit of getting used to... :)

As for the mystery: Helen Fitzgerald loves to play head games with her readers, and this one's a doozy, haha. Even if you figure out where you think it's going, it doesn't diminish the enjoyment and satisfaction of watching Rachel all the way to the the climax where more than just secrets are revealed. I love a cringe-worthy, LOL showdown and this book delivers. Boy, does it deliver.

It's a book that you appreciate once you're done and join all the dots and see where the author was expertly taking you the whole time. My brain scrambles just thinking about it all. A brilliant nugget of an idea which played out nicely.

In all my reading of YA, I can't think of a book to compare this too. It's got such a unique, distinct flavour - it's a blast to read. It's funny and a little bit silly (in that teen way) and perfect for teens.With a narrative style different to most contemporary YA it may be a change from what you may be used to - so looking forward to seeing what others think of this one. It was a fun read for me - from a clever author who dares to be a little bit different.

[Chris Durr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. I mean WOW. This book was BAD. I like the confessions of Georgia Nicolson, but this was some kind of awful. There is lots of unfunny humor, an abandoned pregnancy, pointless and unbelievable social isolation, naivety where there should be maturity and just plain boring writing. This book doesn't know which way is up and is not worth the time it takes to read it.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This one was unexpectedly great.

I LOVED Rachel Ross, the buttoned-up heroine of "Amelia O'Donohue Is So Not A Virgin." She's not always the most obviously likeable, but there is something incredibly endearing and loveable about her. As a fellow lonely, grade-obsessed neurotic, I really related to her and understood her. Fitzgerald has a brilliant way with her heroines - Rachel's voice is captivating and addictive, but she's also incredibly flawed, and she's oh so different from most grade-obsessed neurotics that populate YA novels. Fitzgerald uses stereotypes and YA clichés to great effect in "Amelia O'Donohue...". I was originally going to criticise the fact that most of the characters, except for Rachel, felt a little flat, but what is so great is that Fitzgerald uses these expectations (the Queen Bee, the rival, the bullies) and gives real life to another stock character, the geek (Rachel). I was rooting for Rachel throughout and I loved her 'love interest', Sammy, too. I wasn't too enthusiastic about her parents' religion because it seemed a little chucked in there - couldn't really see what was tremendously relevent about it - but I did love her subplot with her parents, and especially Fitzgerald's willingness to have her heroine do some rather unusual and usually unpalatable things like ignoring her parents' calls and letters.

"Amelia O'Donohue..." was going to be a three-star read until the fantastic climax. The climax showed me that CLEARLY I have to get hold of as many as Fitzgerald's adult novels as I can, because she always manages to knock the air out of me with her brilliant shakeup plot twists. I was incredibly surprised by this one and was actually rocking backwards and forwards saying, "OH HELEN FITZGERALD YOU CLEVER BEAST" while reading. One of the things that stopped in from being a 4.5/5-star read was that this gut punch feeling comes in the last ten pages, after meandering along as an interesting, intriguing and well-written YA mystery. However, when it came, it was fantastic. The unravelling of...everything! was fantastically consistent, intense and very darkly humorous. This one might seem a little pedestrian and unoriginal for a little of the book, but the climax leaves you with a lovely feeling of greatness and warmth, especially towards the characters, because it's intense, audacious and just so much fun. Perhaps you could say that it wrapped up into too much of a neat little bow, but by that point, I was so invested in the characters and the plot that I was willing to accept everything because I so wanted them to be happy. In my opinion, that's a mark of a great book.

[Karina Halle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Liked it more than I thought I would. Had a nice twist that I should have seen coming but didn't. Love those. In short, a quick read about a quirky girl who goes to boarding school in Scotland but manages to be a deeper look at family, sacrifices and the secrets we keep. Kind of went a bit disturbing there for a bit with the "big secret" but I like disturbing so it worked out fine for me!

[Sheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rachel goes to boarding school to escape family problems and further her academic goals. Once there, she becomes the girl everyone tells secrets to. She soon ends up with a huge problem of her own. This plot development comes out of nowhere and is extremely unbelievable.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original post from One More Page

This book had me at "asthma". Being an asthmatic myself, I like reading about characters who deal with the same thing. Amelia O'Donohue Is So Not a Virgin sounds like a fun book from the title alone. Rachel Ross (sidenote: Friends reference, anyone? :D) is uptight...but that's okay, because her parents finally allowed her to go to the boarding school she wanted, so she can go to Oxford. She works hard to be the best in class, until she discovers a secret that could totally change the life of someone in school...if only she can figure out who it is.

Did I say fun? Oh yes, it was, and I found myself smiling at several parts of the book. I realized, though, that Rachel is really uptight, and sometimes it gets tiring to be in her place. Loosen up a little, girl! I found myself getting annoyed at her for not even trying to reach out...until the mystery is uncovered. When the secret was revealed, I had a teeny tiny suspicion about who owned that secret, but I wasn't sure. I mean, there were no clues! Until I got to the end, and I had to flip through some of the previous parts to look for proof. Talk about mind games, Helen Fitzgerald. Well played.

Amelia O'Donohue is So Not a Virgin is a fun and smart book that talks about friends and family and a lot of mystery that can only happen in a boarding school. It's a quick escape, and I enjoyed reading it. Oh, and this is not about Amelia O'Donohue. ;)

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so not about Amelia O'Donohue.

It is about secrets, and the danger of keeping them too well hidden.

Rachel keeps secrets. Not her own, she keeps everyone else's secrets. She knows who had an abortion, who sneaks out in the middle of the night, who throws up to keep thin, and which teacher is messing around with which student. People tell her their secrets because she never tells. Once, years ago, she shared a secret that resulted in personal tragedy. Now, no matter what, she will not tell and secret, for any reason.

Until she opens a cupboard door and finds the biggest secret of all.

Now she struggles with what to do, because this secret is alive and needs his mother. This time the owner of the secret has to come forward. Someone has to reveal the truth.

Rachel just can't be the one to do it.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light read for while at the gym - typical high school drama, first 3/4 of the book were melodrama and not really grabbing. The last quarter, though predictable, was a nice reminder of forgiveness for others and for self.

[lettylaunica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending is everything

Everything makes sense right at the end and I was very surprised, in a good way. Helen Fitzgerald is great this is my third book of hers

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

the plot twist tho

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest this book appeared on a goodreads list I was browsing and the title that caught my attention – which isn't very mature of me – and in all honesty I didn't really expect much of it. In spite of the rather odd title I did quite enjoy this book. I quite liked the character of Rachel and I was able to relate to her a fair bit as I tend to isolate myself and have been bullied as well. I also kind of understood how she felt i nwanting to get away but I did feel in many ways she was overly harsh in the way she treated people particularly Sammy – who I really liked. I did struggle a bit with chapters 24 – 27 as I found the style a little difficult to get in too and different from the rest of the book – although it did fit with what was happening in the story. Ultimately I did find the twist at the end really interesting although I was quite surprised that such a short amount of time (Ibelieve it's stated to be 12 hours) passes over from chapter around chapter 9 until around chapter 25. It definitely felt like it was a lot longer. I liked the relationship that developed between Amanda and Rachel and I wish the book had been slightly longer to expand on what happened next. I'd like to have known more of what happened to Rachel, Amanda and Sammy particularly with how the final scene with Rachel and Sammy went. I'm definitely looking forward to trying some more of this authors work though (and I think I have another of her books on my to read list waiting for me).

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel Ross is the best at keeping secrets. At age 9 she told a secret that nearly destroyed her parents' marriage and sent them to exile on a Scottish island she hates--where her parents turned super-religious (the local style) and there are no opportunities. She has a boyfriend she doesn't like, no really close friends, and longs for an academic life in an elite boarding school. When she becomes involved in a local scandal, her parents finally send her to boarding school, where she becomes known as both an academic grind and a keeper of secrets--who has a secret cat, who has embarrassing bathroom accidents, and what Popular Amelia O'Donohue (her dorm neighbor) does with her boyfriend on the fire escape. But one day, Rachel discovers a secret that can't in good conscience be kept, and she must not only find out whose secret it is, but also whether Amelia can also be the friend she's never had.

And...WOW. While on one level this is a YA book, it's also a kind of psychological thriller at the end. This book has one of those shocker endings that cast everything that's come before into a different light, prompting a re-read almost immediately. It is one of those books that sticks in your mind for a long time. It would probably also make a great movie. Highly recommended.

[Kath Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secrets. After a stressful event in her family's life Rachel has learned at a young age to keep them. As Rachel goes away to a boarding school in Scotland for her senior year, she is thrilled to be out on her own and out of her gloomy home on a small dreary island with her ever depressed and non-communicative parents. Rachel's devotion to her studies, her reputation as a secret keeper and her ever increasing self isolation lead to a shocking climax.

I'd recommend this to a more mature female audience.

[Kiana.707 Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the book Amelia O'Donohue is So Not a Virgin , it tells a story how one girl puts her life in another girl hands so she can keep her secert about not being a virgin. i like the book because it shows that the people that you never talk to or never knew was in your school, u can count on them and they might help you. i rated the book three stars because i wish it could have been more info in the first part and not long and boring. but i do like the book !!!!!!!!! :)

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 4 stars, I really did. Even though the ending was wicked predictable (I saw it coming from almost the beginning of the "big secret"), it was interesting and fast paced. The only reason I'm dropping it down to 3 stars is for the gross mis/overuse of the word "retard," which didn't add anything to the story and only served to distract me and make me frustrated time and again.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good things about this book: It was a short and very easy read, and I was actually surprised by the big reveal.

Bad things about this book: I couldn't stand any of the characters in it, I probably shouldn't have been surprised by the big reveal, and some parts (like Rachel's "dream" and when she was in the ambulance and it alternated between past and present) were really hard to read (possibly because I didn't really care.)

[Dailycheapreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am 40 percent of the way through this book and don't think I'll finish. After a promising beginning, the main character has turned into a spoiled whiner. Young adult readers may find the plot interesting, but there is not enough happening to keep me interested.

[Meagan Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Total shocker..the ending completely surprised me

[Arshin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Predicted the ending. It was good at first, then later didn't like it.

[Novita Sari · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's ok

[Megan Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It would've gotten more stars, except I guessed the twist at about the end of chapter 3. Well-written, though.

[Gisbelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. It's funny and unpredictable. I also love the twist, even it's a bit "ridiculous" at some point.

[eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual kind of book, but I'm surprised that I liked it a lot. I never would have expected that ending. x

[laurenpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Deft writing!

The plot resolution really took me by surprise, and the writing style was much better than I expected! enjoyed this novel.

[Angelica]

to read this book is np and its borning

[Charmaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE THE TWITS!!! Never thought it would be a mysterious kind of book!