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My Life Undecided
PLEASE READ THIS! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!
Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.
Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.
But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!
Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.
But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.
Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.
Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.
But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!
Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.
But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2011
About the author
Jessica Brody
49 books2,588 followersJessica Brody is the author of more than 20 novels for teens, tweens, and adults including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, Amelia Gray is Almost Okay, A Week of Mondays, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, the Unremembered trilogy, and the System Divine trilogy which is a sci-fi reimagining of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, co-written with Joanne Rendell. She’s also the author of the #1 bestselling novel-writing guides, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel as well as several books based on popular Disney franchises like Descendants and LEGO Disney Princess. Jessica’s books have been translated and published in over 20 languages and several have been optioned for film and television. She’s the founder of the Writing Mastery Academy and lives with her husband and three dogs near Portland, OR.
Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com or WritingMastery.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody
Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com or WritingMastery.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 374 reviews
June 5, 2013
Instead of writing a review, I'll just enumerate my top 5 quotes of the book (in no particular order):
1.) "It's your life, Brian! You can't just roll over and play dead on your life! You need to make your own decisions."
2.) "I never liked you very much when you were perfect. You're much cooler now that's you're human."
3.) "I don't want to be a ninety-year-old woman with a life full of regret. I don't want to wake up one morning seventy-five years from now and discover my life has been a series of bad decisions and wrong turns and heartbreaks."
4.) “Mistakes can be fixed. Bad decisions can be undone. Model houses can be rebuilt. And perfection is only a word that makes you feel bad about yourself.”
5.) “It's like I'm caught between two versions of myself. The person I used to be and the person I'm too scared to become. I feel like I'm looking in a mirror and my reflection doesn't match. I just want to be myself again. Only I'm not sure who that is anymore. Is it the girl in the mirror, the one I've struggled to be my entire life? Or is it this stranger living inside me who wants nothing to do with her? How do you decide between them? How do you know which one is really you?”
July 11, 2018
3.5 stars
This was so cute and entertaining!
Unfortunately I wish I read it when I first added it to my TBR (4 years ago! WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE) because now I'm too old to enjoy these borderline-middle grade YA contemporaries. Some things just don't click with me anymore and come out as too unrealistic because now I'm either too mature in life experiences or experienced with books and I have higher standards. Which is very sad, if you ask me.
Examples of this in the book are the 7-Eleven robbery or the sister's hospitalization or the relationship with Hunter III. These had in common the fact that they had no solid foundation to make them work with the narrative, they were kind of only plot devices with no substance. They were there just to make something more important happen.
But I loved reading this book the same! My favorite person ever was Brian. So dorky and cute! I have a thing for cute, sweet and smart guys. And he also had this amazing super curly black hair that I think you can't find very often in YA books. He was perfect for Brooks.
The concept of the book was well developed and I enjoyed the ups and downs of the blog polls so much.
“But aren’t you mad?” I ask. “I mean, that the only reason I said yes to you, that I even spent any time with you, was because a bunch of strangers told me I should.”❤️
He seems to find humor in this question as he adjusts his jacket tighter around my chest. “How could I be mad at something that brought you to me?”
This was so cute and entertaining!
Unfortunately I wish I read it when I first added it to my TBR (4 years ago! WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE) because now I'm too old to enjoy these borderline-middle grade YA contemporaries. Some things just don't click with me anymore and come out as too unrealistic because now I'm either too mature in life experiences or experienced with books and I have higher standards. Which is very sad, if you ask me.
Examples of this in the book are the 7-Eleven robbery or the sister's hospitalization or the relationship with Hunter III. These had in common the fact that they had no solid foundation to make them work with the narrative, they were kind of only plot devices with no substance. They were there just to make something more important happen.
But I loved reading this book the same! My favorite person ever was Brian. So dorky and cute! I have a thing for cute, sweet and smart guys. And he also had this amazing super curly black hair that I think you can't find very often in YA books. He was perfect for Brooks.
The concept of the book was well developed and I enjoyed the ups and downs of the blog polls so much.
June 26, 2015
Oh, Jessica Brody, you've done it again...
I adored Brody's THE KARMA CLUB and have been anxiously awaiting MY LIFE UNDECIDED for months. After all, MLU combines a teen girl, cute boys, bad decisions, funny decisions, and a BLOG. Really, the blog alone (okay, and maybe the boys) would have done it for me, but Brody goes above and beyond, which is always a good thing in an author...
At first, I worried that Brooklyn's age, 15, coupled with this particular plot would make the novel feel a bit too immature for my tastes, but I shouldn't have worried. While Brooklyn does, for the most part, act like a 15 year old, Brody's use of humor provided a healthy balance and served as a distraction. I never felt like the story was slowed... she was able to just be a confused 15 year old girl, even if the reader is a few years older. Additionally, I would feel comfortable handing this novel to a younger reader as well... Perhaps not any younger than Middle School, but there wasn't anything particularly scandalous.
I love the whole concept of this novel. It may not be entirely realistic, but, as a real life blogger, I can say there are parts of this novel that ring true. I've never had an entire blog dedicated to my life decisions, but I can't tell you how many times I've utilized Twitter when making a decision... Should I buy this? Did anyone see this movie and like it? I'm bored... what should I do? Brooklyn takes this idea to a whole new level... and learns quite a few things in the process.
The endeavor might have been slightly misguided, but many teens will empathize with Brooklyn. She's really screwed up this time around... And making the wrong decision is sometimes entirely too tempting. Having someone else make your decisions takes all the pressure off you. If it's a good decision, great! If it's a bad decision, hey... I didn't make it! At some point in your life, you'll realize that, ultimately, only you can make your decisions - it's just the way the world works - but it was an adventure to watch Brooklyn discover this for herself (and in a much more fun and exciting way than most of us do)!
I can't wait to read Brody's next offering... I fully expect it'll make me laugh... and think.
I adored Brody's THE KARMA CLUB and have been anxiously awaiting MY LIFE UNDECIDED for months. After all, MLU combines a teen girl, cute boys, bad decisions, funny decisions, and a BLOG. Really, the blog alone (okay, and maybe the boys) would have done it for me, but Brody goes above and beyond, which is always a good thing in an author...
At first, I worried that Brooklyn's age, 15, coupled with this particular plot would make the novel feel a bit too immature for my tastes, but I shouldn't have worried. While Brooklyn does, for the most part, act like a 15 year old, Brody's use of humor provided a healthy balance and served as a distraction. I never felt like the story was slowed... she was able to just be a confused 15 year old girl, even if the reader is a few years older. Additionally, I would feel comfortable handing this novel to a younger reader as well... Perhaps not any younger than Middle School, but there wasn't anything particularly scandalous.
I love the whole concept of this novel. It may not be entirely realistic, but, as a real life blogger, I can say there are parts of this novel that ring true. I've never had an entire blog dedicated to my life decisions, but I can't tell you how many times I've utilized Twitter when making a decision... Should I buy this? Did anyone see this movie and like it? I'm bored... what should I do? Brooklyn takes this idea to a whole new level... and learns quite a few things in the process.
The endeavor might have been slightly misguided, but many teens will empathize with Brooklyn. She's really screwed up this time around... And making the wrong decision is sometimes entirely too tempting. Having someone else make your decisions takes all the pressure off you. If it's a good decision, great! If it's a bad decision, hey... I didn't make it! At some point in your life, you'll realize that, ultimately, only you can make your decisions - it's just the way the world works - but it was an adventure to watch Brooklyn discover this for herself (and in a much more fun and exciting way than most of us do)!
I can't wait to read Brody's next offering... I fully expect it'll make me laugh... and think.
January 23, 2016
A better book review can be found on my book blog here: https://remarkablylisa.wordpress.com/...
Real rating: 4.5
I feel like all Jessica Brody books look and sound like trashy novels that will leave readers unsatisfied but it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo not true!
Her books are written with quality and depth. The synopsis and plot sound really flimsy and fluffy but her characters always have such fatal flaws that leave readers sympathetic to them.
With that being said, My life undecided was a fantastic read. It kept me entertained throughout my read. It was funny. It was smart. It was super cute.
Real rating: 4.5
I feel like all Jessica Brody books look and sound like trashy novels that will leave readers unsatisfied but it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo not true!
Her books are written with quality and depth. The synopsis and plot sound really flimsy and fluffy but her characters always have such fatal flaws that leave readers sympathetic to them.
With that being said, My life undecided was a fantastic read. It kept me entertained throughout my read. It was funny. It was smart. It was super cute.
October 22, 2011
I'm extremely proud to say that the rating that you're seeing above this review is not a mistake.
THIS BOOK WAS A FIVE STAR READ FOR ME!!!! YAAAAAAAH! (My first 5-star book!)
Now I know this might not be a big deal for some of you. You're probably thinking "I gave 5 stars to like 50 other books--what's so special about a 5 star rating from YOU?"
Out of every book I've read, I've always found flaws in some form whatsoever (which is absolutely, positively OKAY because what kind of life would we be living if there were no flaws?). It's either because the writing drags on into the realm of boredom, or maybe it's cliche, or maybe I just had to pitch the thing across the room in some point of my consciousness. I've always given four-stars to the books with the most MINOR mistakes that I've ever seen.
But this one? This one got a five star rating...why?
BECAUSE I WAS TRULY ASTOUNDED BY THIS FREAKING BOOK!
1. It had VOICE!!! VOICE, I TELL YOU!!!!! It went no where NEAR the realm of boredom! It was totally in...the realm of NOT BOREDOM!!
It wasn't in that icky melodramatic tone that's in most YA's these days. "I ran. I ran from the beast with fear in my grasp. Oh my. How frightened I was..."
It was more like, "I tromped down the path away from the beast, flailing my arms like a monkey and droning one long, monotonous scream through the entire event." (<-Trust me, that's how I would run away from a beast.)
Well--no, none of the sentences in this book had anything to do with running from a beast. This was just my (lame) example of how this book added comedy to it's pages to actually invite the reader into reading instead of that whole "Edward/Bella moment".
2. IT TAUGHT LIFE LESSONS.
In some of the YA's that I've read so far, I skim through the whole entire book and try to wonder... "WHAT'S THE LESSON THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO TEACH?!"
Each story should have a theme to it. Sure, you might want to create a story where two characters fall in love--but it shouldn't be in the situation where in the first chapter, ALL THEY DO IS EXCHANGE A GLANCE and in the next 30 pages, one of the characters is like "I need you. I can't stay away from you."
NO!!!! THAT IS NOT A LIFE LESSON!!!! In life, when you meet someone, THERE IS NO WAY THAT TRUE LOVE WILL MAKE ITSELF APPEAR IN THE SPAN OF 48 HOURS!!!!!
Well--this book is mainly about a girl, Brooklynn Pierce, who decides that since all of her decisions must be purely rigged so that they all happen to ruin her life, she creates a blog in order to post her decisions for blog readers to choose for her. The thought running through her head is that since she must be the worst decision maker EVER, she can have a bunch of other people vote which decisions they think is best and therefore, Brooklynn shouldn't be able to make any mistakes.
But this book's life lesson is that you should make the choice for yourself because you CAN make a choice. There are also some things that you can't choose yourself. (Now THAT is something I learned myself through life experiences LONG before I started to read this book.) I'll let you guys figure out what that is by READING THE BOOK YOURSELF!!!! :D
And every day is a choice. You make choices every day (no matter how minor they are--like what food you eat, or what you say...). Since you make so many choices in a life time, YOU'RE BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES, right?? That's what life is about!
And since Brooklynn thought that she seemed to be surrounded by perfect people, throughout the story, she learns that everyone makes mistakes (even the most perfect of people) and that perfection is only an illusional word and that her thoughts of everyone else's perfection is an illusion.
This book truly presents life lessons that are ACTUALLY REAL. I really want to meet Jessica Brody!
3. Wording! WORD CHOICE! DESCRIPTIONS! Eh-ti-cuh!
Jessica Brody's descriptions and wording and metaphors ARE SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN!!! She doesn't use plain, old, boring words like "walked". She uses "tromp" "strut" "stumble".
Her descriptions are so precise and I can just imagine the settings that she sets up for the readers DIRECTLY IN MY HEAD!!! That's definitely also worth 5-stars, right??
4. Symbolization!!
When Brooklynn has to read to Mrs. Moody during her community service hours, Jessica Brody CREATIVELY chooses the "You Choose The Story" series to represent decisions. When they read through the story and Mrs. Moody always steered the decisions in a path where they always ended up being eaten by alligators or stepped on by giant dinosaurs, they always flipped right back to the beginning of the book to start over again and to make different decisions.
Now what the author is trying to show the readers is: Wouldn't it be easier if life was similar to this? When you ended up in an unfixable situation, you could just rewind back to the beginning and start over--this time avoiding the first choices and choosing different decisions in order to win.
Life isn't like this. When you're faced with a choice, you don't know WHAT'S going to happen next. It would be so easy if we could just fast forward to see our results if we do a specific thing and then rewind back and be sure that the decision we make is correct. Or we could just rewind back to the beginning when we face a blinking, bold GAME OVER shoved in our faces so we could know what we should choose.
But who said life was easy? When you're in a sticky situation where all of your choices are revealed and you finally know what you SHOULD have chosen, you can't just press the "RESET" button. All you can do is sigh and think "I shouldn't have chosen this" or "I should have done that instead."
Trust me, whenever I get a test handed back with a bunch of red pen strokes smeared across the pages, I skim through the test thinking "I should have known this! I should have known that!! CAN I HAVE A REDO?!"
The author understands this, and so she presents it in her story. BEAUTIFUL!!! ASTOUNDING!!!
5. Cliffhangers.
I always promised myself that I'd limit myself to ONE CHAPTER of this book because if I got too lost in the book, I wouldn't be able to complete my homework.
But the cliffhangers at the end of these chapters (and the cliffhangers that the pages of the MyLifeUndecided.com Blog presented) always made me turn some more pages.
THIS BOOK IS NOT PREDICTABLE. It is FREAKING UNPREDICTABLE!!!!!! I ran into a bunch of surprises in this book, and JESSICA BRODY WEAVED EVERYTHING TOGETHER SO WELL!!!!!!!!!!!
Throughout the book, Brooklynn did seem to change her actions over the span of 6 weeks. At times, she would reveal to the readers in her narrating what she would have said or done before the moment the book started (when she was popular and best friends with the "princess" of the school). But near the end of the book, her actions compared to the actions she would have created if she was still the way she was REALLY made the way she has changed her ways stand out.
This book is a truly BEAUTIFUL, FIVE-STAR BOOK. I love this freaking book.
Wow, this is my longest book review ever. ANYWAY YEAH, I LOVED THIS BOOK.
I recommend this to the fellow humans in search for a humorous tale of a decisionally challenged girl.
THIS BOOK WAS A FIVE STAR READ FOR ME!!!! YAAAAAAAH! (My first 5-star book!)
Now I know this might not be a big deal for some of you. You're probably thinking "I gave 5 stars to like 50 other books--what's so special about a 5 star rating from YOU?"
Out of every book I've read, I've always found flaws in some form whatsoever (which is absolutely, positively OKAY because what kind of life would we be living if there were no flaws?). It's either because the writing drags on into the realm of boredom, or maybe it's cliche, or maybe I just had to pitch the thing across the room in some point of my consciousness. I've always given four-stars to the books with the most MINOR mistakes that I've ever seen.
But this one? This one got a five star rating...why?
BECAUSE I WAS TRULY ASTOUNDED BY THIS FREAKING BOOK!
1. It had VOICE!!! VOICE, I TELL YOU!!!!! It went no where NEAR the realm of boredom! It was totally in...the realm of NOT BOREDOM!!
It wasn't in that icky melodramatic tone that's in most YA's these days. "I ran. I ran from the beast with fear in my grasp. Oh my. How frightened I was..."
It was more like, "I tromped down the path away from the beast, flailing my arms like a monkey and droning one long, monotonous scream through the entire event." (<-Trust me, that's how I would run away from a beast.)
Well--no, none of the sentences in this book had anything to do with running from a beast. This was just my (lame) example of how this book added comedy to it's pages to actually invite the reader into reading instead of that whole "Edward/Bella moment".
2. IT TAUGHT LIFE LESSONS.
In some of the YA's that I've read so far, I skim through the whole entire book and try to wonder... "WHAT'S THE LESSON THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO TEACH?!"
Each story should have a theme to it. Sure, you might want to create a story where two characters fall in love--but it shouldn't be in the situation where in the first chapter, ALL THEY DO IS EXCHANGE A GLANCE and in the next 30 pages, one of the characters is like "I need you. I can't stay away from you."
NO!!!! THAT IS NOT A LIFE LESSON!!!! In life, when you meet someone, THERE IS NO WAY THAT TRUE LOVE WILL MAKE ITSELF APPEAR IN THE SPAN OF 48 HOURS!!!!!
Well--this book is mainly about a girl, Brooklynn Pierce, who decides that since all of her decisions must be purely rigged so that they all happen to ruin her life, she creates a blog in order to post her decisions for blog readers to choose for her. The thought running through her head is that since she must be the worst decision maker EVER, she can have a bunch of other people vote which decisions they think is best and therefore, Brooklynn shouldn't be able to make any mistakes.
But this book's life lesson is that you should make the choice for yourself because you CAN make a choice. There are also some things that you can't choose yourself. (Now THAT is something I learned myself through life experiences LONG before I started to read this book.) I'll let you guys figure out what that is by READING THE BOOK YOURSELF!!!! :D
And every day is a choice. You make choices every day (no matter how minor they are--like what food you eat, or what you say...). Since you make so many choices in a life time, YOU'RE BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES, right?? That's what life is about!
And since Brooklynn thought that she seemed to be surrounded by perfect people, throughout the story, she learns that everyone makes mistakes (even the most perfect of people) and that perfection is only an illusional word and that her thoughts of everyone else's perfection is an illusion.
This book truly presents life lessons that are ACTUALLY REAL. I really want to meet Jessica Brody!
3. Wording! WORD CHOICE! DESCRIPTIONS! Eh-ti-cuh!
Jessica Brody's descriptions and wording and metaphors ARE SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN!!! She doesn't use plain, old, boring words like "walked". She uses "tromp" "strut" "stumble".
Her descriptions are so precise and I can just imagine the settings that she sets up for the readers DIRECTLY IN MY HEAD!!! That's definitely also worth 5-stars, right??
4. Symbolization!!
When Brooklynn has to read to Mrs. Moody during her community service hours, Jessica Brody CREATIVELY chooses the "You Choose The Story" series to represent decisions. When they read through the story and Mrs. Moody always steered the decisions in a path where they always ended up being eaten by alligators or stepped on by giant dinosaurs, they always flipped right back to the beginning of the book to start over again and to make different decisions.
Now what the author is trying to show the readers is: Wouldn't it be easier if life was similar to this? When you ended up in an unfixable situation, you could just rewind back to the beginning and start over--this time avoiding the first choices and choosing different decisions in order to win.
Life isn't like this. When you're faced with a choice, you don't know WHAT'S going to happen next. It would be so easy if we could just fast forward to see our results if we do a specific thing and then rewind back and be sure that the decision we make is correct. Or we could just rewind back to the beginning when we face a blinking, bold GAME OVER shoved in our faces so we could know what we should choose.
But who said life was easy? When you're in a sticky situation where all of your choices are revealed and you finally know what you SHOULD have chosen, you can't just press the "RESET" button. All you can do is sigh and think "I shouldn't have chosen this" or "I should have done that instead."
Trust me, whenever I get a test handed back with a bunch of red pen strokes smeared across the pages, I skim through the test thinking "I should have known this! I should have known that!! CAN I HAVE A REDO?!"
The author understands this, and so she presents it in her story. BEAUTIFUL!!! ASTOUNDING!!!
5. Cliffhangers.
I always promised myself that I'd limit myself to ONE CHAPTER of this book because if I got too lost in the book, I wouldn't be able to complete my homework.
But the cliffhangers at the end of these chapters (and the cliffhangers that the pages of the MyLifeUndecided.com Blog presented) always made me turn some more pages.
THIS BOOK IS NOT PREDICTABLE. It is FREAKING UNPREDICTABLE!!!!!! I ran into a bunch of surprises in this book, and JESSICA BRODY WEAVED EVERYTHING TOGETHER SO WELL!!!!!!!!!!!
Throughout the book, Brooklynn did seem to change her actions over the span of 6 weeks. At times, she would reveal to the readers in her narrating what she would have said or done before the moment the book started (when she was popular and best friends with the "princess" of the school). But near the end of the book, her actions compared to the actions she would have created if she was still the way she was REALLY made the way she has changed her ways stand out.
This book is a truly BEAUTIFUL, FIVE-STAR BOOK. I love this freaking book.
Wow, this is my longest book review ever. ANYWAY YEAH, I LOVED THIS BOOK.
I recommend this to the fellow humans in search for a humorous tale of a decisionally challenged girl.
May 31, 2017
Jessica Brody is gewoon hilarisch. Ik vond 'Elke dag maandag' al gaaf, maar deze is absoluut ook hysterisch (maar tegelijk ook best diep). Geweldig!
January 5, 2017
Real rating: 3.5
Jessica Brody's writing is fun. I always laugh out loud in her books and I think she has a knack for getting the teenage voice right. Brooks was a 15 year old girl through and through and it showed. I just had so much fun being in her head, reading her antics, and sometimes suffering through second hand embarrassments.
I had thought making the world make her decisions for her was the worst idea she ever came up with but apparently the world is a better place than I give credit for it. At least Brooklyn's readers were sensible people who led her to the right direction! I loved the main couple too, even though I think there could be a little more time spent developing their relationship.
My biggest problem with the book was that Brooks didn't really have any meaningful female friendships and she was quick to dismiss any girl she'd met. Now, I understand that it's a byproduct of being best friends with a girl like Shayne for five years, but I would have loved to see her growing out of it too. And that bit about the girl from the debate club starting to like Brooks because she didn't have sex with anyone made me uncomfortable too. Because apparently having sex = being a bad person.
But overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I was in a year long reading slump and this was the book that finally helped me get over it, just for that I am thankful. If you want to have a light, super fun read that will make you feel better, you may want to check out My Life Undecided.
Jessica Brody's writing is fun. I always laugh out loud in her books and I think she has a knack for getting the teenage voice right. Brooks was a 15 year old girl through and through and it showed. I just had so much fun being in her head, reading her antics, and sometimes suffering through second hand embarrassments.
I had thought making the world make her decisions for her was the worst idea she ever came up with but apparently the world is a better place than I give credit for it. At least Brooklyn's readers were sensible people who led her to the right direction! I loved the main couple too, even though I think there could be a little more time spent developing their relationship.
My biggest problem with the book was that Brooks didn't really have any meaningful female friendships and she was quick to dismiss any girl she'd met. Now, I understand that it's a byproduct of being best friends with a girl like Shayne for five years, but I would have loved to see her growing out of it too. And that bit about the girl from the debate club starting to like Brooks because she didn't have sex with anyone made me uncomfortable too. Because apparently having sex = being a bad person.
But overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I was in a year long reading slump and this was the book that finally helped me get over it, just for that I am thankful. If you want to have a light, super fun read that will make you feel better, you may want to check out My Life Undecided.
June 12, 2011
My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody is a cute and funny read!
This is the first book I have finished written by Jessica Brody. I started one of her adult novels and it was pretty interesting. Therefore, I decided to try one of her young adult novels and I am impressed!
In life, we are required to make many decisions and sometimes it may not be the best decision we have made, but that is how we learn. We need to make some bad decisions sometimes in order to make the right decisions.
Brooklyn has always seemed to make the wrong decision or she calls it, “decisionally-challenged.” I like the idea that the author incorporated blogging into a book and how it played out so well in the story. Since Brooklyn is “decisionally challenged,” she decided to set up a blog for her viewers to help her make the decisions. Along the way, there were some decisions she did not really like and some that she did not really agree with.
My most favorite part of this book was the two guys she had to choose. She also posted a blog post about them and has her viewers help choose what she should do involving them. I think it is cute. I like how she was able to make her own decision and know what she wants in the end. It is good to know that you can make your own decisions
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I had my laughs and thought it was extremely cute. I was not disappointed at all and was everything I thought it would be, if not, better! Great and interesting read!
This is the first book I have finished written by Jessica Brody. I started one of her adult novels and it was pretty interesting. Therefore, I decided to try one of her young adult novels and I am impressed!
In life, we are required to make many decisions and sometimes it may not be the best decision we have made, but that is how we learn. We need to make some bad decisions sometimes in order to make the right decisions.
Brooklyn has always seemed to make the wrong decision or she calls it, “decisionally-challenged.” I like the idea that the author incorporated blogging into a book and how it played out so well in the story. Since Brooklyn is “decisionally challenged,” she decided to set up a blog for her viewers to help her make the decisions. Along the way, there were some decisions she did not really like and some that she did not really agree with.
My most favorite part of this book was the two guys she had to choose. She also posted a blog post about them and has her viewers help choose what she should do involving them. I think it is cute. I like how she was able to make her own decision and know what she wants in the end. It is good to know that you can make your own decisions
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I had my laughs and thought it was extremely cute. I was not disappointed at all and was everything I thought it would be, if not, better! Great and interesting read!
November 6, 2011
I found myself enjoying this book a lot more than I expected, to be quite honest. I was in the mood for a light read and that it was. But this book carried a lot of meaning, and is one I eagerly passed off to my teenage step daughter.
I thought back to when I was teen; how every decision made in high school feels like it can make or break you, when all you ever want is to be accepted, but you also want do what is right. In My Life Undecided, Brooklyn can't seem to do anything right, when she really does mean well. So she leaves it up to the readers of her blog that she has created to make the decisions for her.
Brody handles things with sincerity, yet also with humor. She puts Brooklyn through the typical decisions teens are faced with, and although there are a couple of things that happen that are bit unbelievable, they work. Especially since Brooklyn is the type of person who just happens to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Brooklyn has to deal with the consequences of her decisions and takes responsibility for her actions. She is a character I liked from the get go and cheered for her all the way to the end.
This would be a book to pass on to readers who are looking for something similar to Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Eulberg, Deb Caletti, or Suzanne Colasanti.
I thought back to when I was teen; how every decision made in high school feels like it can make or break you, when all you ever want is to be accepted, but you also want do what is right. In My Life Undecided, Brooklyn can't seem to do anything right, when she really does mean well. So she leaves it up to the readers of her blog that she has created to make the decisions for her.
Brody handles things with sincerity, yet also with humor. She puts Brooklyn through the typical decisions teens are faced with, and although there are a couple of things that happen that are bit unbelievable, they work. Especially since Brooklyn is the type of person who just happens to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Brooklyn has to deal with the consequences of her decisions and takes responsibility for her actions. She is a character I liked from the get go and cheered for her all the way to the end.
This would be a book to pass on to readers who are looking for something similar to Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Eulberg, Deb Caletti, or Suzanne Colasanti.
June 11, 2018
The story is just so and so. However, I like the idea of making a blog to ask people to make the decision in your life because you just can't believe in yourself to make your own decision. Pfft!
3.6 stars
3.6 stars
January 26, 2020
4.5 stars, rounded up because I laughed my head off (as usual) while reading it.
I have yet to read a Jessica Brody book that I didn’t like. Her characters have such growth, her writing is hilarious, and her love interests are great.
I loved the blog aspect of this one. I did think Brooklyn was a bit spoiled in the beginning, but when she started the blog, I liked her much better. I also loved the nursing home plotline. And the romance! It was super cute! I just loved him.
Overall - hilarious and adorable.
I have yet to read a Jessica Brody book that I didn’t like. Her characters have such growth, her writing is hilarious, and her love interests are great.
I loved the blog aspect of this one. I did think Brooklyn was a bit spoiled in the beginning, but when she started the blog, I liked her much better. I also loved the nursing home plotline. And the romance! It was super cute! I just loved him.
Overall - hilarious and adorable.
January 23, 2022
Cute book to read when you just want a chick-flick type of read. But it’s generally a middle school level personally so it’s pretty cool ig
November 9, 2011
This is a book that reminds me of the days when I really started getting into Y.A. books. It is exactly like the fun, light-hearted books that carried simple, beautiful messages with them. Jessica Brody creates a fun character and a kind of crazy (yet totally believable and possibly real) storyline in My Life Undecided!
Brooklyn “Brooks” Pierce is a girl who is always getting in to trouble. Whether it is intentional or not, she always seems to be in the center of some tiny disaster. You know, one of those people who are always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Except for Brooks it may be attributed to her poor decision making skills. She does first, thinks later in nearly every situation. This is certainly the case when she agrees to have a party in her mom’s model home. She didn’t think it was a bad idea until AFTER the place burnt down. The story follows Brooks as she tries to be more conscious of the decisions she is making. In an attempt to make better choices, she enlists the help of blog readers. She posts a poll every time she has to make up her mind about something. How crazy is that!?!
I loved Brooklyn! She is a true teenage girl in this book. She tries hard to fit in, stay popular, but all the wrong choices and mistakes she has made are finally taking a toll on her. Once she loses all her friends and her parents are pretty angry at her (HELLO, she burnt down their model home!) she tries so extremely hard to make good decision. I love the drive that Brooks has to be better. She tells her blog readers exactly what choices she is faced with and she stays true to whatever they pick out for her. Some may not be the most fun options, no to a date with a super hot guy, and yes to the debate team, but by choosing these, Brooks gets to try a whole slew of new activities that allow her to grow as a person.
This book is also filled with side characters (you know I LOVE a good side character!) that bring this whole book to life. Heimlich….uh I mean Brian (Heimlich is the name Brooks gives him on her blog due to a HILARIOUS situation in the book); fellow debate team member is such a sweet guy! He is the one that is there for Brooks when all of her friends abandon her. He stays by her side and always pushes her to do better. You can tell there is an attraction between them, even if he is a bit nerdy but also kind of cute, yet Brooks has her heart set on Rhett Butler (his blog name) otherwise known as Hunter.
I kind of loved that Jessica Brody created two great guys. The whole time reading this, I kept expecting to hate Hunter. I just had this feeling that he would do something to hurt Brooks but this is not the case. Hunter is kind and pays attention to Brooks, there is just something missing, no chemistry between them. You hardly see two really good guys in a book which makes for a really hard decision on Brooks’ end!
Mrs. Moody, a woman who really takes after her last name is such a great small character. She is an old, cranky woman that Brooks reads to for community service hours. She doesn’t make things easy for Brooks and she certainly makes feeling welcome awfully hard but Brooks really learns a lot from her! She learns about compassion, patience, and how giving to people without something in return is truly rewarding. When Brooks first starts reading to Mrs. Moody she hates every minute of it but near the end she looks forward to her time with her. I <3 that!
This was definitely a cute book! I loved the characters and how well-rounded and real they were. I love that the Brooks spends the whole book trying to become a better person. I love that she asks blog readers to help her out! I love that every situation she is put in, ultimately has a hilarious ending. My Life Undecided is a book that will make you laugh and cringe with all of Brooks’ mistakes but also make you love her to death when she finally learns that sometimes you just have to choose what is best for YOU!
Brooklyn “Brooks” Pierce is a girl who is always getting in to trouble. Whether it is intentional or not, she always seems to be in the center of some tiny disaster. You know, one of those people who are always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Except for Brooks it may be attributed to her poor decision making skills. She does first, thinks later in nearly every situation. This is certainly the case when she agrees to have a party in her mom’s model home. She didn’t think it was a bad idea until AFTER the place burnt down. The story follows Brooks as she tries to be more conscious of the decisions she is making. In an attempt to make better choices, she enlists the help of blog readers. She posts a poll every time she has to make up her mind about something. How crazy is that!?!
I loved Brooklyn! She is a true teenage girl in this book. She tries hard to fit in, stay popular, but all the wrong choices and mistakes she has made are finally taking a toll on her. Once she loses all her friends and her parents are pretty angry at her (HELLO, she burnt down their model home!) she tries so extremely hard to make good decision. I love the drive that Brooks has to be better. She tells her blog readers exactly what choices she is faced with and she stays true to whatever they pick out for her. Some may not be the most fun options, no to a date with a super hot guy, and yes to the debate team, but by choosing these, Brooks gets to try a whole slew of new activities that allow her to grow as a person.
This book is also filled with side characters (you know I LOVE a good side character!) that bring this whole book to life. Heimlich….uh I mean Brian (Heimlich is the name Brooks gives him on her blog due to a HILARIOUS situation in the book); fellow debate team member is such a sweet guy! He is the one that is there for Brooks when all of her friends abandon her. He stays by her side and always pushes her to do better. You can tell there is an attraction between them, even if he is a bit nerdy but also kind of cute, yet Brooks has her heart set on Rhett Butler (his blog name) otherwise known as Hunter.
I kind of loved that Jessica Brody created two great guys. The whole time reading this, I kept expecting to hate Hunter. I just had this feeling that he would do something to hurt Brooks but this is not the case. Hunter is kind and pays attention to Brooks, there is just something missing, no chemistry between them. You hardly see two really good guys in a book which makes for a really hard decision on Brooks’ end!
Mrs. Moody, a woman who really takes after her last name is such a great small character. She is an old, cranky woman that Brooks reads to for community service hours. She doesn’t make things easy for Brooks and she certainly makes feeling welcome awfully hard but Brooks really learns a lot from her! She learns about compassion, patience, and how giving to people without something in return is truly rewarding. When Brooks first starts reading to Mrs. Moody she hates every minute of it but near the end she looks forward to her time with her. I <3 that!
This was definitely a cute book! I loved the characters and how well-rounded and real they were. I love that the Brooks spends the whole book trying to become a better person. I love that she asks blog readers to help her out! I love that every situation she is put in, ultimately has a hilarious ending. My Life Undecided is a book that will make you laugh and cringe with all of Brooks’ mistakes but also make you love her to death when she finally learns that sometimes you just have to choose what is best for YOU!
February 16, 2012
Read more of my reviews at Nick's Book Blog
When I started My Life Undecided, I expected to read a funny and enjoyable book. The premise of the book sounded so original and entertaining that I decided to give it a shot.
Brooklyn Pierce, the main character, is pretty famous. That's because when she was 2 years old, she fell from a mine shaft and her rescue was aired on national TV. Everyone knows her as "Baby Brooklyn".
Thirteen years later, Brooklyn is still a disaster. She cannot help getting into trouble. The poor girl keeps making bad decisions. On the night of her parents' absence, Brooklyn throws a party at one of her mom's model homes. However, the party ends up in a fire and Brooklyn is sentenced to community service. Brooklyn realizes that she has poor judgement and starts a blog and ask her followers, who are complete strangers, to make decisions for her.
Brooklyn, according to me,was a selfish main character who thought about herself the entire time. She whined and complained and at times it became really annoying. There were times I honestly wanted to slap her because her constant bratty attitude frustrated me. Towards the end of the novel, she does change, but it took her a lot of time and by then I had already made my mind on Brooklyn : I didn't like her. It was very difficult to connect with her for the above reasons.
The book consists of two love interests. Firstly, there's Brian, the cute nerdy guy who accepts Brooklyn and becomes her friend when everyone including her so-called best friend, Shayne, abandons her. I really liked Brian. He was cute, shy, adorable and extremely likable. I took an instant liking to him. I liked how shy he could be around Brooklyn. I loved how nerdy he was. I loved how sweet he was to Brooklyn and it seemed that he truly did care for Brooklyn although she couldn't initially see it.
Secondly, there was Hunter. Hunter is the hot new guy at school. Brooklyn becomes instantly infatuated with him. Hunter was also a nice character according to me. Of course, he had that bad boy thing going on with him, but he was still likable. However, we don't get much information about him or his personality throughout the book, which is why, out of the two, I preferred Brian.
The secondary characters also include Brooklyn's best friend Shayne. Shayne was such a terrible friend. I hated her. She was the gorgeous pretty girl at their school. I hated how Brooklyn let Shayne manipulate her when it was pretty clear that Shayne was using her as a means to become more popular than she already is. Overall, Shayne was a horrible character.
One secondary character I really liked was Mrs Moody. Mrs Moody is a senior citizen at the elderly home where Brooklyn does her community service. Mrs Moody's name is pretty self-explanatory of her character. Nevertheless, she is the one who indirectly helps Brooklyn throughout this book.
Without knowing it, Brooklyn develops a sort of relationship with Mrs Moody.
The plot of the book was original and refreshing. I thought that the idea of readers making your decisions was unique.
Also, the book is mostly about realizing that you make your own decisions, but you have to learn to make the right ones.
It involves a lot of growth on the part of Brooklyn, but she eventually does grow and become a better person.
Friendship, love, personal growth, responsibility and making the right choice forms a huge part of this novel.
The writing was simple and easy to follow. Jessica Brody has written a great book with a creative and unique plot. Although I didn't like the main character, I did enjoy the story.
Overall, My Life Undecided is a cute light book with a simple message that I think is important that all teenagers realize.
When I started My Life Undecided, I expected to read a funny and enjoyable book. The premise of the book sounded so original and entertaining that I decided to give it a shot.
Brooklyn Pierce, the main character, is pretty famous. That's because when she was 2 years old, she fell from a mine shaft and her rescue was aired on national TV. Everyone knows her as "Baby Brooklyn".
Thirteen years later, Brooklyn is still a disaster. She cannot help getting into trouble. The poor girl keeps making bad decisions. On the night of her parents' absence, Brooklyn throws a party at one of her mom's model homes. However, the party ends up in a fire and Brooklyn is sentenced to community service. Brooklyn realizes that she has poor judgement and starts a blog and ask her followers, who are complete strangers, to make decisions for her.
Brooklyn, according to me,was a selfish main character who thought about herself the entire time. She whined and complained and at times it became really annoying. There were times I honestly wanted to slap her because her constant bratty attitude frustrated me. Towards the end of the novel, she does change, but it took her a lot of time and by then I had already made my mind on Brooklyn : I didn't like her. It was very difficult to connect with her for the above reasons.
The book consists of two love interests. Firstly, there's Brian, the cute nerdy guy who accepts Brooklyn and becomes her friend when everyone including her so-called best friend, Shayne, abandons her. I really liked Brian. He was cute, shy, adorable and extremely likable. I took an instant liking to him. I liked how shy he could be around Brooklyn. I loved how nerdy he was. I loved how sweet he was to Brooklyn and it seemed that he truly did care for Brooklyn although she couldn't initially see it.
Secondly, there was Hunter. Hunter is the hot new guy at school. Brooklyn becomes instantly infatuated with him. Hunter was also a nice character according to me. Of course, he had that bad boy thing going on with him, but he was still likable. However, we don't get much information about him or his personality throughout the book, which is why, out of the two, I preferred Brian.
The secondary characters also include Brooklyn's best friend Shayne. Shayne was such a terrible friend. I hated her. She was the gorgeous pretty girl at their school. I hated how Brooklyn let Shayne manipulate her when it was pretty clear that Shayne was using her as a means to become more popular than she already is. Overall, Shayne was a horrible character.
One secondary character I really liked was Mrs Moody. Mrs Moody is a senior citizen at the elderly home where Brooklyn does her community service. Mrs Moody's name is pretty self-explanatory of her character. Nevertheless, she is the one who indirectly helps Brooklyn throughout this book.
Without knowing it, Brooklyn develops a sort of relationship with Mrs Moody.
The plot of the book was original and refreshing. I thought that the idea of readers making your decisions was unique.
Also, the book is mostly about realizing that you make your own decisions, but you have to learn to make the right ones.
It involves a lot of growth on the part of Brooklyn, but she eventually does grow and become a better person.
Friendship, love, personal growth, responsibility and making the right choice forms a huge part of this novel.
The writing was simple and easy to follow. Jessica Brody has written a great book with a creative and unique plot. Although I didn't like the main character, I did enjoy the story.
Overall, My Life Undecided is a cute light book with a simple message that I think is important that all teenagers realize.
Read
October 16, 2011I had the pleasure of hearing Jessica Brody talk about My Life Undecided at Anderson's Bookstore in Naperville, IL and the book is every bit as wonderful as Jessica. What a cool premise - Brooklyn Pierce has spent her entire life making poor decisions so she decides to create a blog http://www.mylifeundecided.com (It really exists and is fantastic, so check it out!!!) This is a a novel that will have you smiling, laughing, misty-eyed. Doesn't matter what age you are, there are plenty of situations to relate your own life to. Who hasn't made mistakes? Who hasn't wanted others to make decisions for them (at least once in their lifetime)? My Life Undecided flows so well you'll find yourself plowing through the novel and cheering for Brooklyn. The supporting characters are so appealing, including the grumpy Mrs. Moody. Ooooh, and just wait until you meet Heimlich! And when you reach the end, make sure you hit the website. Perhaps you have some wisdom to share with others or maybe a question you need help deciding what to do anonymously? Go for it!
May 29, 2017
4/5
So much fun! I knew going into this that I would enjoy it thoroughly. :) More thoughts to come in future
So much fun! I knew going into this that I would enjoy it thoroughly. :) More thoughts to come in future
March 25, 2012
Penulis : Jessica Brody
Penerjemah : HP. Melati
Penyunting : Rina Wulandari
Penerbit : Noura Books
ISBN : 978-602-9225-25-9
Cetakan I : Januari 2012
Tebal : 348 hlm
TOLONG BACA BUKU INI!! HIDUPKU TERGANTUNG PADA BUKU INI!!
Baby Brooklyn. Itulah nama tenar yang dimiliki seorang Brooklyn Pierce. Nama itu disematkan padanya setelah sebuah tragedi dramatis yang terjadi di saat ia masih berusia dua tahun. Tragedi galian tambang, nah itulah tepatnya. Ia terjatuh di galian tambang tua dan terperangkap di sana selama lima puluh dua jam, di saat usianya baru dua tahun. Bayangkan, betapa dramatisnya kisah penyelamatan Brooklyn yang disiarkan di setiap berita. Bahkan menurut Wikipedia, seluruh negeri terpaku dan menonton siaran langsung usaha penyelamatannya di televisi, dan yang lebih hebohnya lagi, kisahnya bertengger di dua puluh sampul depan koran dan majalah yang berbeda-beda.
Namun nampaknya kesialan itu pun terbawa sampai usianya menginjak angka ke-15. Ia mengulangi kisah itu lagi. Kisah yang mengharuskan dirinya diselamatkan, namun dengan sebab yang berbeda. Kali ini, ia kembali terkenal akibat membakar rumah contoh milik ibunya. Semenjak saat itulah kehidupan sosialnya semakin memburuk. Shayne, teman sekaligus orang yang mempunyai ide untuk mengadakan pesta di rumah contoh ibunya––sehingga rumah itu terlalap habis oleh api––malah menjauhi dirinya tanpa sebab yang jelas. Ia mengubah semua jadwal pelajarannya hingga ia tak sekelas lagi dengan Brook. Dunia seolah tidak menganggapnya ada semenjak tak ada Shayne di sampingnya. Ia menjadi tak terlihat di sekolah. Lebih buruknya lagi, ia harus menjalani serangkaian hukuman, baik dari pengadilan––menjadi relawan di panti jompo––, maupun dari ibunya––menjadi kuli untuk merenovasi rumah contoh––akibat kebakaran itu.
Kesendirian telah mempertemukannya dengan seorang cowok dari daerah selatan, ketika iya tengah sendiri di satu sudut sekolah. Hunter adalah nama cowok keren berambut pirang gelap, dan bermata biru bak kristal yang berkilauan seperti dua batu safir itu. Ia menawari Brook rokok yang membuatnya ketahuan oleh pihak sekolah dan akhirnya ia diskors. Diskors setelah semua ulah yang ia lakukan tempo hari? Hal itu jelas membuat ibunya memekik, marah besar, dan akhirnya menyita laptop serta layanan internetnya.
Sampai suatu hari, ia bertekad untuk membuat sebuah blog yang nantinya akan ia isi dengan segala kegalauan tingkat dewanya itu. Serta mengadakan voting pada setiap hal yang mengharuskannya untuk memilih. Untuk itu, ia harus berbohong pada orang tuanya bahwa ada tugas sekolah yang harus diselesaikan, dan itu membutuhkan bantuan laptop dan internet.
Hasil voting pertama mengharuskannya untuk tetap makan siang di kantin tanpa mengacuhkan tatapan jijik dan terisolasi dari yang lainnya, dibanding harus bersembunyi di perpustakaan. Ketika ia bertekad menjalankan janjinya untuk selalu melakukan apa saja yang menjadi hasil voting, ia merasa gugup. Dan itu mempengaruhi cara makannya. Ia menelan irisan melon seketika tanpa dikunyah yang membuatnya tersedak hebat hingga hampir tak bisa bernapas. Brian, cowok dari kelompok tim debat, dan kutu bukulah yang menolongnya. Dan ketika di kelas bahasa Inggris, Brian jugalah yang menjadi partnernya ketika membahas buku The Grapes of Wrath––yang juga dipilih oleh pembaca blog––sebagai hasil voting yang ia adakan. Padahal dulu Brian sama sekali tak terlihat di matanya akibat kemilau Shayne yang melapisi dunianya. Kini, Brian menjadi satu-satunya orang yang menyadari keberadaan Brook.
Ada sebuah kejadian dimana Brook harus diselamatkan kembali, dan hal itu membuatnya tenar di sekolah. Apa itu? Baca sendiri! Kemudian Brook yang ikut tim debat bersama Brian. Tantangan Truth dan Dare yang menumbuhkan benih-benih cinta antara Brook dan Brian, yang akhirnya membuat Brook semakin galau demi memilih antara Hunter dan Brian. Serta bagaimana dengan Shayne yang sempat menjerat Brook kembali ke dunia ilusinya, dan menjadikan Brook seperti bonekanya? Temukan semuanya di buku unyu ini.
Sampulnya manis. Bagian yang aku suka dari buku ini adalah ketika Brook mengatakan cinta pada Brian di sebuah restoran di Main Street Diner. Kenekatannya menyatakan cinta dan juga reaksi Brian setelah mengetahui Brook juga mencintainya menurutku sangat manis. Konflik di novel ini juga tidak mengada-ada, terkadang memang terjadi pada hidup siapa saja, tidak hanya remaja. Merasa semua pilihan kita salah setelah kita mendapati hasil dari pilihan itu tidak sesuai dengan apa yang kita harapkan.
Yang membuat saya kurang nyaman justru pada penggunaan kata well yang terlalu sering, serta penulisan cetak miring di kata-kata yang menurut saya tidak perlu dicetak miring. Seperti di halaman :
(1) ingar-bingar, lagi, apalah
(2) bagus, seperti biasa
(3) dilahirkan, akulah
(7) memang, dan lain-lain
Memang kesannya seperti memberitahukan kepada pembaca bahwa harus ada penekanan ketika membaca kata-kata yang bercetak miring tersebut. Tapi menurut saya itu tidak perlu. Rasanya kok kurang nyaman begitu ya (-_-") Dan lagi di halaman 6, 7, 9, dll, ada kata-kata yang berada di dalam tanda petik, padahal bukan kalimat langsung. *bawel*
Ada beberapa typo yang saya temukan;
"Spektakular" itu seharusnya bukannya "Spektakuler" ya? (19)
"Aku sudah menangani banyak kasus terkait mabuk di bawah umur," Hakim memulai pembacaan keputusannya, semburat garis muncul di dahinya, "tetapi, selama dua puluh lima tahun aku mengabdi di pengadilan ini, aku nggak pernah mmelihat remaja putri yang begitu menge
cewakan, memalukan, dan nggak pantas seperti ini." (22)
Mengenai percakapan langsung di atas, apa tidak sebaiknya kata "nggak" diganti dengan kata "tidak". Mengingat yang berbicara adalah seorang hakim. Dan kata "mengecewakan" sepertinya tidak perlu dipenggal.
"...tugas aku" (54) –– lebih enak dibaca kalau diganti dengan kata "tugasku"
"...kelas aku..." (106) –– lebih enak dibaca kalau diganti dengan kata "kelasku"
"menunjukkkan" (144) –– "menunjukkan"
"mengalamai emosi" (175) –– "mengalami emosi"
"voting sura" (179) –– "voting suara"
"sudah ak" (239) –– "sudah tak"
"ke alam bahwa sadarku..." (323) –– "ke alam bawah sadarku..."
Kutipan favorit :
"Kesalahan dapat diperbaiki. Tapi, keputusan buruk nggak bisa dibatalkan. Rumah contoh bisa dibangun kembali. Dan, kesempurnaan hanyalah kata yang akan membuat dirimu merasa buruk." (312)
Sampul asli
Penerjemah : HP. Melati
Penyunting : Rina Wulandari
Penerbit : Noura Books
ISBN : 978-602-9225-25-9
Cetakan I : Januari 2012
Tebal : 348 hlm
TOLONG BACA BUKU INI!! HIDUPKU TERGANTUNG PADA BUKU INI!!
Baby Brooklyn. Itulah nama tenar yang dimiliki seorang Brooklyn Pierce. Nama itu disematkan padanya setelah sebuah tragedi dramatis yang terjadi di saat ia masih berusia dua tahun. Tragedi galian tambang, nah itulah tepatnya. Ia terjatuh di galian tambang tua dan terperangkap di sana selama lima puluh dua jam, di saat usianya baru dua tahun. Bayangkan, betapa dramatisnya kisah penyelamatan Brooklyn yang disiarkan di setiap berita. Bahkan menurut Wikipedia, seluruh negeri terpaku dan menonton siaran langsung usaha penyelamatannya di televisi, dan yang lebih hebohnya lagi, kisahnya bertengger di dua puluh sampul depan koran dan majalah yang berbeda-beda.
Namun nampaknya kesialan itu pun terbawa sampai usianya menginjak angka ke-15. Ia mengulangi kisah itu lagi. Kisah yang mengharuskan dirinya diselamatkan, namun dengan sebab yang berbeda. Kali ini, ia kembali terkenal akibat membakar rumah contoh milik ibunya. Semenjak saat itulah kehidupan sosialnya semakin memburuk. Shayne, teman sekaligus orang yang mempunyai ide untuk mengadakan pesta di rumah contoh ibunya––sehingga rumah itu terlalap habis oleh api––malah menjauhi dirinya tanpa sebab yang jelas. Ia mengubah semua jadwal pelajarannya hingga ia tak sekelas lagi dengan Brook. Dunia seolah tidak menganggapnya ada semenjak tak ada Shayne di sampingnya. Ia menjadi tak terlihat di sekolah. Lebih buruknya lagi, ia harus menjalani serangkaian hukuman, baik dari pengadilan––menjadi relawan di panti jompo––, maupun dari ibunya––menjadi kuli untuk merenovasi rumah contoh––akibat kebakaran itu.
Kesendirian telah mempertemukannya dengan seorang cowok dari daerah selatan, ketika iya tengah sendiri di satu sudut sekolah. Hunter adalah nama cowok keren berambut pirang gelap, dan bermata biru bak kristal yang berkilauan seperti dua batu safir itu. Ia menawari Brook rokok yang membuatnya ketahuan oleh pihak sekolah dan akhirnya ia diskors. Diskors setelah semua ulah yang ia lakukan tempo hari? Hal itu jelas membuat ibunya memekik, marah besar, dan akhirnya menyita laptop serta layanan internetnya.
Sampai suatu hari, ia bertekad untuk membuat sebuah blog yang nantinya akan ia isi dengan segala kegalauan tingkat dewanya itu. Serta mengadakan voting pada setiap hal yang mengharuskannya untuk memilih. Untuk itu, ia harus berbohong pada orang tuanya bahwa ada tugas sekolah yang harus diselesaikan, dan itu membutuhkan bantuan laptop dan internet.
Hasil voting pertama mengharuskannya untuk tetap makan siang di kantin tanpa mengacuhkan tatapan jijik dan terisolasi dari yang lainnya, dibanding harus bersembunyi di perpustakaan. Ketika ia bertekad menjalankan janjinya untuk selalu melakukan apa saja yang menjadi hasil voting, ia merasa gugup. Dan itu mempengaruhi cara makannya. Ia menelan irisan melon seketika tanpa dikunyah yang membuatnya tersedak hebat hingga hampir tak bisa bernapas. Brian, cowok dari kelompok tim debat, dan kutu bukulah yang menolongnya. Dan ketika di kelas bahasa Inggris, Brian jugalah yang menjadi partnernya ketika membahas buku The Grapes of Wrath––yang juga dipilih oleh pembaca blog––sebagai hasil voting yang ia adakan. Padahal dulu Brian sama sekali tak terlihat di matanya akibat kemilau Shayne yang melapisi dunianya. Kini, Brian menjadi satu-satunya orang yang menyadari keberadaan Brook.
Ada sebuah kejadian dimana Brook harus diselamatkan kembali, dan hal itu membuatnya tenar di sekolah. Apa itu? Baca sendiri! Kemudian Brook yang ikut tim debat bersama Brian. Tantangan Truth dan Dare yang menumbuhkan benih-benih cinta antara Brook dan Brian, yang akhirnya membuat Brook semakin galau demi memilih antara Hunter dan Brian. Serta bagaimana dengan Shayne yang sempat menjerat Brook kembali ke dunia ilusinya, dan menjadikan Brook seperti bonekanya? Temukan semuanya di buku unyu ini.
Sampulnya manis. Bagian yang aku suka dari buku ini adalah ketika Brook mengatakan cinta pada Brian di sebuah restoran di Main Street Diner. Kenekatannya menyatakan cinta dan juga reaksi Brian setelah mengetahui Brook juga mencintainya menurutku sangat manis. Konflik di novel ini juga tidak mengada-ada, terkadang memang terjadi pada hidup siapa saja, tidak hanya remaja. Merasa semua pilihan kita salah setelah kita mendapati hasil dari pilihan itu tidak sesuai dengan apa yang kita harapkan.
Yang membuat saya kurang nyaman justru pada penggunaan kata well yang terlalu sering, serta penulisan cetak miring di kata-kata yang menurut saya tidak perlu dicetak miring. Seperti di halaman :
(1) ingar-bingar, lagi, apalah
(2) bagus, seperti biasa
(3) dilahirkan, akulah
(7) memang, dan lain-lain
Memang kesannya seperti memberitahukan kepada pembaca bahwa harus ada penekanan ketika membaca kata-kata yang bercetak miring tersebut. Tapi menurut saya itu tidak perlu. Rasanya kok kurang nyaman begitu ya (-_-") Dan lagi di halaman 6, 7, 9, dll, ada kata-kata yang berada di dalam tanda petik, padahal bukan kalimat langsung. *bawel*
Ada beberapa typo yang saya temukan;
"Spektakular" itu seharusnya bukannya "Spektakuler" ya? (19)
"Aku sudah menangani banyak kasus terkait mabuk di bawah umur," Hakim memulai pembacaan keputusannya, semburat garis muncul di dahinya, "tetapi, selama dua puluh lima tahun aku mengabdi di pengadilan ini, aku nggak pernah mmelihat remaja putri yang begitu menge
cewakan, memalukan, dan nggak pantas seperti ini." (22)
Mengenai percakapan langsung di atas, apa tidak sebaiknya kata "nggak" diganti dengan kata "tidak". Mengingat yang berbicara adalah seorang hakim. Dan kata "mengecewakan" sepertinya tidak perlu dipenggal.
"...tugas aku" (54) –– lebih enak dibaca kalau diganti dengan kata "tugasku"
"...kelas aku..." (106) –– lebih enak dibaca kalau diganti dengan kata "kelasku"
"menunjukkkan" (144) –– "menunjukkan"
"mengalamai emosi" (175) –– "mengalami emosi"
"voting sura" (179) –– "voting suara"
"sudah ak" (239) –– "sudah tak"
"ke alam bahwa sadarku..." (323) –– "ke alam bawah sadarku..."
Kutipan favorit :
"Kesalahan dapat diperbaiki. Tapi, keputusan buruk nggak bisa dibatalkan. Rumah contoh bisa dibangun kembali. Dan, kesempurnaan hanyalah kata yang akan membuat dirimu merasa buruk." (312)
Sampul asli
August 1, 2018
#booktubeathon2018
first book's down
this is a two-star book for me - meaning it was ok BUT it made me tear up twice so i'm giving it an extra star for that.
brooklyn annoyed me a lot until maybe the very last bit. she was shallow and stupid and everything she did irritated me. which is not me bashing the book. people like that annoy me in real life as well.
hunter the third seemed to change personality in the end. i don't know, from their first interactions i thought him to be more of a loner. like you that cool guy who doesn't give a shit about this whole school hierarchy bullshit, like "i do what i want" kinda guy. i guess i was wrong. oh well. that detention scene was amazing nevertheless.
the plot was fairly predictable and the foreshadowing was quite obvious but that didn't bother me that much.
i thought Brooklyn would try and find the guy Mrs. Moody freaked out about and there would be a resolution before.. you know. but she completely forgot about doing anything about it. you could argue she just wasn't fast enough. i actually think it's more realistic that way. not everything in life gets resolved, you know. it's the truth, however sad.
i didn't like the bit about Shayne's dad at the end. it feels like a cop-out or a convenience to me. i'd appreciate it more if Shayne still had anything but knew she didn't have Brooklyn.
first book's down
this is a two-star book for me - meaning it was ok BUT it made me tear up twice so i'm giving it an extra star for that.
brooklyn annoyed me a lot until maybe the very last bit. she was shallow and stupid and everything she did irritated me. which is not me bashing the book. people like that annoy me in real life as well.
hunter the third seemed to change personality in the end. i don't know, from their first interactions i thought him to be more of a loner. like you that cool guy who doesn't give a shit about this whole school hierarchy bullshit, like "i do what i want" kinda guy. i guess i was wrong. oh well. that detention scene was amazing nevertheless.
the plot was fairly predictable and the foreshadowing was quite obvious but that didn't bother me that much.
i thought Brooklyn would try and find the guy Mrs. Moody freaked out about and there would be a resolution before.. you know. but she completely forgot about doing anything about it. you could argue she just wasn't fast enough. i actually think it's more realistic that way. not everything in life gets resolved, you know. it's the truth, however sad.
i didn't like the bit about Shayne's dad at the end. it feels like a cop-out or a convenience to me. i'd appreciate it more if Shayne still had anything but knew she didn't have Brooklyn.
Read
May 28, 2019I know you not supposed to judge a book by theri cover but, when I saw this book I assumed it was going to be bad and I want to stick with that statement. Brooklyn(the main character) is indecisive and believes she makes poor choices(which she does)so, she decides to let a bunch of strangers to decide her life for her. Life is about living and making good and bad choices and living with the consequences of your choices. You can't live your life to the fullest if you allow other people to make choices for you.
October 15, 2020
Un romanzo molto leggero e divertente. Mi é piaciuto.
August 6, 2021
Brooklyn Pierce has always had a history of making bad decisions. Her earliest one was when she followed a lizard down an abandoned mine shaft when she was two and made the national news as "Baby Brooklyn." Her most recent mistake was accidentally setting her mother's model home on fire while throwing a party there while her parents were visiting her sister Isabelle at Harvard. After being sentenced to 200 hours of community service and being grounded by her parents, Brooklyn is tired of making bad decisions. Which is why she decides to start the blog, "My Life Undecided," where readers can vote in polls about decisions Brooklyn needs to make in her daily like.
The main themes of the novel are making choices, whether we have control over our lives, the facade of perfection, and what true friendship is. Along with Brooklyn, this is shown through the characters Isabelle, Brian Harris, Shayne Kingsley, and Mrs. Moody. Brooklyn is afraid of making the wrong choices, so she feels comfortable with other people making choices for her in her blog. The results are mixed as Brooklyn is not happy about some of the readers' choices (i.e. going on a health class field trip, not going to a night club opening with Hunter, trying out for rugby only to get a black eye.). However, some of the choices do work in her favor, such as discovering her passion for debate. When Brooklyn tries to stray from the decisions on her blog, she feels it will lead to bad things happening to her, such as when she accidentally got held up at a convienance store robbery.
This incident, along with her blog, makes Brooklyn popular at school again after Shayne tossed her aside after the fire at the party despite being best friends since fifth grade. Shayne is my least favorite character in the novel. All she cares about is being popular and being the the spotlight at all times. The way she does this is by staying ahead on all the gossip through DissnDish.com, looking good at all times, and keeping boys at arms length. She hates Brooklyn's blog because it takes attention from her. She is also manipulative such as when she puts on an act of wanting to be friends with Brooklyn again but really wants to mooch off her newfound popularity. Of course, karma bites her at the end of the novel when her rich father is busted for embezzlement of his clients during her sweet 16 birthday party.
Compared to Shayne, Brian Harris is a much better friend for Brooklyn. Nicknamed "Heimlich," on "My Life Undecided," due to saving Brooklyn from choking at lunch, Brian is also her reading partner for the Grapes of Wrath in English class and invites her to join debate club. As he helps Brooklyn with how to debate properly, they grow closer, leading to them kissing during a game of truth or dare in a hotel. Brian and Brooklyn have two falling outs in the novel. The first one if when Brooklyn wants to quit debate team before an upcoming tournament and denying that their kiss meant anything. The second one is when Brooklyn discovers he quit debate for wrestling.
Brooklyn calls him out for quitting something he loves for something his dad expects him to do. Brian then calls her out on not making any choices in her life due to letting Shayne control everything she does for the sake of being in her inner circle. Brooklyn later realizes that he is right due to all the things she did to stay friends with Shayne. For example, Brooklyn used to have a 90 minute beauty regimen in the morning to look perfect, stayed in prealgebra with Shayne as opposed to algebra I, and keeping up with gossip. She later leaves Shayne on the way to the winter formal to go apologize to Brian at a diner.
The novel also shows how we can make choices that we regret through Isabelle and Mrs. Moody. Isabelle felt like she had to be the perfect role model for Brooklyn, but she ended up resenting Izzy for this and never doing anything wrong. But Brooklyn's perception of Izzy as the perfect daughter is shattered when she overdoses on Adderall due to the pressures of Harvard. Izzy survives, but I wish that her problems weren't left so open ended in the novel. Mrs. Moody feels like she has no control over her life anymore due to having to give up her pet dog before coming to the nursing home. She also had a falling out with her son Nicholas Townsley years ago, that she may regret but doesn't show. She likes the "You Choose the Story," books Brooklyn reads to her because she used to read them to her son and feels like the one thing she still has control over. She is also a foul to Brooklyn due to choosing to be alone while Brooklyn is afraid of being alone. She also chooses not to forgive her son even when he reaches out to her. This ends up costing her when she dies without ever reconciling with him.
The main themes of the novel are making choices, whether we have control over our lives, the facade of perfection, and what true friendship is. Along with Brooklyn, this is shown through the characters Isabelle, Brian Harris, Shayne Kingsley, and Mrs. Moody. Brooklyn is afraid of making the wrong choices, so she feels comfortable with other people making choices for her in her blog. The results are mixed as Brooklyn is not happy about some of the readers' choices (i.e. going on a health class field trip, not going to a night club opening with Hunter, trying out for rugby only to get a black eye.). However, some of the choices do work in her favor, such as discovering her passion for debate. When Brooklyn tries to stray from the decisions on her blog, she feels it will lead to bad things happening to her, such as when she accidentally got held up at a convienance store robbery.
This incident, along with her blog, makes Brooklyn popular at school again after Shayne tossed her aside after the fire at the party despite being best friends since fifth grade. Shayne is my least favorite character in the novel. All she cares about is being popular and being the the spotlight at all times. The way she does this is by staying ahead on all the gossip through DissnDish.com, looking good at all times, and keeping boys at arms length. She hates Brooklyn's blog because it takes attention from her. She is also manipulative such as when she puts on an act of wanting to be friends with Brooklyn again but really wants to mooch off her newfound popularity. Of course, karma bites her at the end of the novel when her rich father is busted for embezzlement of his clients during her sweet 16 birthday party.
Compared to Shayne, Brian Harris is a much better friend for Brooklyn. Nicknamed "Heimlich," on "My Life Undecided," due to saving Brooklyn from choking at lunch, Brian is also her reading partner for the Grapes of Wrath in English class and invites her to join debate club. As he helps Brooklyn with how to debate properly, they grow closer, leading to them kissing during a game of truth or dare in a hotel. Brian and Brooklyn have two falling outs in the novel. The first one if when Brooklyn wants to quit debate team before an upcoming tournament and denying that their kiss meant anything. The second one is when Brooklyn discovers he quit debate for wrestling.
Brooklyn calls him out for quitting something he loves for something his dad expects him to do. Brian then calls her out on not making any choices in her life due to letting Shayne control everything she does for the sake of being in her inner circle. Brooklyn later realizes that he is right due to all the things she did to stay friends with Shayne. For example, Brooklyn used to have a 90 minute beauty regimen in the morning to look perfect, stayed in prealgebra with Shayne as opposed to algebra I, and keeping up with gossip. She later leaves Shayne on the way to the winter formal to go apologize to Brian at a diner.
The novel also shows how we can make choices that we regret through Isabelle and Mrs. Moody. Isabelle felt like she had to be the perfect role model for Brooklyn, but she ended up resenting Izzy for this and never doing anything wrong. But Brooklyn's perception of Izzy as the perfect daughter is shattered when she overdoses on Adderall due to the pressures of Harvard. Izzy survives, but I wish that her problems weren't left so open ended in the novel. Mrs. Moody feels like she has no control over her life anymore due to having to give up her pet dog before coming to the nursing home. She also had a falling out with her son Nicholas Townsley years ago, that she may regret but doesn't show. She likes the "You Choose the Story," books Brooklyn reads to her because she used to read them to her son and feels like the one thing she still has control over. She is also a foul to Brooklyn due to choosing to be alone while Brooklyn is afraid of being alone. She also chooses not to forgive her son even when he reaches out to her. This ends up costing her when she dies without ever reconciling with him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2013
Really 2.5 stars. To see full review click here
f there is one word to describe this book it's generic. I could basically tell you what was going to happen once I reached page fifty where the plot and characters were clearly established. And being generic is not a bad thing. It totally worked for Brody's 52 Reasons to Hate my Father which I loved, but it didn't work so much here.
I guess one of the reasons is the character Brooklyn. She's as stupid as they get, guys. I really don't like her and I didn't grow to like her like I did with Lexi. She makes horrible decisions and turns to the internet to make her life choices for her. Yeah....
And I knew that was the point of the novel, but I thought that maybe as the novel would progress the character would develop more. There were even cliche opportunities for development that weren't used to their fullest.
I feel like that was one of the biggest problems with this story that we only touched the surface. Maybe if some of these issues were dug into deeper it could've made this otherwise cliche book a little less of a cliche.
I feel like this review section is really short in comparison to some of my other reviews, but there's really not a lot to say. The whole book is just contrived and while the characters were fairly flat and dumb there's not much to say about them either. This book is just unremarkable. It's not bad, but it's not really good either.
Best Feature: Easy read. If I would've read this one straight through I could've gotten through with it within hours. And it is good mindless reading which is sort of what I need right now-trust me, when you're making coconut praline smoothies all day and other things that temporary disable fifty-six year old men order you around to do- this is the sort of book you want to read. If you have to get say someone's pain killers, you're not going to be upset to put the book down for a minute and you can get started again pretty easy.
Worst Feature: A rip off before the book it ripped off of got published. Does anyone remember that movie Gordy? No, you probably don't. Most people don't. But most people remember the movie, Babe. You know, the film with the little sheep pig that could. Well, Gordy is a lot like Babe except it was less successful. You'd think it would be feeding off of Babe's success, but in reality the movie was produced before the sheep pig ever came into existence. That's sort of how I feel with this book. After My Life Undecided, Brody published 52 Reasons to Hate my Father which is eerily similar to this book (annoying girl life choices gets handed to someone else and she's transformed). Grant it, there are some differences between the books and I actually enjoyed and remembered 52 Reasons to Hate my Father. In other words, it's just like Babe and Gordy.
Appropriateness: This book is pretty clean for the most part. It skirts around some sensitive issues, but it never really reaches the meat of them. And the kissing/language is pretty P.G. too.
f there is one word to describe this book it's generic. I could basically tell you what was going to happen once I reached page fifty where the plot and characters were clearly established. And being generic is not a bad thing. It totally worked for Brody's 52 Reasons to Hate my Father which I loved, but it didn't work so much here.
I guess one of the reasons is the character Brooklyn. She's as stupid as they get, guys. I really don't like her and I didn't grow to like her like I did with Lexi. She makes horrible decisions and turns to the internet to make her life choices for her. Yeah....
And I knew that was the point of the novel, but I thought that maybe as the novel would progress the character would develop more. There were even cliche opportunities for development that weren't used to their fullest.
I feel like that was one of the biggest problems with this story that we only touched the surface. Maybe if some of these issues were dug into deeper it could've made this otherwise cliche book a little less of a cliche.
I feel like this review section is really short in comparison to some of my other reviews, but there's really not a lot to say. The whole book is just contrived and while the characters were fairly flat and dumb there's not much to say about them either. This book is just unremarkable. It's not bad, but it's not really good either.
Best Feature: Easy read. If I would've read this one straight through I could've gotten through with it within hours. And it is good mindless reading which is sort of what I need right now-trust me, when you're making coconut praline smoothies all day and other things that temporary disable fifty-six year old men order you around to do- this is the sort of book you want to read. If you have to get say someone's pain killers, you're not going to be upset to put the book down for a minute and you can get started again pretty easy.
Worst Feature: A rip off before the book it ripped off of got published. Does anyone remember that movie Gordy? No, you probably don't. Most people don't. But most people remember the movie, Babe. You know, the film with the little sheep pig that could. Well, Gordy is a lot like Babe except it was less successful. You'd think it would be feeding off of Babe's success, but in reality the movie was produced before the sheep pig ever came into existence. That's sort of how I feel with this book. After My Life Undecided, Brody published 52 Reasons to Hate my Father which is eerily similar to this book (annoying girl life choices gets handed to someone else and she's transformed). Grant it, there are some differences between the books and I actually enjoyed and remembered 52 Reasons to Hate my Father. In other words, it's just like Babe and Gordy.
Appropriateness: This book is pretty clean for the most part. It skirts around some sensitive issues, but it never really reaches the meat of them. And the kissing/language is pretty P.G. too.
September 22, 2013
This book could be titled "Ramona Quimby: The Teenage Years." My Life Undecided is hilarious. I mean, YA contemporaries are always pretty funny, but Brooklyn is decisionally challenged. What started with falling down a mine shaft when she was two culminated in accidentally burning down a display home, and the result? She started a blog.
I love blogging. Blogging is great. (Obviously, seeing I'm blogging this review.) When I saw the major blogging component, I just had to read it. Brooklyn's gets people to make her life choices through blog polls! Come on! That is pretty original.
Speaking of original, it's so easy for YA contemporaries to be cliche. There's pretty much a standard formula for any high school romance. I liked Brooks and her predicaments, because I didn't feel like I'd read them before. Of course, I haven't read every book out there, but I can't call to mind a girl who starts the book popular, in the good crowd, and best friends with the nasty Queen-Bee-girl, later gains popularity, and it's not a bad thing.
I loved the book's premise. I love that the book was about a girl trying to fix up her messy life and learn to make good decisions, rather than being all about about a girl falling in love. It was a romance, yeah, but that wasn't the whole point of its existence.
Speaking romance, there's the matter of the love triangle. Yes. I know. Everyone hates love triangles, and they're hopelessly cliche. Well, for a plot device that makes any seasoned reader wrinkle their nose, this one wasn't horrendous. It's probably the most cliche aspect of the book, though. E.G., there was the classic braniac (named Brian... obviously), the debate team star, who didn't want to wrestle like his father wanted him to. Then there was the handsome southerner bad-boy guy (obviously). I never go for the bad boy. I usually find them either rude or violent, depending on the genre they appear in. But suprisingly, this one (Hunter), was remarkably a gentleman. At one stage, he lands Brooks in detention on accident, and he comes and genuinely apologizes for getting her in trouble. He was really quite nice, and so it took a bit of the predictable, "She'll end up with the smart guy, they always do!" out of it.
Then comes Brooks. She is down-right hilarious. I said before, Teenage Ramona. Right down to perfect older sister, drinking floor cleaner on a dare, and landing in trouble entirely accidentally. Brook's voice was really conversational--a blogging voice. She felt realistic. So real it was weird. And she got her point across with barely any swearing at all. And her interior monologue on the first trip to the nursing home (for community service)? Priceless.
I love this book. You may have noticed. Five stars all the way. And adoration.
-notebooksisters.com
I love blogging. Blogging is great. (Obviously, seeing I'm blogging this review.) When I saw the major blogging component, I just had to read it. Brooklyn's gets people to make her life choices through blog polls! Come on! That is pretty original.
Speaking of original, it's so easy for YA contemporaries to be cliche. There's pretty much a standard formula for any high school romance. I liked Brooks and her predicaments, because I didn't feel like I'd read them before. Of course, I haven't read every book out there, but I can't call to mind a girl who starts the book popular, in the good crowd, and best friends with the nasty Queen-Bee-girl, later gains popularity, and it's not a bad thing.
I loved the book's premise. I love that the book was about a girl trying to fix up her messy life and learn to make good decisions, rather than being all about about a girl falling in love. It was a romance, yeah, but that wasn't the whole point of its existence.
Speaking romance, there's the matter of the love triangle. Yes. I know. Everyone hates love triangles, and they're hopelessly cliche. Well, for a plot device that makes any seasoned reader wrinkle their nose, this one wasn't horrendous. It's probably the most cliche aspect of the book, though. E.G., there was the classic braniac (named Brian... obviously), the debate team star, who didn't want to wrestle like his father wanted him to. Then there was the handsome southerner bad-boy guy (obviously). I never go for the bad boy. I usually find them either rude or violent, depending on the genre they appear in. But suprisingly, this one (Hunter), was remarkably a gentleman. At one stage, he lands Brooks in detention on accident, and he comes and genuinely apologizes for getting her in trouble. He was really quite nice, and so it took a bit of the predictable, "She'll end up with the smart guy, they always do!" out of it.
Then comes Brooks. She is down-right hilarious. I said before, Teenage Ramona. Right down to perfect older sister, drinking floor cleaner on a dare, and landing in trouble entirely accidentally. Brook's voice was really conversational--a blogging voice. She felt realistic. So real it was weird. And she got her point across with barely any swearing at all. And her interior monologue on the first trip to the nursing home (for community service)? Priceless.
I love this book. You may have noticed. Five stars all the way. And adoration.
-notebooksisters.com
February 15, 2013
This was a really great book!!!! it had awesome main character, fantastic plot, funny and sweet moments, suspense, and more. It even had some of Brooklyn's blog posts and polls. I loved Brooklyn, she was a great main character. I loved all her bad choice moments and the way she decides things, it was so funny. I also liked the way she had to choose between two guys. One who is hot, southern, and a senior that seems to take a liking to her. Another is a dorky in a cute way boy who saved her from choking once when she was dumped by her popular best friend. Even though Brooklyn really likes Hunter because he is really hot, but she is getting closer to Brian and he is a good friend to her. I hate her Shayne, I mean it was her idea to have a party in Brook's mother's model house, which is where the fire started and Brooks got in trouble for and where the book started. But then she dumps her as a friend because she isn't good enough anymore. But that fire gets her to work community service and she meets the crabby old Mrs.Moody. There she figures out the mystery concerning someone she knows. She also starts of getting on a bad note but soon their relationship gets better. So all in all, the person you least expect to fall for, you actually do. Surprising right!! But all in all, this was a funny and fluffy book. That had sweet and funny moments that made me laugh and made my heart leap. Suspenseful moments on where Brooklyn needs to know what to do. Also Brooklyn needs to know not to defy the decisions her members on her blog make. Because when she did it once after her first debate, the team goes out to the diner, but Hunter texts her and they make plans to hang out. Even though her members told her to go to the diner, she goes to change her clothes at a 7-eleven and there a gunman comes and for three hours she and other people are left hostage. But one good thing comes out of it, she becomes popular again. She is actually getting a little famous among her peers and other people. So, in conclusion, this was a great book. If you want to snuggle up with a cute book about the trouble in making important or minor decisions on you life, I suggest this book. The chapters are short and an easy read, so enjoy!!!! I'm up to the next book by this author!!!!! Really excited!!!!
January 21, 2012
Contemporaries are always hit-or-misses for me. I always either really love them or really hate them. This book was an exception. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. It annoyed me, but there were parts that really made me smile.
It took me a long time to get into this book. Seriously. It wasn't until, like, page 200 that I actually got into the book. My main problem was--as usual--the main character. I really couldn't connect to Brooklyn at all. She didn't seem like a 15 year old girl at all. For the majority of the novel, she was so whiny and annoying, always pitying herself. I understand that Jessica Brody probably intended for Brooklyn to be that way, but still, Brooklyn made me want to pull my hair out. She was really ignorant and complained a lot. She did transform by the end of the novel, but I still did not like her.
This book was pretty stereotypical. There was the popular girl, the insanely new hot guy, the feeling of invisibility. It was basically cookie-cutter YA high school material. There were things outside of the school that I really liked though. Such as the nursing home that Brooklyn volunteered at for community service. There, Brooklyn would read to a cranky old lady named Mrs. Moody, whom I really enjoyed. I also loved Brian, Brooklyn's new found friend when everyone abandons her. He was super sweet and totally adorable.
Despite the fact that it took me forever to warm up to this book, I did end up liking some parts. This book was really not for me--the writing was definitely not my style, the concept was very far-fetched, and I couldn't relate or connect to the characters. But My Life Undecided was a nice read that I'm sure other YA readers will enjoy.
2.5 keys.
Sophia
The Book Basement
It took me a long time to get into this book. Seriously. It wasn't until, like, page 200 that I actually got into the book. My main problem was--as usual--the main character. I really couldn't connect to Brooklyn at all. She didn't seem like a 15 year old girl at all. For the majority of the novel, she was so whiny and annoying, always pitying herself. I understand that Jessica Brody probably intended for Brooklyn to be that way, but still, Brooklyn made me want to pull my hair out. She was really ignorant and complained a lot. She did transform by the end of the novel, but I still did not like her.
This book was pretty stereotypical. There was the popular girl, the insanely new hot guy, the feeling of invisibility. It was basically cookie-cutter YA high school material. There were things outside of the school that I really liked though. Such as the nursing home that Brooklyn volunteered at for community service. There, Brooklyn would read to a cranky old lady named Mrs. Moody, whom I really enjoyed. I also loved Brian, Brooklyn's new found friend when everyone abandons her. He was super sweet and totally adorable.
Despite the fact that it took me forever to warm up to this book, I did end up liking some parts. This book was really not for me--the writing was definitely not my style, the concept was very far-fetched, and I couldn't relate or connect to the characters. But My Life Undecided was a nice read that I'm sure other YA readers will enjoy.
2.5 keys.
Sophia
The Book Basement
December 1, 2017
This was a cute, fun read, and even though it's obviously aimed for girls a few years younger than me (JUST 5 YEARS OK I'M NOT THAT OLD) I enjoyed it a lot.
So, meet Brooklyn. She's a walking disaster, and no she's not being dramatic. In her short 15 years of life her life has been a huge mess and she's decided to straighten up everything. How, you will ask? Well, since she obviously can't be trusted taking any decisions, she will just leave all her life decisions to a bunch of strangers because seriously, no matter what their judgement is it will be better than hers. How could anything go wrong?
Well, at first I thought I would have to bear with Brooklyn a little bit (I usually have to when the main character is so obviously immature) but she was really likeable. She was witty, realistic, logical, and didn't blame other for her bad decisions and where they led her (THAT'S a shocker). You will love her, I swear, I don't know about the whole book which felt a little rushed at the end (hence the 4 stars and not 5) but you will love Brooklyn for sure.
And the characters, all of them. Oh Heimlich, or Brian name that I don't know why just didn't fit him (don't ask me why but I've been calling him Heimlich 3/4 of the book), you are so nerdy and besotted it was actually sweet. I really liked him, the nerd that fancied the popular girl and finally got to approach her. Yay! I'm a fan of that trope, just telling you in case you are a fan as well.
This book is a road of discovery for the main character, and although the book didn't deepen enough on some things to my liking, didn't put enough blog entries, and did end too quickly, that's my only complain, the fact that I was enjoying this so much that I was just seeing the pages become less and less and I didn't want it to end. So really, give it a go, it won't dissapoint you.
So, meet Brooklyn. She's a walking disaster, and no she's not being dramatic. In her short 15 years of life her life has been a huge mess and she's decided to straighten up everything. How, you will ask? Well, since she obviously can't be trusted taking any decisions, she will just leave all her life decisions to a bunch of strangers because seriously, no matter what their judgement is it will be better than hers. How could anything go wrong?
Well, at first I thought I would have to bear with Brooklyn a little bit (I usually have to when the main character is so obviously immature) but she was really likeable. She was witty, realistic, logical, and didn't blame other for her bad decisions and where they led her (THAT'S a shocker). You will love her, I swear, I don't know about the whole book which felt a little rushed at the end (hence the 4 stars and not 5) but you will love Brooklyn for sure.
And the characters, all of them. Oh Heimlich, or Brian name that I don't know why just didn't fit him (don't ask me why but I've been calling him Heimlich 3/4 of the book), you are so nerdy and besotted it was actually sweet. I really liked him, the nerd that fancied the popular girl and finally got to approach her. Yay! I'm a fan of that trope, just telling you in case you are a fan as well.
This book is a road of discovery for the main character, and although the book didn't deepen enough on some things to my liking, didn't put enough blog entries, and did end too quickly, that's my only complain, the fact that I was enjoying this so much that I was just seeing the pages become less and less and I didn't want it to end. So really, give it a go, it won't dissapoint you.
August 1, 2012
One word to describe My Life Undecided? FANTASTIC! Jessica Brody fails never to disappoint.
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Brooklyn Pierce, always considered herself decisionally challenged. From the point since she was child to teenage years, she has never made a right decision. However, the thought never actually sunk in until she burned a model down and was arrested. Now for Brooklyn to turn her life around she sets up a blog, where she posts polls on whether she should try out for rugby or date the school's bad boy. Yet, soon Brooklyn comes to the terms that sometimes a blog can't make all your decisions for you. For instance who you fall for. Brooklyn starts to see that sometimes the answer to all your decisions & happiness happens to be right in front of you.
I thought My Life Undecided, was a phenomenal book. I especially LOVED the ending. It was so realistic and sweet. The book real captures the audiences heart that nobody can make your choices for you, but yourself. I would defiantly recommend this book as a beach read or when your having a crappy day.
If you haven't check the awesome book trailer, you MUST watch it below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg_km4...
As usually, great job Jessica Brody! Keep up the fantastic writing!!!
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/> Brooklyn Pierce, always considered herself decisionally challenged. From the point since she was child to teenage years, she has never made a right decision. However, the thought never actually sunk in until she burned a model down and was arrested. Now for Brooklyn to turn her life around she sets up a blog, where she posts polls on whether she should try out for rugby or date the school's bad boy. Yet, soon Brooklyn comes to the terms that sometimes a blog can't make all your decisions for you. For instance who you fall for. Brooklyn starts to see that sometimes the answer to all your decisions & happiness happens to be right in front of you.
I thought My Life Undecided, was a phenomenal book. I especially LOVED the ending. It was so realistic and sweet. The book real captures the audiences heart that nobody can make your choices for you, but yourself. I would defiantly recommend this book as a beach read or when your having a crappy day.
If you haven't check the awesome book trailer, you MUST watch it below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg_km4...
As usually, great job Jessica Brody! Keep up the fantastic writing!!!
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October 29, 2020
I don't like getting to critical on other writers. (Not since I started learning the art of writing and know how hard it is, I took some classes on Brody's website which lead me to pick up this book in the first place, or I probably wouldn't have ever read it.)…but this book just didn't register with me.
Every stock character seemed so one-dimensional. You have your rich-powerful-superficial Queen B, her faceless/nameless cronies. The main character whos only flaw in life is she makes bad decisions, the hottie-bad-boy, the stuffy debate team members (including its goody-goody captain who befriends the main character. The clueless parents, the cranky old lady, the fall of a perfect sister...it's all there. Sure Brooklyn learns to be herself in the novel, and eventually makes what she considers a good decision, but I don't know. The book just didn't grab my attention.
The one thing I don't get, is why 13 odd years or so do people still know her as baby Brooklyn? Sure it's a small town, but she's a teenager now, they hear the name Brooklyn and they're instantly: "Baby Brooklyn? The one who fell down a well when she was 2?" It may have garnered some TV/news paper status back in the day, but how many Brooklyn's are there? It's not that uncommon of a name. Maybe younger readers might like this story, but as an adult like I mentioned, it just wasn't my cup of tea. And that's okay. It's not a bad written story and most of the chapters are short (seems to be a them in Jessica's books).
Every stock character seemed so one-dimensional. You have your rich-powerful-superficial Queen B, her faceless/nameless cronies. The main character whos only flaw in life is she makes bad decisions, the hottie-bad-boy, the stuffy debate team members (including its goody-goody captain who befriends the main character. The clueless parents, the cranky old lady, the fall of a perfect sister...it's all there. Sure Brooklyn learns to be herself in the novel, and eventually makes what she considers a good decision, but I don't know. The book just didn't grab my attention.
The one thing I don't get, is why 13 odd years or so do people still know her as baby Brooklyn? Sure it's a small town, but she's a teenager now, they hear the name Brooklyn and they're instantly: "Baby Brooklyn? The one who fell down a well when she was 2?" It may have garnered some TV/news paper status back in the day, but how many Brooklyn's are there? It's not that uncommon of a name. Maybe younger readers might like this story, but as an adult like I mentioned, it just wasn't my cup of tea. And that's okay. It's not a bad written story and most of the chapters are short (seems to be a them in Jessica's books).
October 5, 2011
Brooklyn Pierce has a knack for making bad decisions. It started when she was 2 and fell down a mine shaft. Being led off to jail in handcuffs, a result of burning down the model home that her mother was showing, was just the latest catastrophe in a long list.
Sentenced to community service Brooklyn is determined to make wiser decisions in her life. She starts a blog to enlist the help of others. Before making any decisions Brooklyn polls her readers asking them to vote on different decisions she needs to make. Whatever decision the masses vote on that is what Brooklyn will follow.
The hardest decision of all is who she should fall in love with. The hot new boy that she dubs Rhett Butler or the guy that saved her life at lunchtime whom she dubs Heimlich?
With the decisions being out of her hands Brooklyn is finding that there is more to life than fashion and being popular.
This was really a cute read. I did have issues with the underage drinking, and a few other “teens at risk” scenes, but for the most part it was cute, funny and enjoyable.
Sentenced to community service Brooklyn is determined to make wiser decisions in her life. She starts a blog to enlist the help of others. Before making any decisions Brooklyn polls her readers asking them to vote on different decisions she needs to make. Whatever decision the masses vote on that is what Brooklyn will follow.
The hardest decision of all is who she should fall in love with. The hot new boy that she dubs Rhett Butler or the guy that saved her life at lunchtime whom she dubs Heimlich?
With the decisions being out of her hands Brooklyn is finding that there is more to life than fashion and being popular.
This was really a cute read. I did have issues with the underage drinking, and a few other “teens at risk” scenes, but for the most part it was cute, funny and enjoyable.
May 7, 2015
If you're looking for a rom-com in book form, this is the book to read. It had me laughing out loud at least a few times and audibly saying "awwww!" at others. The characters were unique - Especially main character Brooks who was annoying but adorkable and totally loveable all at the same tome. My only complaint is I would of liked to see a bit more character development in a few of the characters. For example, I really wanted to get to know Brian better but you really don't get a spectacular feel for his background or much about him at all. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book and will be picking up other books by this author soon.
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