My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Released: August 26, 2010
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
All new girl Raye Archer wants is a way into the in crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker picks her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity so she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. It's a fun and dangerous thrill at first, but Raye hadn't counted on falling for Julian herself and igniting Ella's rage. As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge, creating an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she's helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter. Adele Griffin's riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge.
I had a little trouble deciding how to rate this book and what to say about it. On one hand, I loved it. It was entertaining, well-written and had great characters. On the other, the ending was really frustrating. I turned the page expecting another chapter, except it wasn't there. The book just stopped. I kept thinking, "Are you kidding? Where's the rest?"
Now that I've had some time to think about it, I understand why the author ended where she did. The reader was given everything needed to be optimistic about Raye's future and her relationships with Natalya, her dad and Stacey, and Henry Henry. I still would have preferred a little more definitive closure though.
The other thing I disliked about this book, I find inexcusable. It's completely apparent throughout the novel that Ella has a serious case of OCD. Everyone notices that there's something "off" or "not right" about her, but they always just brush it off. Maybe this is just the psychology major in me, but I was so upset that no one, not even once, tried to get Ella any help. Yes, Ella is a completely rotten person, and she's probably too stubborn to accept help if someone did try to give it to her. This doesn't mean that she doesn't deserve the opportunity to be mentally healthy. She's in desperate need of therapy and it really bothered me that no one cared, even if she is just a fictional character.
That being said, I really did enjoy this book. It was thoughtful and clever and fun, while tackling a hot topic for teenagers, internet bullying, at the same time. I'm definitely a fan of Adele Griffin's writing and will be checking out some of her other books soon.
I received a copy of The Julian Game from the author for review via GoodReads. Thanks so much!
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