If you’re an active reader of young adult fiction,
you’ve probably heard of Siobhan Vivian.
Her most recent novel, titled The List, came out to rave reviews
(as of this post, it has 4.5/5 stars on Amazon.com, which is one of the places
I go to read review). Not That Kind
of Girl is Vivian’s second novel and I will be reading all of them. This novel centers around Natalie Sterling
during her senior year of high school.
The book’s title hits home what this story is about – a girl discovering
what kind of girl she is. Identity is a
constant question in this novel. Natalie
consistently draws lines between her and the other girls at her school. But the events in the novel lead both the
reader and, eventually, Natalie to question what is the difference between her
and the other girls. Is she really the
kind of girl she thinks she is? And is
the answer to that question a bad thing?
Vivian excellently captures the identity crisis that we all begin to
experience during our teenage years – an experience that lasts much longer than
the four years of high school. This book
will resonate with anyone who is still trying to figure out who they are and
where they stand in the world. And if
you’re one of the lucky few who has that figured out, this book will pull you
right back into that time where you didn’t.
It was an emotional roller coaster that I didn’t want to end.
I was amazed at how incredibly relatable the characters
in this book were and how realistic the setting felt. The characters were not cliché or stock at
all. The characters start out playing
the usual roles of student council president, quarterback, ditzy freshmen,
etc. But as the book progresses, we see
these characters break out of these roles and become people. At one point, one of the characters says that
since he has sisters, he doesn’t like it when boys are sexist and crude and my
heart just melted. The same sort of
transformation occurs in the main character, which made her much more
likable. At the beginning, I felt like
she came off as sort of a bitch. Real
stuck up and better than everyone. But
she softened as the book went on and I actually found myself relating a lot to
her. I could also see a lot of myself in
Autumn and the other characters, although more so Natalie. And while I
could see a lot of my personality in her, she was also a lot
different. In a strange way, it made me see what my high school life
could have been like. Being able to relate to this character emphasized
the emotions in the story and the change in the main character over the
300 pages and being able to see that same change reflected in my own
life - which, in my case, was a positive change.
What I found difficult to get my head around with
this book is Natalie’s (for lack of a better term) stupidity when it comes to
her relationships. She has this
irritating bullheadedness about her that at times made me want to throw the
book across the room in frustration.
This is hard to explain without spoilers, but there are times in the
novel where she is blind to what is going on around her. And on the one hand, I really liked it
because the novel was written in first person and if she was totally aware of
everything and super self-aware, she wouldn’t feel like a real teenager. But I feel that Vivian went too far in this
direction. At least it would have been
nice to get some acknowledgement that she could be denying or ignoring her
feelings when it comes to her interpersonal relationships. It was frustrating, but not so irritating
that I had to put down the book (which has happened before).
Overall,
this was a fast paced, funny, smart, and overall tightly put together
story that made me keep reading. It made me cry, get angry, and turn
the pages in hope that the story was going where I wanted it too.
Emotional roller coaster is the best way I can describe my reading of
this book and it is a ride I would take over and over again.
Rating: 4/5. Emotional roller coaster. Seriously.
336 pages
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