More of 4.5/5 I hated it as much as I loved it... I'm not sure what to think about it.

Favorite Quote:

"I was a heartless, ungrateful wench of a girl who promised everyone who came into contact with me a one-way ticket to pain and hurt. I didn't know how to love and I didn't deserve to be loved back."

I don’t like to read about mean girls, somehow the author always find a way to twist my mind and make me like them by proving that deep down they are good and kind-hearted, that there’s a reason why they became such cruel creatures, that it’s their defense mechanism against the world so that no one will ever know what’s in their hearts, that they are in pain and their only outlet is to bully.

I’d been a victim of bullying back in middle school and I couldn’t get myself to forgive the persons responsible of my misery, for all what they’ve done to me, because no matter their home’s problems, it didn’t give them the right to look down and to mentally torture me and the others: weaker, helpless and poor persons.

And so, I was enable at times to sympathize with Isabel, she acted like is a deep-down-to-the-core bitch, the queen bee of her private school, where she terrorized the girls and ruled as she liked.

Her life’s home of course is a terrible mess. After her mother’s death (which she held herself responsible for) her relationship with her father and little brother deteriorate, so she’s barely at home, always getting wasted at parties or spending time with her BFFs hooking up with boys. But then, she meets Atticus Smith at a party, who kissed her (while being both very drunk) thinking she was the girl he met and fell for not long ago. After clearing the misunderstanding, they however start to see each other, they exchanged their iPods then got involved sexually; the problem is Isabel lied about her age telling him she’s 18 just because he’s 20. What started like a little lie soon became a cobweb of lies impossible to get out of, it was too late to tell him the truth, not when she’s falling for him, and not when everything is fugly at home. But when the least she expected it, Isabel got caught up by her own lies and now she’ll have to deal with it and face the truth.

Sarra Manning sure knows how to make you love and hate a character in one page. Her writing is so realistic, so strong, she really masters the art of painting her characters’ feelings and to make you feel like they are real-life persons that you met before and here’s their story. It was unbelievable how strongly I felt towards the book; I loved it, I hated it, it made me want to scream, it made me want to cry, I wanted to slap Isabel and I wanted to hug her too… I’m still confused right now how to rate the book, what to clearly think about it.

One thing’s for sure, it’ll take me some time to read another Manning’s novel. I’m not yet ready to live a further experience any time soon.
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A good YA novel about first love, friendship & family with the difference that, this time, the story is told from the bad girl's pov. Isabel is the girl that every time you do something embarrassing lets everyone know and the one that kicks you when you're already down and Dot, Ella & Nancy are the "friends" you hope you never have...but, after all, it seems that be a mean girl isn't easy either.. ( )

Sarra Manning es , sin dudas (al menos en mi opinión) , la mejor escritora de YA que hay en esta época (Al menos en el genero más light y ... Claro que todavía no leí nada de terriblemente popular John Greene ni varios otros famosos)

Me encanta que no tenga una visión distorisionada de lo que es amor adolescente y que entienda a la perfección lo que siente uno a esa edad , acompañandolo siempre con un humor sarcástico y excelente (y digo , genial , al estilo FRIENDS o Arrested Development , esa clase de humor inteligente) y con divertidos o tristes intercambios familiares .

El libro en cuestion trata sobre una chica con problemas de conducta que no soporta a nadie y se lleva mal con cualquiera que se le meta en el camino hasta que -si , obvio que si , NO podia ser de otra manera - conoce a Smith , un universitario a quien miente sobre su edad para caerle bien y de quien mas o menos se enamora (a su mandera)

GENIAAAAAL . ( )

Some girls are born to be bad...Isabel is one of them. Her friends are terrified of her, her teachers can't get through to her...her family doesn't understand her. And that's just the way she likes it. See, when no one can get near you, no one will know what keeps you awake at night, what you're afraid of, what has broken your heart...But then Isabel meets the enigmatic Smith, who can see right through her act. Bit by bit he chips away at her armour, and though she fights hard to keep hold of her cool, and her secrets, Isabel's falling for him, and coming apart at the seams when she does...A poignant, sometimes dark, and utterly heart-breaking novel, told with all the author's trademark wit and sharp observation... From Amazon UK

I was originally recommended this book by Luisa Plaja when I held Sex in Teen Lit Month last year, and when I saw it at my Oxfam Bookshop a few weeks ago, I knew I had to buy it. Then I read Sophie’s review of Nobody’s Girl by Sarra Manning on So Many Books, So Little Time a few days ago, and liked the sound of that book so much, I decided to get on to reading Let’s Get Lost. I’m glad I did, it was such a great story!

I don’t really know where to start with this book, or what to think about it, even though I know I really liked it. It’s a really sad and heartbreaking story, and I read most of it yesterday while I was having a bad day and ended up putting it down, because I was just so annoyed with one of the characters. Why? Because this book isn’t a fairy tale; its part romance, part coming of age/finding yourself novel, and for a book that is part romance, it’s very realistic – the ending isn’t all rainbows and butterflies, and I just needed me a happy ending yesterday. But this is supposed to be a positive, so I’ll get on with it.

Isabel is such a great character; she’s flawed and she has issues. Because she was bullied when she was younger, to keep herself safe she has now become the bully, she’s a right nasty cow to everyone, teachers, family, students at school alike. She doesn’t like the person she pretends to be or her “friends”, but she feels she has to keep it up to keep everyone at arm’s length; letting anyone inside would be a disaster. Then enter Smith, an older guy who breaks through her bitchy exterior and actually makes her feel like she’s more than worth the ground she stands on, and being with him slowly brings the real Isabel out, little by little.

There are so many layers to this book, to Isabel, that it’s a little hard to talk about it without spoiling it. This really is a book where you have to find out what it’s about as you read it. As I said, this isn’t just a romance, there’s so much more going on, and it’s just such a really poignant book, yet with this strong sense of hope that things are going to get better. It’s just really good. In some ways, it reminded me a little of Screwed by Joanna Kenrick, there are similar themes covered, if not an identical plot and ending, and like Screwed, has made it on to my favourites list.

A really awesome story that has had such an effect on me – as I’m writing this review, I’m sitting here feeling quite sad and in need of chocolate. I’ve been hugely impressed by Sarra’s writing and I can’t wait to read more of her novels. Fortunately, I have Guitar Girl on my shelf waiting to start. I really would recommend this book to everyone. Simply fantastic!

From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog ( )

I thought this was just an awesome book. It shows to readers that you get trapped after telling a bunch of lies and eventually your world does indeed start to fall apart. I also found it hard to put this book down and a bit sad the book had to end. Isabel may have been rude throughout the book, but when she met Smith, you could see she had a soft spot. ( )