Author: Lara Chapman
Format: paperback
Pages: 272
Genre: Young Adult
Published: 10th May 2011 (Bloomsbury)
Sarah Burke is just about perfect. She's got killer blue eyes, gorgeous blond hair, and impeccable grades. There's just one tiny-all right, enormous-flaw: her nose. But even that's not so bad. Sarah's got the best best friend and big goals for print journalism fame.Sarah, a high school Senior, is smart and good looking, apart from she has a large nose. On the first day back at school, new boy, Rock Conway, turns up in her class. Sarah falls for him immediately but so does her best friend, Kristen. When Kristen asks Sarah to help her get Rock (by helping her sound more intelligent) Sarah can't say no, even though she really likes him herself.
On the first day of senior year, Rock Conway walks into her journalism class and, well, rocks her world. Problem is, her best friend, Kristen, falls for him too. And when Rock and Kristen stand together, it's like Barbie and Ken come to life. So when Kristen begs Sarah to help her nab Rock, Sarah does the only thing a best friend can do-she agrees. For someone so smart, what was she thinking?
This hip retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac is filled with hilariously misguided matchmaking, sweet romance, and a gentle reminder that we should all embrace our flaws.
I really liked the idea of this story but I felt it a little 'blah' to read. It wasn't bad as such and the actual writing was good, I just didn't really find myself liking the characters all that much. Sarah bugged me a little as she seemed to want to make a point that she was okay about her nose, that she wouldn't have cosmetic surgery on it or anything, but at the same time her whole life seemed to revolve around what she looked like. Her nose was apparently so huge that people stopped and stared at her and she seemed to think no boy, including Rock, would ever like her because of it. The second thing that bugged me was that I couldn't work out why Sarah didn't just tell Kristen that she liked Rock as well. It wasn't like he was already Kristen's boyfriend or that Kristen had met him first or anything. (Obviously there wouldn't have been a story but it would have made much more sense). Kristen was annoyingly stupid at times. I could accept that she wasn't the super-smart one and that she probably didn't know everything about poetry or whatever the topic was but she came out with some unbelievably dumb things at times. Rock was a little too perfect for me. I kind of wanted him to have some kind of flaw for himself. Also, his name. I like characters with 'normal' names, please.
Overall, it was a well written, easy to read book but my issues with the characters took away from it a little.
