Hair tangled and sporting muddy jogging shoes and a glaring mustard stain on her uniform skirt, Parker Fadley couldn’t care less, even when the principal points out her unacceptable appearance. At least she caught the bus before she was late for school so she can still graduate. No one would think ambivalent, deadpan Parker was ever any different until you see her ex-boyfriend Chris keeping an eye out for her and her annoying friend Becky still asking for her advice as the new head cheerleading captain. How does someone who had the perfect grade point average, social status, boyfriend, and appearance fall so unimaginably hard and far? That’s what new guy Jake wonders, but even when he’s partnered with Parker for an art project, she’s not talking about it. Not to Jake, not to her parents, and not to her guidance counselor. As the pieces slowly come together, Jake is falling for Parker and the feeling may be mutual. But on her tight leash Parker can’t allow herself to feel. Because something unspeakable happened, and it might be her fault.
Cracked Up To Be is the second novel I’ve read by Courtney Summers and I was mesmerized. I am curious to read Fall for Anything because she has the mean, messed up, broken high school girl-with-a-terrible-secret down. As with Regina in Some Girls Are I will not forget perfectionist turned mean girl Parker who viciously pushes everyone away. Again, her behavior teeters on the precipice of unforgivable yet somehow lands beyond judgment. Because Summers also manages, through building upon fragments of a flashback and dropping clues here and there to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you were to hate every character uncovering the deftly laid mystery would pique your curiosity enough to finish the book. The glimpses of Parker’s shell softening to kindly determined Jake, rare successes in schoolwork, and trying and failing to hate her new dog, though will reel you in to Team Parker. One of my favorite passages contrasts the two extremes of new and old Parker:
Hair.
I stand in front of the full-length mirror mounted on the back of my closet door and try to figure out what I’m going to do with my hair. Jake won’t be here for another two and a half hours, but any girl knows you need at least three to look your best for a semi-formal. And I haven’t even showered yet.
So I do that.
And then I stand in front of the full-length mirror mounted on the back of my closet door and try to figure out what I’m going to do with my wet hair.
Blow dry it, probably. For starters.
So I do that while vaguely recalling a time I made checklists on dance nights. I reduced getting ready to a list of tasks, all of them allotted certain amounts of time for completion. As I checked off each one, I got to enjoy a warm feeling of accomplishment for an allotted 1.5 seconds.
Summer’s prose is beautifully sparse, isn’t it? As in Some Girls Are, there is a fair bit of swearing including the f-word and some sex. But if this doesn’t bother you and you like weightier YA contemporary, Summer’s dimensionally damaged heroines, suspenseful revelatory plots and disturbingly spare writing are not to be missed. Of her first two novels, I’m not sure which one I prefer, but I certainly will be picking up Fall For Anything in the near future.
Second Opinions
Amy Reads Review
Crooked Shelf Review
Persnickety Snark Review
Steph Su Reads Review
This review has reminded me that I should read Some Girls Are soon. I haven’t even checked if it’s available locally. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Courtney Summers’ books.
I think Some Girls Are is the perfect place to start.
I love Summers’ “dimensionally damaged heroines”. What a perfect way to put it! This is the only Summers book I haven’t read yet. So far, my favorite is Some Girls Are, but I’m thinking that if you like Cracked Up To Be as much as Some Girls Are, that Cracked Up To Be is just as good which omg makes me super psyched to read it!