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Friday, July 16, 2010

Book Review: Stalker Girl by Rosemary Graham

Stalker Girl by Rosemary Graham
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Release Date: August 5, 2010
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Pages: 208
Source: Received from author for honest review

Summary: Carly never meant to become a stalker. She just wanted to find out who Brian started dating after he dumped her. But a little harmless online research turns into a quick glance, and that turns into an afternoon of watching. Soon Carly is putting all of her energy into following Brian’s new girlfriend—all of the sadness she feels about her mom’s recent breakup, all of the anger she feels over being pushed aside by her dad while he prepares for his new wife’s new baby. When Carly’s stalking is discovered in the worst possible way by the worst possible person, she is forced to acknowledge her problem and the underlying issues that led to it.

My Review: Stalker Girl introduced a thrilling and exciting new approach to stalking. Usually, it's the ex boyfriend stalking his infatuation, but this time Rosemary switched the roles. Carla ended up stalking her ex boyfriend's new girl. Being that it was written in third person, it did unfortunately take me longer to connect with Carla. I tend to gravitate towards first person point of views because it helps me understand the character better. Moving on, Carla was a typical teenager who found herself in family drama and relationship issues. At first, her bond with Brian seemed perfect but, as time went on things changed. I sympathized with Carla, I admit I once or twice in my life experienced jealousy and had the urge to act on my psychotic thoughts. However, Carla decided to handle her loss on a different level.

The novel opened up with her sudden, uncontrollable fascination with following Brian's girlfriend. I didn't understand why Carla was acting this way until Rosemary flashed back to the time when Brian was her boyfriend. I liked the fact that I got to see Carla's reasoning behind her stalkerish actions. I don't necessarily agree that it was the right thing to do. In spite of that, sometimes love and unanswered questions can make a person react irrational. In my opinion, I feel the flashback took up too much of the book instead of the "stalking" aspect. But, I did enjoy how the novel wrapped up in the end. Overall, it was an addictive story filled with real teenage issues on broken families and relationships. I look forward to seeing what Rosemary cooks up next.

Book Trailer:


My Rating:

Author's Info:
Rosemary Graham is the author of the forthcoming novel Stalker Girl, as well as Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel. Her books have been among the International Reading Association “Young Adults’ Choices,” the Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best,” and the New York Public Library’s “Books for the Teen Age.” Her essays and commentaries have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Santa Monica Review, and on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” She teaches English and Creative Writing at Saint Mary’s College of California and lives in Berkeley with her husband, the writer Kevin Griffin, and their daughter.

For more info on Rosemary, visit her site(s):
-Website
-Blog
-Twitter
-Facebook

Other books by Rosemary:
-Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude
-My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel



14 comments:

Sugar and Snark said...

This looks really interesting!
Thx for the review :)

Erika said...

i agree with you- usually first-persn narratives are more enjoyable for me to read, because i get to look right into the mind of the protagonist. this one still sounds great, though! thanks for the review :)

Unknown said...

I didn't love this because the idea seemed so far out of the realm of possible for anyone not actually mentally ill.

I have a new award for you here.

Diana Dang said...

I never heard of this novel! I was thinking of writing a stalker novel (lol doubt I will) but on a more serious level. Thanks for the review!

StephTheBookworm said...

I really liked this book - I thought it was a lot of fun!

Alex Bennett from Electrifying Reviews said...

This one looks creepy as heck!

Cindy said...

This sounds really intersting! Great review :)

Dwayne said...

Out of my comfort zone but quite interesting, this one :)

Dwayne said...

Out of my comfort zone but quite interesting, this one :)

Unknown said...

This book sounds so good! Thanks for the awesome review!

Unknown said...

I LOVE that cover--I so need to read this.. thanks for the review!

mary kate said...

I can get what you are saying about third person POV,sometimes it can stand in the way of a great book. I can't wait to read this. Great Review!

Alyssa Kirk said...

Not my usual type of read but looks interesting. I tend to prefer first person too but third can often work. Just depends. Glad you had fun with this one!

~Alyssa
Teens Read & Write

Mary not so Contrary said...

Sounds like an intresting book. Its different then everything else out there so thats nice. I will for sure have to look it up. Thanks for reviewing it. I love the trailer!

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