The Julian game

I read a few reviews for this book before I read it, and I have to say that I think some people were taking the promise of action in this story much too specifically. Action via the Internet is never all that fast paced in my experience. Although I'll be the first to admit that this book wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, I went into it with an open mind and clean slate and ended up liking it quite a lot!

Now lest this come back to bite me in the hindquarters I will say now that, yes, I do indeed adore Adele Griffin. I find her to be a very witty and amazing author! However that doesn't change the fact that I will always review a book fairly. The review below is all from the heart.

From the very first few pages I fell in love with Raye and Natalya. Here were two very intelligent girls, plotting a social networking scheme simply so that they could talk to boys they were attracted to! Isn't it amazing what the Internet can allow us to do? By taking on the persona of Elizabeth, the girls were able to break out of their shells and become the people that they wished they could be in their own lives. I completely sympathized. When I was in high school all I wanted was to be accepted, and if that meant squashing your actual feelings and needs, well that's what you did. Raye and Natalya remind us that today's generation can lead double lives, all complements of the Internet.

Does this mean that I think what the girls did was right? Not by any means. Still I think it their plot was ultimately fairly pure until it was soiled by the evil Ella. Oh Ella. I will say right now, I despised Ella with a passion. Ella is the girl who bats her eyelashes and gets what she wants. The girl who says one thing and means another. The one who gets away with bullying because she will later “apologize” to you. Why? Well that's because she is popular. I was upset with Raye for falling in with Ella, I really was. I thought she would be smarter than that. I had to remind myself that Raye was only human, and sometimes it's hard to ignore the call of the popular crowd.

Julian, oh yes Julian. He was the one character that completely tore my heart in half. I cannot say too much, as I don't want to spoil the plot line for all you readers out there, but I was fuming as I read. I applaud Raye for making such smart decisions regarding him, even if it did take her a while to do it. Smart girl. On the topic of the Internet, I thought The Julian Game touched on cyber bullying in a perfect manner. It puts the concept out there for discussion, but doesn't shove a moral down your throat in capsule form.

Are you intrigued my friends? Good! Go get a copy of the book and give it a try. You know you want to!

Before I ramble on too much further, I'll simply say that I really did enjoy this book. Although it wasn't a perfect ten for me, it did hold my attention quite well and I felt invested in the characters. Whether I was loving them or despising them didn't matter, I knew enough about them to care. I also loved how Facebook and social networking in general were so seamlessly brought into the story. I was impressed with Raye's story. I'm sure this book will resonate strongly with the social networking generation, and I hope it will also speak to them about reconsidering what should take preference in their lives.