Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

Title: Cracked Up to Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Published: December 2008
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads:
When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?


Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.


Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.


Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

If I could describe this book in one word it would have to be strong. Strong characters, strong emotions, strong writing. This is one of those books that doesn't let you go, even if it's driving you crazy and you just want to put it down for a second. You can't. You have to keep going, to get one step closer to figuring out what happened to Parker that night a year ago.

Parker is one of the most unique characters I've ever come across. She's downright bitchy, not just in what she says to other people, but also in what she thinks about other people. This is not common. I loved it! Her snarky attitude was so much fun to read about, and I laughed at a lot of things she said/thought, even though it was mean. I did get annoyed with her sometimes, mostly for doing something self destructive, though she had her reasons.

My favorite part of the book was the relationship between Parker and Jake. Jake is just a nice guy, and Parker, well, is not so nice. Their interactions were always fun to read about, and the way their relationship developed was done really well. I loved the way that the night of the party was slowly revealed using flashbacks. I never got the whole story until the end, and it made want to keep reading. I guarantee it's not what you think.

I don't think that there's anything specific that I can say that I didn't like about this book. It was that good.

Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Originality: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 49/50 A+
Cover Comments: Pretty fitting, but not attention grabbing. I think it makes the book look too nice.