#Scandal by Sarah Ockler: Book Review

Title: Scandal
Author: Sarah Ockler
Pages: 416
Published: June 17th, 2014
Genre: YA contemporary, romance
Rating: 3.55/5

Lucy's learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart's all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don't feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. The policy has served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole's date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she'd rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And especially the one where she's been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.
When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it's everything Lucy has ever dreamed of... and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole's lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they'll have to 'fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy's own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students' party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.
By Monday morning, Lucy's been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation.
Lucy's been battling undead masses online long enough to know there's only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend's trust, and graduate with a clean slate.
There's just one snap- Cole. Turns out Lucy's not the only one who's been harboring unrequited love... 
** WARNING: SPOILERS ARE CERTAINLY INTENDED** 

Amazing. Just amazing. Do you guys know how much I love Gossip Girl ( the TV show )? Well let me just say, I loved it so so so much. And this book was very reminiscent of that, so that means I had to love it. And I did.

I mean how could I not love this book. It's a Sarah Ockler book! She's back again with another mystery to solve and a killer romance to meddle with. Lucy and Cole, or Ellie and Cole? Betrayal. Secrets. Backstabbing. Deviation. This book is quite the satisfying YA novel!

Clear Synopsis (in my words)
Being apart of Miss. Demeanor- an online gossiping media site on Facebook - #scandal contest is the last thing Lucy expects to happen during her prom weekend. Actually kissing her best friend's boyfriend is the last thing. After her best friend, Ellie, is too sick to attend prom, Lucy is cajoled into stepping in as Cole's date for the event. It seems as if the two were always harboring some hidden love for each other. Well during the prom after-party, that love is rekindled and as bright as a tree on Christmas Day. The two "accidentally" kiss, and directly after, Lucy begins to wish she hadn't done what she did. After all, she did just betray her best friend. Someone then hacks Lucy's facebook account, posting all the scandals on prom night. With a hate fan page with Lucy's name on it and all the hater comments on her photos, how will she ever get her name cleared?

This is my favorite book of 2014 that is not a YA dystopian. Honestly, I feel like reading it again. The opening was lovely. I really liked how Sarah Ockler opened the book on prom night, where all the action and betrayal happened. This is a fast-paced book so you must be able to keep up with the details thrown at you from time to time. For some reason I feel like you would have to know a lot about social media to read this book... IDK I'm just weird D:

As Lucy tries hard to ultimately put an end to her scandal, new information comes to light and things become just a little more terrible. Turns out Cole was in love with her the entire time. Wowzerrs, did not see that one coming. Lucy will forever be my favorite female protagonist! From my point of view, I totally understand where she is coming from. She kind of betrayed Ellie by making out with her boyfriend. And yeah, someone did steal her phone and use her Facebook identity to post those scandalous posts. But after that, things went downwards for Lucy. She was bullied, tormented, hazed-ish. And I'm totally rooting for her self-confidence and pride. Any book with a strong female protag is one that I will read.

Even though this falls under the genre of YA contemporary, I didn't get that feel at all. It was more a YA mystery/playing detective kind of book, which I kind of liked. This book is an easy 5-stars! It has been quite a while since I've read any stimulating YA reads. I feel like this was just what I needed to get me out of my reader's block. So thanks Sarah Ockler for getting me up and at'em. I also finished this book in like a day- yeah people that's how good it is! That's all for this review. It'll probably be a while before I post my next review of Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid. TTYNT my little bees.. buzz buzz

Character Analysis:
Lucy- Let's talk about Lucy for a while. Throughout the frequent harassment, embarrassing name calling, and let's not forget the constant torment, Lucy prevailed stronger than ever! At the end of the book, she was this entirely new character, who had regained her strength through facing her weakness. She actually had the courage to tell her best friend she made out with her boyfriend. If you purchase this book, you're definitely gonna get a kick out of reading into Lucy's extraordinary life. She's a fighter, this one!

Cole- He really didn't seem to care about Ellie after the pictures were posted, even though he refuted otherwise. it's like he was ok with kissing his girlfriend's best friend, which he kind of revealed that he was in love with her the entire time. Cole wasn't my favorite-ish character. I felt like I should've seen less of him and more of Ellie. We need that girl power!



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6 comments

  1. Great review! I've seen this one around a lot. I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) Thanks for stopping by Addicted Readers!

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  2. Hi :) I nominated you for a Liebster Award! For more info, visit my blog: http://enchantedbyya.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/i-won-liebster-award.html

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  3. I didn't read your full review (thanks for the clear note about spoilers!), but I'm definitely intrigued since this was one of your favorite books. I've seen this one around, but wasn't sure about it. Glad you loved it!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Thanks for visiting :D
      Glad you enjoyed it as well

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