Nov 19, 2013

Game On by Melanie Spring Review

Game On by Melanie Spring
(Varsity #1)
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Poppy; 272 pages
Welcome to the world of high school cheerleading.

At the start of their freshman year, Chloe Davis, Kate MacDonald, and Emily Arellano have just one thing on their minds -- cheerleading. The girls are excited to join the Northside High JV squad, and Chloe is a lock for captain. Or so she thinks...

When newcomer Devin Isle arrives on the scene, she unwittingly shakes up the girls' tight friendship and rattles Chloe's confidence. But with regional competitions right around the corner, this is no time for the squad to fall apart. Building a human pyramid takes teamwork, after all!



So you know how sometimes you pick up a book, and really don't expect to like it?  Then you proceed to keep pushing it to the bottom of your to be read pile, until eventually you tell yourself just read this book already!  This is what I did with Game On.  I picked this book up back at BEA in June.  During the time of BEA, I was on a major ya contemporary streak.  Paranormal was starting to bore me, so I read a few contemporary books to keep my reading drive.  I remember picking up Game On from Hachette's booth and then putting it back down after reading the description.  Then I pondered about it a little, and decided why not, and decided to take it.  After so much back and forth with this book, I must say I am glad that I picked this up.  I enjoyed this read way more than I expected to.

Cheerleaders are probably one of the most stereotyped performers.  We often see them as popular girls who are nothing but catty, and only care about themselves.  And yes there are indeed a few characters who are like this in Game On, but not the main girls.  This book is excellent for anyone who is trying to get rid the misconception of cheerleaders.  These girls teach us the important lesson of team work, and how to cope with change.  While reading this, I thought it would have been nice to have a book like this while growing up.  It reminded me a lot of the Sweet Valley High books that I used to read in middle school.  It's an easy and enjoyable read.  And it also deals with real high school issues.

Out of the four leads of the book, Kate was definitely my favorite.  I wish that there were actually more scenes with her.  And it's not often that you see both sides to the story, when you have two characters feuding.  Even though I wouldn't really call the relationship between Chloe and Devin a feud, it was more like a misunderstanding.  But often times as a reader, you get one side but not the other.  One issue I did have while reading was the changing of point of views, didn't have a smooth transition.  And Chloe and Devin clearly dominated the story.  And even though Kate was my favorite character, the book would have gelled more if it was just Chloe and Devin.

But overall, I really did enjoy Game On.  I will definitely keep reading this series.  The book I read before this one was really heavy, and sometimes you just need something light and easy to read.  Yes the plot is pretty much predictable, but it can be nice to have that comfort of knowing what's going to happen.  Plus it's fair to say that I am not the target audience of this series.  I would definitely recommend this to preteen females.  It's easily has deals with issues that everyday teens deal with, and is relatable to it's target audience.




3 comments:

  1. Have you read 'A Geek's Guide To Cheerleading'? I really liked that book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sana @ Step Into FictionNovember 20, 2013 at 12:54 PM

    No I haven't. But I heard that book is really funny!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is. :) I liked it because it was like, a geek can be a cheerleader! And it didn't rely on cliches like the cheerleaders are always mean. It had well rounded characters. :)

    ReplyDelete

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