Sunday 4 May 2014

Review: Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

Tia and Will’s lives get flipped upside down when they’re voted Yearbook’s Biggest Flirts in this sassy novel from the author of Endless Summer and The One That I Want.

Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laidback swagger.

As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing Will away drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirts with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will’s new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…


Kindle Edition, 336 pages
Expected publication: May 20th 2014 by Simon Pulse 
Genre: Young Adult

Kristine's Thoughts:

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Simon Pulse via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. The expected publication date is May 20, 2014.

Having read some of Jennifer Echols work in the past, I was excited to read this book. From reading the synopsis it sounded like it would be a cute YA story.

Unfortunately it was just OK for me. I had a problem relating to and if I'm honest a problem liking Tia. Seeing as she was the main character this was not a good thing. I understand that she had some family issues but at the same time I felt like her actions and behaviours were leading her down the same path as her sisters versus steering her away. If she wanted a different life than the rest of her family I felt she should have behaved the opposite of what she did in the book. She was smart but didn't apply herself, had no respect for time or care for her personal hygiene, didn't want a boyfriend but had no problems hooking up with guys and got drunk whenever possible at parties. None of these were actions that would get her anywhere different or to a different place than her sisters. It just didn't make sense. I wanted to reach my hands into the book and shake some sense into her. Have some self respect!

Will fell a little short for me as well. The intent, I think, was for him to be a good guy but his actions at the very beginning of the book with Tia kind of contradicted that. He too was struggling after moving to a new place and getting over his girlfriend but his actions were a little too hot and cold. One minute he is hooking up with Tia and the next he is doing and saying things that try to prove that he is better than that and a decent guy. I actually found him to be a little on the dull side.

The two of them together was your typical teenage love story. They are attracted to each other but try to deny it and then there are pages and pages of them bickering and flirting and causing drama. Don't get me wrong, these type of stories can be quite cute but I found that when they finally admit their feelings it was a little rushed and anti-climatic.

Perhaps it was an age thing for me but I just found that there were too many mixed messages being sent with this story. I didn't get the warm fuzzies that I normally do when reading a YA love story. This in no way will dissuade me from reading more of Echols work as I have enjoyed others in the past. I just didn't enjoy this one as much.




About the Author
Jennifer Echols was born in Atlanta and grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama—a setting that has inspired many of her books. She has written nine romantic novels for young adults, including the comedy MAJOR CRUSH, which won the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the drama GOING TOO FAR, which was a finalist in the RITA, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Book Buyer’s Best, and was nominated by the American Library Association as a Best Book for Young Adults. Simon & Schuster will debut her adult romance novels in 2013, with many more teen novels scheduled for the next few years. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and her son. 


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