Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane

Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane

Release Date: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Rated: YA 14+
Format: eGalley
Source: NetGalley
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
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Mean girls are always the haters - Right?

Hailey Harper has always felt invisible. Now her dad has a new job and the family is moving to Hollywood. Just what Hailey needs: starting a new high school.

As she's packing, Hailey finds a journal that belonged to her older sister, Noel, who is away at college. Called "How to Be a Hater," it's full of info Hailey can really use. Has Hailey found the Bible of Coolness? Will it help her reinvent herself at her new school? Will her crush notice her? Will she and the other Invisibles dethrone the popular mean girls? After all, they deserve it. Don't they?

Caprice Crane's funny--and deeply felt--observations about high school, bullies, popularity, friendship, and romance will leave teens thinking...and talking.

When it comes to contemporaries – YA contemporaries more specifically – I'm always a little two-minded about it. On one hand, contemporaries don't need to follow the "guidelines" that a paranormal would have to, for example. There's no mythical creature law for vampires, werewolves, fey, etc. because all this stuff supposedly could happen in real life. However, on the other hand, contemporaries also start to form their own clichés: taking down the mean girl at school, falling for the jock and then realising the right guy was next to you all along, getting pregnant, the climb for popularity, friends falling out, and so on and so forth.

Confessions of a Hater did have some of the clichés I've mentioned before, but what made me really love this book and find it different from some of the other contemporaries that I've read would have to be the atmosphere, the feel I got from reading the book. I found that I enjoyed myself immensely when I read this book in one sitting. It's quite a long novel, but it's so packed and I found there was never really a dry moment in the book. Some things could have been left out, yes, but I found it entertaining overall and had a couple of chuckles along the way. I also liked that this was a great mix between hilarious and seriousness. It didn't have the whole mood of being one of those books that you know that it's doomed from the start, or just complete absolute fluff and stuff of fairytales, but I loved how it balanced it out when it came to Hailey and her problems.

It was a little bit like a dance of my emotions when it came to Hailey's character. First off, she has a WICKED sense of humor. I loved it. Her snarky, sarcastic comments I fell head over heels for, because I find myself thinking of things the way she does time to time. I liked that she was artistic. I like that she didn't like running (because neither do I)! I found that through this way you could really connect with her character.
However there were times when I was like, "uh-oh, NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" and she does some stuff which I find myself thinking that the result is not going to go well. I think that other than this though, you can really see that her character grows throughout the novel as she learns from her mistakes.
Skylar. Oh my gosh, it's like every single high school nightmare. She's the queen of the school, the top of the tier. She made me want to roll my eyes just reading about her. Definitely a character I loved to hate. Anya was a great character as well! She added a teeny bit of suspense to the plot, but you really do love her and you can see why Hailey becomes friends with her.

There was one part of the book which kind of wanted me to change my rating from 14 to 15 years old, because there's um, a pretty awkward part in which it gets a little more in detail... it lasts a few pages, but it's something I definitely wouldn't want my younger sister to read! The end result is quite hilarious though, but it's just a little bit too much I would think, especially for a younger YA reader to read.

Overall, I thought this book had the right amount of humor with a dash of depth that I appreciated greatly when reading it. I was hooked onto this one from start to finish and didn't let it go anytime throughout. Caprice Crane's YA debut does not disappoint, and I'll be on the lookout for more from her in the future!

If you like this, try...

• How to Be Popular by Meg Cabot ● Goodreads
• The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder ● Goodreads