#scandal by Sarah Ockler

#scandal by Sarah Ockler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A private, high school senior gets an unwanted turn in the spotlight when a Facebook scandal goes viral after prom in this comedic, edgy novel from the author of The Book of Broken Hearts and Bittersweet.

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 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 dealbreaker ever. But before they get the chance to 'fess up to Ellie, Lucy's own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising photos 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 that there's only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. There's just one snag--Cole. Turns out Lucy's not the only one who's been harboring unrequited love...



I have had this book on my shelf for a while now and finally got round to picking it up. I have an interest in books that are in modern time and use technology to help tell a story, I thought this one I would really enjoy.

Right from the beginning you are thrown into the middle of the story, Lucy at Prom, attending with her best friends boyfriend as her friend is sick and wants her to go with him. This is the first part of the story I just couldn't get on with, I mean why? Why would you want your best friend going with your boyfriend to a potentially romantic venue? It just didn't make any sense and was very predictable.

I enjoyed the 'Gossip Girl' style of writing, with someone behind a screen, knowing all the gossip but no one knowing who this person is. So Lucy head off to an after prom party with Cole, her best friends boyfriend and seems to loose all her belongings, including her phone, in the morning she still can't find it but discovers the person who has it has been sharing images of that night.

I thought that the book grabbed me in the beginning and I thought I was really going to enjoy it but then I found it a little boring. I don't know if this is because I am not in the target audience for this book and perhaps I am outgrowing YA, or just that it was really predictable and I lost interest in it.

This was the first book I have read by Ockler and to be honest I don't think I would read another by her. You may love this book and if you like reading about social media and the effects it can have on teenagers today then you will probably enjoy this, unfortunately though it just wasn't for me.