Confessions of a Hater by Caprice Crane

Hailey's life at school is not exactly fun.  She's been humiliated and bullied on more than one occasion by girls who've decided she doesn't fit in.  Then her family decides to move to L.A. and she's dreading what she's going to be in for as "the new girl".  But while packing she finds her older, cooler sister's diary which is entitled "How to be a Hater".  It's basically a guide on how to act in high school... full of tips about clothes, boys, attitude, and so much more.  Hailey knows this is her chance to change the way her life has been going.... this is her chance to be popular!!  But of course things don't really go as planned.  After a brief popularity stint, Hailey finds her place among a group of girls that refer to themselves as "The Invisibles".  Using the diary and their array of unique talents, these girls decide to take on the hierarchy of West Hollywood High.








This book started off so stinking cute!  Hailey was so observant and funny and just had interesting/witty things to say.  I was really thinking I had found the next Kelsey Finkelstein or Ruby Oliver (from Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters and The Boyfriend List).  BUT (you knew there was going to be a but here right??)... but then everything went downhill for me.

I'm going to go ahead and put this book in the classification of books I'm too old to read.  Maybe if I was an actual high school-er who didn't read as much as I do, I would've enjoyed the entertainment of this book.... because it was entertaining.  My eyes just started hurting from rolling so hard in the sockets, that I found the book hard to finish.

Ok so you have this girl who is pretty darn snarky and makes these really cute life observations that you can't help but smile at... and what was wrong with her?  Nothing!!  She was clearly a really talented artist and a good daughter and friend... so why did she have to have the dreaded makeover??  It was the whole "if I get contacts, lose 10 pounds, wear my older sister's clothes, and get a haircut I'm suddenly a brand new person".  Straight out of that Freddie Prinze Jr. movie She's All That.  Then she goes to her new high school and takes a disliking to the popular clique (this is after they immediately embrace her as one of their own) and forms her own clique.... only to start acting EXACTLY like the popular clique.  Putting people down, being insanely cruel, being judgmental, and obsessing over completely vain and petty things.

I totally should have liked this book because I generally love books about popularity... but I just couldn't with this one.  There were too many completely unbelievable situations like: of course the hottest most popular guy in school immediately wants to get with Hailey and when she decides she wants to hook up with him her friend helps her "practice" on a frozen banana!  ICK!!!!!  And then when she actually tries what she practiced on him, I was forced to read the most ridiculous, embarrassing, awkward, and unnecessary hook-up of all-time.

As the book wore on even the cute little observations started feeling forced.  And that's when I realized this book was pretty much just a notebook full of anecdotes and teen-talk strung together.  It pisses me off because this book had SO much potential.  It could have been so cute and had a really good message.  Instead it was full of stereotypes and unrealistic situations.

I won't tell you the ending, but as unbelievable as most of the plot was, the ending was even more unlikely to EVER happen... to anyone EVER.  I know it's a small world, but it's not that freaking small!  It also ended super abruptly, but as you can probably guess, if there's a sequel, I won't be reading it.

OVERALL: A book that I wanted to love, but just couldn't.  It was entertaining and even had some laugh out loud moments, but it was too full of stereotypes and unrealistic situations for me to recommend.  If you are looking to read a book about pranks and popularity wars, this is so your book.  But if you want a message or a real story, I'd say try something else.

This Book Contains:

• A diary
• Stereotypical teen issues like:
• Teen pregnancy
• Drug use
• Shoplifting
• TMI moments like:
• Oral sex w/ a banana and Altoids
• and Vodka soaked tampons
• Cool comic art on the cover and inside the covers

Add it to your To-Read List!!

My Rating:

1.5/4

How I got this book: Library
Date Published: 8/27/2013