Title: Tommy Sullivan is a Freak
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: Teenage Fiction, Chick-lit
Publication: April 2008, Macmillan
Pages: 249 pages, Paperback
Source: Library book
Liar, liar.Katie Ellison is not a liar.It's just that telling the truth is so . . . tricky. She knows she shouldn't be making out with a drama club hottie behind her football- player boyfriend's back. She should probably admit that she can't stand eating quahogs (clams), especially since she's running for Quahog Princess in her hometown's annual Quahog Festival. And it would be a relief to finally tell someone what really happened the night Tommy Sullivan is a freak was spray-painted on the new wall outside the junior high school gymnasium-in neon orange, which still hasn't been sandblasted off. After all, everyone knows that's what drove Tommy out of town four years ago. But now Tommy Sullivan has come back. Katie is sure he's out for revenge, and she'll do anything to hang on to her perfect (if slightly dishonest) existence. Even if it means telling more lies than ever. Even if, now that Tommy's around, she's actually-no lie- having the time of her life.*MILD SPOILERS*
I love Meg Cabot's books. They are fresh, funny and heart-warming, with cute characters, an entertaining plot and sparkly, humorous writing, however, in this book, that was not the case. When I opened the book I instantly expected to be introduced to a loveable, three-dimensional main character, funny, witty remarks and soon after, little twists in the plot, I am very sad to announce that this book was nothing like her previous novels and was a major disappointment to read.
When we are first introduced to Katie, I instantly disliked her, she was selfish, she cheated on her boyfriend, she was a liar, she thought the world of herself...need I say more why I detested Katie? I could not believe how she had one of the nicest, most respectable boys as a boyfriend and claimed she loved him, yet any time she had free of Seth she was "macking" with her other, private boyfriend, Eric. And what also annoyed me was that she didn't even have the slightest bit of guilt when she was cheating on her boyfriend. How shallow is that?! Also, I thought that when you have a boyfriend, you're supposed to talk to them, be best friends with them, not CONSTANTLY wanting to have your tongue in his mouth! Which was exactly what Katie did! Whenever there was a scene with Katie and Seth/Eric and EVEN Tommy, what did she do? Kiss them, not even because she loved them, but because she just wanted to make out with them, all the time. And not only all she did in this book was kiss, but all she thought about was kissing, I swear, it's a wonder I'm not bald by now, since every time she said kissing or macking or making out, I would pull my hair out in frustration. She seriously needs a life.
The plot was terrible, I literally feel like I've read nothing but Katie making out in this book. There were no major twists, there was no heart-gripping, heart-warming or heart-wrenching moments, throughout this book all I was hoping for was that something interesting would happen or that dear Katie would finally learn a lesson. I kept saying just one more chapter, I'm sure something good will happen in one more chapter, but you know what? I've finished the book and nothing good happened in the twenty-one chapters that I read. I could see the
author was trying to make this a good story, but it fell flat with me. The characters were either too perfect or too messed up, they were as flat as cardboard, the plot was
uninteresting and the writing was too simple. Katie continuously repeated the same sentences over and over, most of them being: "I kept looking at his lips, I so badly wanted to kiss him" and "What is wrong with me?" and "I should hate Tommy Sullivan, but I don't, I love him", there were others but those were probably the most commonly used sentences that were said practically every page. Every time she said that I banged the book against my head, wishing she would stop repeating herself.
The ending of this book, the author made a big deal out of Katie telling the truth at a public event and where she was supposed to learn a lesson. She didn't. After that moment I still couldn't believe that she hadn't had sense knocked into her. She was still the same old selfish, irritating Katie and you know what REALLY made me cry out in disbelief? Is that she thinks loving a guy is because you only want to kiss that one guy, not any other!!! I was shocked! After the "lesson" that she learnt, all she could still do with a guy was kiss him. At that point I gave up, but luckily it was the end of the story.
I was expecting a stunning, heart-warming novel written by the talented, highly-acclaimed author of The Princess Diaries, but instead I was left majorly disappointed by Tommy Sullivan Is A Freak. The plot left me uninterested and bored, the characters made me grit my teeth in frustration and the overly used, trying-to-be-a-teenager sentences just got on my nerves. Megan is a fantastic author but this book didn't cast the same magical spell over me as with her other books. If you enjoy chick-lit and teenage romances you might enjoy this, but if you don't I wouldn't try reading it.
I give it: 1/5 CUPCAKES!
