The Debutante by Kathryn Williams

Annie McRae is upset, and not without good reason. It’s her senior year of high school, and her parents are forcing her to move with them from Connecticut, the state where she grew up, to not-so-sweet-home-Alabama. To make matters worse, her boyfriend dumped her, her supposed best friend is hooking up with her now ex-boyfriend, and her grandmother is forcing her to “deb” in order to pay for college. At first, Annie refuses, thinking that she can just get a scholarship, but when she doesn’t get it, it seems that she will have to deb after all.

Annie struggles to accept the move throughout the whole book. She also has difficulty forgetting her best friend’s betrayal. But despite the fact that Annie is unwilling to make an effort to accept her new life, she does make new friends among the other debs. And there’s nothing like a new crush to make you forget about that cheating ex-boyfriend.

The Debutante was a short and sweet read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading from Annie’s perspective, because she is very witty. I especially enjoyed reading about Annie’s stereotypes and watching her learn to accept that her life wasn’t so bad after all. My only complaint was that the time span seemed a little awkward. There would be one event, a little jump in time, and then another event. It did eliminate awkward slow spots in the novel, but it also made Annie’s senior year in high school pass rather quickly.

The Debutante is a slight twist on the classic tale of girl is forced to move and boyfriend dumps her, but I loved it nonetheless. I recommend this novel for fans of How Not to Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from author Kathryn Williams