Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

Parker Fadley used to be perfect, but now, she’s a perfect mess. She used to be captain of the cheerleading squad, the girlfriend of the hottest guy in school, and on consistently on the honor roll. But she’s traded all that popularity away for frequent visits to the school counselor, minimal privileges at home and school, and social difficulty. But why? Why would a girl who had it all do such a thing to herself? To everyone else, it’s a mystery. People think she’s just messing around, but she’s not. There’s a reason Parker has withdrawn from everything good, and it has everything to do with before and a series of horrible events Parker blames herself for.

Cracked Up To Be is an incredibly written and emotionally charged debut novel I seriously could not put down. It’s one of those novels that makes you think twice and not only just about the story, but your own life as well. Parker Fadley is such a complex and unforgettable character. There’s something so endearing about her brutal honesty yet at the same time, it’s so easy to hate her guts. Parker’s flashbacks to a certain night, the night everything changed for Parker, only magnify the suspense and urge the reader to flip the pages faster to discover the big secret. And it’s definitely a juicy one, a twist in the plot I never saw coming. This novel shocked me, and not just because of the well-drawn characters and masterfully written plot, but because of how relevant it was to me and other teens as well, I’m sure. Everyone faces pressure to be the best and has petty friendship disputes, but sometimes it becomes so great we crack, like Parker did. But what’s so phenomenal about this story is that it ends on a hopeful note after such an emotional roller coaster, and that makes Cracked Up To Be by such a satisfying read.

Cracked Up To Be has definitely made my favorites list, and I would even consider rereading it several times even though my schedule is busy; that’s how much I liked it. I recommend it to fans of Alyson Noël, Lisa Yee, and Aimee Friedman. Summers is an author to watch, and I enthusiastically look forward to more incredible writing from her.

Rating: 5.0

Review copy from publisher St. Martin's Griffin through LibraryThing Early Reviewers