Surviving High School

by Lele Pons and Melissa de la Cruz

Vine superstar Lele Pons--"one of the coolest girls on the web" (Teen Vogue)--teams up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost) in this lovable debut novel about the wilds and wonders of high school that's as laugh-out-loud addictive as Lele's popular videos.

Ten million followers and I still sit alone at lunch. Lele is a bulls-eye target at her new school in Miami until, overnight, her digital fame catapults the girl with cheerleader looks, a seriously silly personality, and a self-deprecating funny bone into the popular crowd. Now she's facing a whole new set of challenges--the relentless drama, the ruthless cliques, the unexpected internet celebrity--all while trying to keep her grades up and make her parents proud.

Filled with the zany enthusiasm that has made Lele into Vine's most viewed star, this charming novel is proof that high school is a trip. From crushing your crushes (what's up with that hot transfer student Alexei ) to throwing Insta-fake parties with your BFFs and moaning over homework (GAH) with your frenemies, high school is a rollercoaster of exhilarating highs and totally embarrassing lows. Leave it to Lele to reassure us that falling flat on your face is definitely not the end of the world. Fans of Mean Girls will love this fun and heartwarming fish-out-of-water story.

• ISBN10: 1501120530
• ISBN13: 9781501120534
• Publish Date: 5 April 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


I hadn't heard of Lele before, but her book caught my attention. This is one of the books where if I had read the book, I probably would have put it down immediately. Lele (in the story) seemed like a very shallow person who thought she was better than everyone—it was quite annoying.

The narrator was the one that stopped me from DNF'ing the book. She was so lively and energetic! I felt like she was telling me about her life over a cup of coffee. She made it feel very engaging and as if we had been friends forever. I would totally listen to more audios with this narrator because she totally made this book very enjoyable.

I received the audiobook from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

[Leah]

DNFed at 20%.

Oh God. This book is actually horrific. It's been a while since a book offended me as much as this (look at whatever is on my DNF shelf). I genuinely thought this was going to be a cute, fun, quick, summer read. I mostly wanted to read it because of Melissa de la Cruz, because I've never actually heard of Lele Pons (and I REALLY hope Surviving High School IS just a fictionalised memoir, because Lele does not come across well).

The fictional Lele is one of the most big-headed, weird people I've ever met. She talks in nothing but pop culture (it's like the Breakfast Club/I'm so "pwning" this day/any kind of twenty-first century pop culture you can think of is thrown in, including The Weeknd's Can't Feel My Face (and she loves it)). If you did a shot for every pop culture reference you'd be drunk SUPER QUICK. I only read a fifth of the book and the pop culture was everywhere.

Lele just does not come across well. I stopped reading when she started going on about how Alexei (who she's known for about three days) hadn't asked her out, because she was "pretty but not pretty enough". I legitimately hate girls who say stuff like that. It's my biggest pet peeve, because all you need to do is google Lele to know she's absolutely gorgeous, and maybe you'll come back and say to me that she didn't always look like that, but I doubt in her first year of high school she was a hag. Braces do not suddenly make you ugly, OK? For me that was my breaking point. I was just like, "Nope I can't do this."

The voice was just all over the place. The need to input so much pop culture - which means that this book will age super fast. The fact that Lele is just wow so full of herself, then in the next breath she's not "pretty enough" is enough to give you whiplash. It was just so inconsistent. Her parents were super chill, super cool, hip and happening, etc, but then she was like screaming at them about a party? And she had a bad day and just started literally screaming in school. WHO DOES THAT? This was just so bad. I have no idea what input Melissa de la Cruz had because she's a far superior writer to the tiny bit I read here. It was like a five year old's stream of conscious was just let loose, with no filter.

Just nope.