Favourite Quotes: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

“Juliana's a year older than me, but she sometimes seems younger - mostly because she's the opposite of cynical and I'm the opposite of the opposite of cynical.” 


“He only invited me because of you and Chase.'
'Right,' she said, following me inside. 'He's never shown the slightest interest in you before. I mean, he's never stared at you like you're the only person in the room when we're all together. Or sulked around for days because you turned him down for a dance. Or touched the sleeve of your sweater when he thinks no one's looking-'
'He's never done any of that,' I said. Then, less confidently, 'Has he?”


“No one's family is normal. Normalcy is a lie invented by advertising agencies to make the rest of us feel inferior.” 

“I got lost in him, and it was the kind of lost that's exactly like being found.”

“He was wearing a plain white oxford unbuttoned over a T-shirt, but something about the way they fit made him look put together, like an Abercrombie model (well, like an Abercrombie model who had remembered to put on a shirt that morning).” 


“Man, I hated not being able to figure someone out. And from the slightly uncertain look he gave me as we all went to class, I suspected he felt the same way.” 


“And Derek was... what?
A pair of dark eyes that hid more than they revealed and some broad shoulders and a mouth that could be cold and thin and then suddenly widen into a generous grin just when you thought such a thing was impossible.”

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”...“Basically it means the world's a giant shit hole, but some of us are capable of imagining something better”

“...and I had a feeling that someone like Juliana could get chewed up and spat out in a second.”

Quote It Saturday (4)

"No one's family is normal. Normalcy is a lie invented by advertising agencies to make the rest of us feel inferior." - Claire LaZebnik (Epic Fail)

Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

My rating: ★★★★☆
Book: Epic Fail
Author: Claire LaZebnik 



In this modern take on "Pride and Prejudice," Elise Benton, who has just moved to California, is a junior at an exclusive prep school where, in spite of her initial bad impression, she finds herself attracted to the moody and handsome son of Hollywood's most famous celebrity couple. 

“I got lost in him, and it was the kind of lost that's exactly like being found.”

It says in the Synopsis that it's a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, which is obviously a classic, but as I haven't read it yet, I wont comment on that. Maybe this will be an excuse to read Pride and Prejudice now.

I have to say that I really liked this book. I don't know why in my mind I kept comparing it to Not that kind of girl by Siobhan Vivian which I read earlier this week. Even the covers used similar colours, I think both books just explored similar themes like boys, high school, relationships, and then you have the tall muscular guy who is actually a total sweetheart but you wouldn't expect him to be, and then the female protagonist who is to quick to judge and is blind to the truth...at first.

But more than Not That Kind Of Girl, I really did enjoy this book. I felt more sympathy for Elise the protagonist, she was so likeable had her values and stayed true to them through the book but while she managed that, she doesn't see the truth, over thinks too much and doesn't realise she may be wrong.

As you may know, I am really big on endings, if the ending isn't right it can kill the book for me, and i have to say I wasn't too happy about the ending, not about what happened because everything was the way it should have played out, that was fine. But, I felt like there was something missing in the ending, the way it was written didn't seem right to me. That is my own personal opinion, though I do think the rest of the book was lovely and Claire LaZebnik is a very talented writer.

It just was a great quick easy read that I loved. I didn't initially think I would like it much but I was pleasantly surprised.

I grew to like Derek and Even the rest of the characters were so likeable, Juliana and Chase, and obviously what's high school without the beautiful self-centred mean girl, Chelsea and her Sidekick Gifford.

Another thing I think I should mention is the cover. One of the things that drew me into the book was the cover, but to be honest I didn't feel like the cover had anything to do with the book, I don't quite get it. Anyone? I mean even the title, to me was irrelevant to the book itself. From what I can remember the word 'Fail' was mentioned twice in the book and 'Epic Fail' was mentioned Once and even that seemed like it was pushed in there just to link to the title.

So overall this was a great easy quick read but I would have liked to see the romance developed a bit more.  I would totally recommend to anyone who likes light YA Contemporary Romance. I think I'm going to give Claire LaZebnik another shot, any suggestions?

I am really confused about what rating to give the book, it's somewhere between 3 and 4 stars but I'm not sure how much I liked it, or how much the ending put me off. I'm going to be nice and put 4 for now.


Oh oh oh. and  I don't think I mentioned this, I fell in love with Derek, once we found out about what he's really like