Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

"And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.” 

The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: “My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss.” He says: “It’s been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.” But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he’s thinking there’s more to her than meets the eye, she’s thinking that he’s not quite all he seemed.

This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with.

Even though I'd had this book on my bookshelf for a while, I hadn't actually read it. (I was planning to—really, I was.) But it was Amanda @ Born Bookish's review that finally made me pick it up.

When I sat down to write this, I realized if I started raving about how good this book was, I might not stop.

Honestly, I just fell in love with this book: with Bryce and Juli and their families and their lives. This is the kind of book that I wanted to re-read when I wasn't even finished reading it. This is the kind of book that I know I'm going to read over and over because I genuinely love the story and the characters and everything about it.

So I'll try to break down my thoughts for you. What I think hooked me at first was the character's voices. The story isn't just the things that happen but the way that it's narrated. I could read a thousand books from Bryce and Juli's point of views and still want to read more. And the he-said, she-said style is brilliant. I've read books in this style before and I completely hated the way it was done. The way they both saw every event that happened was completely different, because they were two completely different characters with two completely different perspectives. The author pulled it off so well.

I am full of way too much general amazement at this book to find anything negative about it. The five hearts up there say it all.

As it obviously doesn't need to be stated yet again, I love this book, and I can't recommend it more. I'm off to see the movie!

Read more reviews for Flipped at:

Born Bookish and Musings of a YA Reader