Review: How to pick a lock via YouTube... or an OK YA read (for YA)
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 28, 2012
What would you do if you showed at school, or work or turned a corner in the grocery store aisle and ran into yourself? Citrus Leahy is about to find out just how upside down it will turn her world. Kind of like Willow, but not a witch because there is no magic involved, gets to star in her own book. It read like a Buffy special, dialogue and all.First and foremost this is a fast paced book that I would highly recommend  for those pain in the rear teens that you just cannot get to sit down and read a book. The main character is a girl who isn't the cheerleader, or student body president. She is a book worm with one best friend, and she likes it this way. Her mom is a single parent, she works hard on her grades and seems like a pretty laid back, focused responsible girl. She is feisty, fun, as a purse full of very helpful things and rambles a lot over thinking and day dreaming just about everything. Just like so many typical teenage girls!I personally had a lot of fun reading this. I think my daughter, who we struggled to get hooked on reading, would've like it a lot when she was in high school. It is light and easy to follow. A teenage crush, a body snatching alien race or something more paranormal is coming in and taking over, starting with the high schoolers and working their way outward it seems. Of course there is the sucking of body fluids of some kind. It could be blood, but it also seems quite possibly be spinal fluid sucking kind demon species. Like the Buffy kind of demons with no religious over or under tones. We are not let in on what they are in this first book in the series (gosh darn it!).  There is a character for everyone. The cheerleader who in the supporting role instead of the lead role. The quarter back is 2nd string to our girl who learns how to pick a lock with a YouTube video. Citrus's heart throb causes pleasure and pain just like any high school crush.The teenage colloquialisms were a bit over done for my taste but it did not drive me to much of a distraction. I have five kids, and as of now they have been or are in that lovely "Oh Em Gee" SIMS texting, Facebooking zone. It was a bit hard to slog through for the first couple of chapters. But it did not ruin the story, it was like watching a Buffy marathon, as soon as you get through the first five episodes in season one, I did not even notice for the rest of the read.Over all, I am 45 years-old and this was a YA that I liked, but it was definitely written for the young adult crew. I will be watching for the next in the series because the author left a great cliff-hanger. My daughter of 16 loved it, but she talks like this. I rate it PG, just scary enough to make you go "ooooooooooh"! but not enough to freak anyone completely out. The bad guys are really twisted, the good guys are flawed, and our protagonist is someone every girl can relate too.