Review: Promising Start to Series, but in Need of More Editing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 20, 2013
In June, I read a new type of interactive novel from the publisher Coliloquy. Coliloquy titles are similar to Choose Your Own Adventure novels, allowing readers to make important decisions in the story for the main characters. I recently had the opportunity to check out one of their newer releases, Georgetown Academy Book One by Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz. After reading a steady stream of books with heavy themes and depressing story lines, I was most definitely in the mood for something fluffy, juicy, and gossipy; Georgetown Academy Book One fulfilled all of those needs for me.Georgetown Academy Book One follows the lives of teenagers who attend an elite prep school in Washington D.C. All of the attendees are the sons and daughters of men and women with political careers; when the parents' terms end, the teens' careers at Georgetown Academy also end. People like Brinley Madison (yes, she's related to that famous Madison), however, are considered "lifers", and it's her and her kind that makes the lives of the freshman (or "interns", as they are called) and others they deem unworthy miserable.Brinley's best friend, Ellie, doesn't have it as good as Brinley. Her time at Georgetown Academy might be coming to an end if her mother cannot get her political campaign under control after a scandal breaks out. And if things weren't bad enough for Ellie already, her ex-flame Gabe has just returned to Georgetown Academy. Even though Ellie has the perfect boyfriend, there's still a spark between her and Gabe. But Gabe's father is responsible for Ellie's parents' break up, and aligning herself with Gabe would be a huge mistake.Lower on the social hierarchy at Georgetown Academy are Evan, a bookish D.C. intern who must decide to what lengths she is willing to go to get the story, and Taryn, the new girl, who becomes the victim of vicious rumors most likely spread by Georgetown Academy royalty Brinley Madison.Georgetown Academy Book One was much less interactive than I had thought it would be; there was only one decision that I, as the reader, got to make throughout the novel. In my opinion, the decision I got to make on the characters' behalf will not really make a huge impact on the direction of any future installments in the series. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't more decisions for me to make, especially since I saw several places that seemed to set it up so that the reader could make a choice.Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz seem like a great creative team, but unfortunately it shows that this is their first novel based on the quality of their writing. The entire book is basically a huge information dump; so much unnecessary detail on each and every one of the characters introduced is spewed out in the narration. I would have been more forgiving if this had only occurred at the beginning of the novel as a way to set up the story, but it happens all the way throughout. Additionally, there was far more "telling" than "showing", so the reader doesn't really get the chance to really immerse him- or herself in the story since everything is all spelled out.While this book was quite a bit of fun, it wasn't without its share of problems. Too many characters, too much detail, and too many story lines to keep track of for such a short book made it pretty frustrating at times. Nevertheless, I do recommend it if you are looking for entertaining over meaningful.*I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*