Review: Co-Editors Who Love To Hate Each Other
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2010
This novella was a bit of a slow starter. Wasn't sure when I was reading the first chapter. Then came the set up. Our gutsy high school reporter heroine, who has sworn of dating high school boys, must go on 12 blind dates in order to write a feature story to accompany the calendar they're using as a fundraiser to save the school paper. Through it all she goes toe to toe with her co-editor and ex-boyfriend and BFF Jimmy Foster.I admit it. I am a total sucker for the antagonism is really just a sign of love dynamic. Hayes' voice is fresh, fun, and Layney reminds me of a cross between Nancy Drew, a young Lois Lane, and Veronica Mars. The sparks between Layney and Foster totally jump off the page and sent me straight back to the glossed-over, idealized version of my memories of high school (you know, the version where there were redeeming qualities and I wasn't counting the seconds until I graduated and got to COLLEGE). In the best possible sense. There were a handful of typos, but not enough to pull me out of the story (which is saying something because I am a total grammar Nazi).Unlike the prior reviewer, I didn't have a problem with the issue of rape coming out, nor did I think it was poorly integrated.  This wasn't a moralizing tale (and I really wasn't surprised...as soon as there were the first hints that something had gone horribly wrong in the past, I suspected), so I didn't take issue with the fact that there wasn't a really long, deep discussion about it.  It's a novella for pete's sake.  She hit the necessary points on that front and tied up the loose ends.Bravo Gwen for giving us a well constructed read.