Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin {Review}

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Publish Date: March 1, 2012

Source: Publisher for honest review

Goodreads

Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled -- by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends -- sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo -- Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.
Things start out great -- her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior's thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness...it doesn't mean the rest of the world is in on it.

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters turned out to be a complete win.

I wasn’t really sure how I’d feel about it since contemporaries featuring younger main characters can be a little too silly for me, but this one wasn't like that at all. In fact, it completely reminded me of what I was like at that age. I won’t go so far as to say it reminded me of my freshman year since nothing very exciting ever happened to me, but it was certainly fun to read about.

I loved that Kelsey was so real. She had the same kind of thoughts I did at that age. You know the ones “my parents hate me and they just want me to be a loser forever” and “can he possibly like me? OMG he’s so cute!” I don’t exactly want to revisit that age long-term, but it was fun to feel like I was back there just for a few days.

I like the heavier stuff such as what happened with JoJo along with the kind of silly stuff such as what happened with the “old-fashioned root beer bottle.” Don’t worry, I won’t spoil, so you should totally read it for yourself. I loved that the whole story totally did document like a freshman year, though. There were friend fights and multiple crushes and first kisses.

I only have one teeny tiny complaint and that’s the alcohol use. Maybe I was a sheltered 14-year-old,but I never saw that much alcohol in my freshman year. It just seemed unnecessary is all.

The Nutshell: This is an absolute fantastic contemporary. Don’t be afraid of a younger main character because Zeitlin really knows how to make it work. If you’re a freshman (or somewhere around the age) you’ll probably be able to relate to this book and if freshman year has long since passed then Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters will totally transport you back there. There’s cute boys, zany “disasters”, some girl fights, and even an arch-nemesis with caterpillars for eyebrows. If you’re looking for a fun, cute, and light read you should definitely pick this one up :]

Pages: 288

Series: No

Rating: 5 stars