New Girl by Paige Harbison {Review}

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publish Date: January 31, 2012

Source: Library

Goodreads

A contemporary young-adult retelling inspired by the classic 1938 romantic suspense bestseller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
They call me "New Girl"...
Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that's who I am. New Girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed -- because of her.
Becca Normandy -- that's the name on everyone's lips. Thee girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can't compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it's my fault.
Except for Max Holloway -- the boy whose name shouldn't be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca's boyfriend...but she's gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca's life was so much better than mine could ever be.
And maybe she's still out there, waiting to take it back.

New Girl was good, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. For one, I thought it had a little something more going on behind the scenes than a regular contemporary, like a dash of paranormal or something. I’m not quite sure where I got that idea, but I had it and the book, in fact, did not. That’s not what really made it fall flat for me, though, just wanted to clear up anyone else’s expectations in case they had them.

For some reason I didn’t really connect with anyone in the story. I could feel for the main character, but still didn’t really connect with her. I realize Becca was literally sick, but I still hated her. She was just so horrible that it was impossible to like or connect with her. Honestly, I hated Max. He didn’t grow on me at all and I really disliked that the main character wanted to be with him so badly. He wasn’t horrid or anything, but I couldn’t get past the fact that he basically thought it was okay to mess around with Becca and not actually commit to anything. Even if she was a tad crazy.

At times I got kind of a sinister vibe, but overall New Girl didn’t deliver on the creep factor I was hoping for. Basically it was just a double mean girl story. One from the victim’s point of view and one side from the bully’s point of view.

The Nutshell: New Girl was really just an okay read. I think part of what left me so disappointed was my expectations and those are, of course, all my fault. New Girl is a good book if you like boarding schools and mean girl stories, but don’t go to it looking for paranormal or creepy mystery.

Pages: 320

Series: No

Rating: Near Miss