Thursday, December 11, 2014

Review: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

I read Paula Stokes's The Art of Lainey about two months ago and really enjoyed it~ In celebration of getting to be a part of her street team for Liars Inc., here's my review for The Art of Lainey!


The Art of Lainey cover
The Art of Lainey
by Paula Stokes
May 20, 2014
384 pages

 
Goodreads Summary:
Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warning, and in public no less! Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.

And that’s when the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. With just one glance, they're sure they can use the book to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So Lainey channels her inner warlord, recruiting spies to gather intel and persuading her coworker Micah to pose as her new boyfriend to make Jason jealous. After a few "dates", it looks like her plan is going to work! But now her relationship with Micah is starting to feel like more than just a game.

What's a girl to do when what she wants is totally different from what she needs? How do you figure out the person you're meant to be with if you're still figuring out the person you're meant to be?
 

Review

I really enjoyed the first half of this book because I was super curious to see how Lainey would use The Art of War to devise a plan to get Jason back. The story moved along at a great pace. It did slow down a bit after the halfway mark because things weren't really happening but overall, I was satisfied at how the story progressed.

Lainey felt like any typical teenager. She's popular but can't help feel insecure when changes started happening. These changes made her question things about herself and the people around her. She was relatable but I was utterly exasperated when she kept going on about how much she still wanted Jason because he was the right fit.
Girl, he basically cheated on you!! How is that a right fit? I felt like she was a total wuss for not wanting any changes. I get that changes can be scary but they're also unavoidable. Especially if you're ex is a spoiled problem child. I was so pleased when she finally opened up her eyes!

Micah was stylish. I've never met a character who sports a mohawk so that was pretty cool. He was somewhat bland throughout the book for me. I felt like not much he did was memorable. Even Lainey and Micah's chemistry was very minimal until those last few chapters. Neither of them were brave enough to take any immediate action to show their affections for each other so that was a little disappointing. But that's just me. I'm a big sucker for romance so I really wished we got to see more of them actually being together before the book ended.

Where would Lainey be without Bianca!! Seriously! Bee was the best part of the book for me. She was so freaking supportive of Lainey's decisions. Or rather her indecisions. Bee totally deserves all the happiness in the world for her awesomeness. I saw it coming ;)
So glad she and Leo clicked!

The quotations from The Art of War at the beginning of each chapter were so insightful! It got the wheels in my mind turning. While I can't say I completely understood how each quote applied to each part of the story, it was fun to exercise my brain and do some thinking.

This book was different. So neat to be applying war strategies to relationships. Maintaining a relationship is really quite like fighting a battle (in a positive way). I love the idea and I think this book is definitely worth a thought!
 
4 Cats

20 comments:

  1. I am a little bummed there wasn't more romance as well, you know how I love romance too!
    Glad though that overall it was a good read. :)
    Wonderful review!

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    1. Ya I really wish there was more of Micah and Lainey together! Thanks Kindlemom~~

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  2. I loved the way the synopsis ended- I've always thought YA books tend to talk more about who the teens are with as opposed to who they are. This sounds like a great insightful story! Thanks for sharing!
    Esty @ Boarding with Books

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    1. I'm glad you you're interested! I hope you pick it up :)

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  3. I really loved Lainey's book and I loved how she growed up a spine finally and got to be herself and to take risks and not worry about being popular and sticking with what she knew!

    And hey fellow LoyalLiar!! *waves*

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    1. Yaa! So happy she became more comfortable with her choices and took risks in the end!!

      *waves back like a maniac haha

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  4. Aaaaaand I just suddenly remembered why I didn't want to read this in the first place. Thanks for reminding me. :)

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    1. Not a problem? Hahaha it was still a fun contemporary read :)

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  5. Oh my gosh—I'm SO HAPPY THAT YOU ENJOYED THIS! Ah, it was everything I wanted and more! OMG Leo and... Were absolutely adorable, I shipped them from the start! Paula Stokes is so fantastic, I wish Lainey was 5000 pages! Great review!

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    1. Thanks Michelle! I wish it was that long! Micah and Lainey <3

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  6. Too often books have a great first half and a meh second half. I like the buildup before characters get together the best. The tension and the banter. A romance book quoting the Art of war is unique.

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    1. YES! That slow burn is the best!! Give this a try, you might like it ;)

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  7. I'm the same way with romance, too bad there couldn't have been more of a build up with their relationship. Glad you liked it overall though!

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    1. I would've killed for more build up hahaha. But it really was still very enjoyable!

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  8. Glad you liked this one! I was so-so over it, but I'll definitely be looking into more of this author's work. Speaking of, you're on a roll with the promotions!

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    1. Liars, Inc. looks really promising so I hope you'll enjoy it :D Am I on a roll? I feel like I've been doing less and less :(

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  9. War strategies in a teen romance?! I NEED THIS BOOK. I see mostly raving reviews for it and I'd so love to get my hands on it someday. XD Pity that Micah and Lainey's chemistry kind of sucks...but mohawk?! AGREED. I can't ever remember reading about a book with a kid with a mohawk. That's neat. xD

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    1. I hope you try it and let me know what you think!!

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  10. I am so super nervous to read this book because I don't think I'll like Lainey AT ALL. Her obsession with her ex will probably annoy the heck out of me. :/ But her best friend does sound like all sort of awesome.

    Great review, lady!

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    1. I have to agree that you probably won't like Lainey very much. She can be a little much when she's talking about her ex :( Thank you Danielle!

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