by Courtney Summers
Published on February 4, 2020 by Wednesday Books
ISBN: 1250256976
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesn't want to talk about it. She'd just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there's a nice guy falling in love with her and he's making her feel things again when she'd really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed she'd turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.
Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.
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I did not see this book coming. Not even a little bit. Once I started reading, there was no way I could stop. I was drawn in further and further, and hit with an ending that left me absolutely reeling. Is Cracked Up To Be an easy read? No, not in the slightest. Don’t let the amount of pages fool you. This small book packs a punch like no other, making me regret missing out on the writing of Courtney Summers for all these years.
I think the reason I most loved this book was one Parker Fadley. Goin into it, I was admittedly worried because I saw so many reviews touting Parker as an unlikeable narrator. But she didn’t come across that way to me at all. Sure, Parker made bad decisions, said mean things, but it all came from a place of hurt and trauma and I thought it was glaringly evident that the bad things she did were presented as bad. It made her feel so much like a real person to me, and my heart ached for her through the whole story. I just kept wanting anyone to really see that she wasn’t okay. I felt more for Parker in this small book than I have for almost any other character I’ve read recently. And I liked the rest of the characters too, I thought they were well-fleshed out and dynamic. But, from pretty much page one, Parker really stole the show for me.
I really don’t have anything negative to say about this one. The story is well thought out, revealing just enough at a time to propel it to a very good ending. The subject matter can get hard to read at points, so I would advise others to take trigger and content warnings into account. The pacing is very good, I never once got bored or found my ind wandering.
Cracked Up To Be is one of my favorite books I’ve read lately. I can definitely see myself picking this one up from time to time, even if just to revisit Parker. It’s a fast read that really hit hard and has made me eager to check out some of Summer’s other books. If you’re looking for an endearing, emotional read with complicated and real characters, Cracked Up To Be is the perfect book.
About Katie
I'm a twenty-something aspiring writer who really, really needs to get back to revisions. I've been reviewing books since 2014, and am determined to somehow make stories my day job. I truly think that every book out there contains something good and is meant for somebody.
I read and loved Sadie, and I’ve been hearing so much about Cracked Up to Be, that I just HAVE to get this book ASAP now, so I am ordering immediately! Sadie was a difficult read too, but Summers writing does not seem to be worth passing up. Thanks for this great review!
I still have Sadie on my TBR but I’ve heard so many good things about that book I just know that the author will have written another powerful read. I’m really intrigued to find out what happened to Parker to make her act out and push people away.
I agree. I didn’t find Parker unlikable either. I didn’t necessarily like the things she did or the choices she made, but there was a reason behind what she was doing. I loved this book!
After Sadie, Courtney Summer became one of my favorite authors. I don’t know why I haven’t picked up anything else by her yet, but thanks to this review I NEED Cracked Up to Be in front of me now.