Kate Brian

Private (Private, Book 1)

Briar's Reviews

Private by Kate Brian is a dramatic, teenage angst drama perfect for the Young Adult audience.

This novel is a great turn in the Young Adult genre. Why? Because it's not supernatural. I love that this book is not part of the supernatural trend, and it is all about teenagers and their petty drama.

We follow 15 year old Reid Brennan in Easton Academy where she is a scholarship student among many rich kids. It is full of the typical teenage drama - popular cliches, boys, silly drama, high school angst and gossip. 

It is entirely what you expect it to be - dramatic and fun! An outside girl is trying to fit in with the popular girls, and of course she will do whatever she wants to be apart of them! And of course you throw a hot, bad boy into the mix and the drama and gossip gets juicier.

I absolutely loved this book. It moves at a fast pace - something is always happening! Sometimes it's romance, sometimes it's drama, sometimes it's both! But it doesn't leave you feeling bored!! 

I find it hard to pick up a Young Adult novel that doesn't go on and on about plot lines we don't actually need. Private gets to the point, pulling every piece of drama out of Kate Brian's magical dramatic bag. 

It does have it's low points - our main character does not have a back bone like many teens to do today. She is pushed around easily and her emotions get the best of her. School work isn't mentioned that much, but in a soap opera type book who cares about the grades and studying parts of Reid's "real life"? 

It's a great read for someone who wants a teenage soap opera. It is for sure, very entertaining!

I would suggest it to anyone who likes novels such as Pretty Little Liars, but with less murder. If you are not interested in petty drama, silly high school drama and soap opera like plot lines, it is not the book for you. It is a book that requires little thought to read, and I find it great only for the amusement - I don't have to follow any crazy plot lines or insane theories. It's just a soap opera! So do not expect Gone Girl with plot twists and awesome endings. It is definitely your cookie cutter drama. Our main character is going to complain about being a teenage girl and she's not going to try to change. Our cast of characters are all very cookie cutter as well, we don't have any awesome background stories - this book isn't going to be made into an Oscar-worthy movie, that's for sure.

This book would sit well with young readers - it's the type of book they need at aged 13ish. It's relatable to that age group, but if you are an older teen or an adult it will seem pretty lame. It's not realistic to the adult mind, but to a pre-teen reader who deals with this type of drama at school, it'll hit a home run right to home base.

It's quick. It's scandalous. And it's mindless for the adult reader.

Four out of five stars! I would love to pick up the next book soon!

Ley Stanton

i used to be obsessed with these books in high school and brought my tablet to work just so i could finish this on my lunch break. can't wait to read the rest of the series. these are such a blast from the past.

Jade Flynn

I really enjoyed this book. Just about to start reading the second in the series 'Invitation Only'!

Siobhán

Orignal Post: http://thoughtsofamadhatter.blogspot....

I won this book on Misha Fitt's Book Bitts. I had never heard of the series before and thought it should very fun and interesting. However, even though it was a good read nothing very interesting happen. Private is just a starter book in the series. I am only hope the next one is more exciting.

Private is about young Reed to gets a scholarship at Easton Academy, a very rich school. Reed very quickly becomes "Friends" Billings girls. Reed just wants to fit in and they are popular and beautiful, The girls every girl wants to be and the girls every guy would want to date. Soon Reed finds herself being their kind of slave and doing things that could get her expelled from school if she was caught.

Honestly, Reed isn't the best main character. She comes across very one-dimensional at the start. However, I grow to quite like her. Is easy to understand why she wants to be accepted and doing stupid tasks for the Billings girls. Her home life is hard for her so she never really had many friends. I am undecided if I like the Billing Girls or not. Sometimes they come across is selfcentred and sometimes they actually seem like the care for Reed. There are four main Billing Girls, Noelle, Ariana, Taylor and Kiram. Noelle is the bitch of the group and most popular and fear girl at school. Ariana is quite mysterious actually. We don't really know much about her aside from the fact that she is beautiful and always has her nose in a book. Kiram comes across strong and feared however, their are moments where you catch a glimpse of vulernabilty in her. Then there is Taylor, she is adorable. She is so sweet and super smart its hard not to like her.

Aswell as the Billing Girls Reed quickly falls for the sexy Thomas, who is sweet and really cares for Reed. However, the Billing Girls dont like him much and it soon turns sour.

As stated above, Private is very much a starter book. An introduction to the story and the characters. The isn't really a big build up to anything. Its just a fun light read that was good and gives you a taster for the next book. Which I have ordered and can't wait to read.

I recommend this to anyone who likes Chick-Lit that is quick and doesn't need the use of brain power.

Jessica 

Here were buildings of brick and stone, topped by shingled roofs and spires, tradition and pride oozing from every dated cornerstone. Here were ancient, weathered, arched doorways, thick wooden doors on iron hinges, cobblestone walks lined by neat beds of flowers. Here were pristine playing fields of bright green grass and gleaming white lines. Everything I saw was perfect. Nothing reminded me of home. 


With the arrival of autumn and the days to winter growing closer, I tend to get very nostalgic. I repeat: very nostalgic. Back in my early years of high school, I had been obsessed with books in the similar vein as Private--the idea of boarding school life, the juicy drama of Gossip Girl. I remember just wandering the shelves at Barnes & Noble with the lunch money I had saved up (instead of eating school lunch? Yes, please.) and there was this little end cap with the first book in a new series that was so obviously targeted at girls my age. When I read the summary of Kate Brian's latest, I was in it to win it or whatever it is they say.

When I picked up the book the next morning during study hall, instead of doing my French homework, I knew I was a total goner. I haven't really touched the entire series in years but the books have had their place of display on my bookshelf for years and they just felt so appealing. Picking up Private again after so many years felt like coming home--I missed Reed Brennan and her adventures at Easton with the Billings Girls. Kate Brian's writing is just a smooth, fluffy and fast paced as I remembered it.

Continued: BOOKEDJ