Name: Jessica 's review of She's the Worst by Lauren Spieller
Item: She's the Worst
Rating: 4
Author: Jessica

Lauren Spieller

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets 10 Things I Hate About You in this fun, contemporary novel about two sisters who have twenty-four hours to fulfill a pact and overcome the secret that threatens to tear them apart. Sisters April and Jenn haven’t been close in years. Jenn’s too busy with school, the family antique shop, and her boyfriend, and April would rather play soccer and hang out with the boy next door. But when April notices her older sister is sad about staying home for college, she decides to do something about it. The girls set off to revive a pact they made as kids: spend an epic day exploring the greatest hits of their childhood and all that Los Angeles has to offer. Then April learns that Jenn has been keeping a secret that could rip their family—and their feuding parents—apart. With only one day to set things right, the sisters must decide if their relationship is worth saving, or if the truth will tear them apart for good.

She's the Worst

Jessica 

Aubrey Erskine

For the full review visit my blog:
http://shelflifechronicles.com/2019/0...

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

I love it when I find a story I can relate to and She’s The Worst falls into that category. Jenn and April couldn’t be more different. They fight a lot and have no idea what’s going on in the others world, completely lost in their own separate lives. To be fair though their parents non-stop fighting and treatment of each of the sisters has a lot to do with the issues between the two.

Belle Ellrich

*I WAS PROVIDED A PHYSICAL ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER IN RETURN FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOESN'T AFFECT MY OPINION*

Have you ever gotten into a big fight with your sibling(s)? Or maybe a long-term fight with a friend? This book is full of those, but in the best ways possible.

April just wants to have a day to reconcile with her older sister Jenn, and she wants to make amends with her. Until Jenn drops the bombshell that throws the whole day into smithereens.

Somethings I really liked about this book were the realistic situations. Parents fighting happens all the time, especially if it's a really stressed situation between them. Children often get caught in the crossfire, feeling like they're unimportant compared to their parents' problems. And this book perfectly conveyed that and the need to escape.

April and Jenn's relationship is a perfect example of every day happenings. Arguments every other hour, best friends once every thirty minutes, the need to be close and comfortable. It's all there.

Though this book had a bunch of great parts, it also had its downfalls. There were multiple points in the book that I felt needed to be sped up or left out altogether. Other than that though, I absolutely adored reading She's the Worst. For that, I rate this novel 4 stars.

(3.5 stars) 
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Review can be found here at Booked J. 


  As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way. 




Admittedly, I had a massive moment of weakness when it came to She's the Worst and its design. I loved the pose of the cover, the typography and the dazed pastel pink. So, fine, I totally judged a book by its cover, but it's fine. I'm the worst. 

Which is oddly fitting. One of the more prominent themes featured within She's the Worst is that sometimes, we all have a knack for passing judgment on our loved ones. In the case of two very different, very human, sisters, the tension of doing so is almost unbearable and has certainly driven a wedge between what was once a close friendship. Now, as one prepares to depart for her first year of college, their misunderstandings and lack of compassion for what one another feels, things seem to truly be coming to a conclusion. 

The first thing you should know is that She's the Worst portrays a very specific type of sisters and girlhood. Jenn and April are both complex and flawed individuals that are pretty much opposites in terms of personalities. The one thing that ties them together is not their shared blood, it is their lack of understanding and communication towards one another. This pigheadedness is very well suited and realistic--they are both so young and given their parents behavior (or lack thereof) it felt right that they were so... selfish and immature about one another. 

What becomes clear to the reader, after switching between the minds of both Jenn and April, is that they are both products of how they were raised. And that their parent's are, in fact, the ones who are "the worst". She's the Worst is the perfect example of petty sibling relationships that are rooted in some sort of miscommunication; that could have been solved long ago, if not for sheer biased stubbornness. 

I remember feeling that emotional snowball effect throughout the course of She's the Worst and found myself hoping that these two would work things out and see the error of their judgment and was so relieved at how Lauren Spieller not only portrayed teenagers, but how she allowed them to grow in a way that felt organic. While there were many moments where I wanted to shake both April and Jenn, there were even more moments where I wanted to just scoop them up and cheer them up. 

And then there were the moments I wanted to yell at their parents and tell them to grow the heck up. While they weren't inherently abusive towards their children, they were verbally abusive toward each other and blatantly selfish, immature and insufferable. I am not going to lie--they were the worst part of the novel. 

Still, it was in their ignorance and obliviousness that eventually lead us straight into the repairing of one sisterly bond. She's the Worst is a short timeline, both in terms of how long it takes to read it and how long the novel is set, but it has a superb amount of development that gave me the warm and fuzzies by its conclusion. 

Ultimately, I loved the development that we got to see. This is a story about sisters who have lost their way from each other, but in the end are able to find--and understand--each other. I'm always, always fond of stories that have sisterly relationships at its center, and while She's the Worst has moments of romance (friends to dating) and friendship in it, it is undeniably about two sisters coming of age.

Jessica &
She's the Worst by Lauren Spieller

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