Really Good Friends: A Spin the Bottle Novel

by Daisy Jordan

For Jill Sherer, high school's shaping up to be better than she could've imagined. From the first week of cheerleading practice, she and her best friends Hillary and Lorylyn are included in a circle of popular girls who open the door to a world of exciting social possibilities. And on the first day of school, Jill meets Todd - hot, smart, athletic, funny, and a flirt - the boy of her dreams. But things with Todd don't go as Jill had hoped, she and Hillary drift apart, and her circle of friends is shaken by Lorylyn's new boyfriend. Desperate to get things back to the way they were, Jill, along with her new best friend Hilton - a gorgeous, intriguing girl who is the link between her old friends and her new ones - anxiously awaits the one thing that never changes.Landon Kessler's parties. There, on a lake outside town, everyone comes together time after time for dancing, drinking, skinny-dipping, and spin-the-bottle. Spin the bottle.the game that leads to new loves, bitter jealousies, betrayals, and breakups. The game that teasingly draws the circle of friends together, only to rip them apart in unforeseeable ways. But they keep coming back, some with hope, some with malevolence, some with amused interest, to be part of the saga that unfolds party after party, month after month. About the Author: Daisy Jordan grew up in Kendallville, Indiana and attended Purdue University. She graduated from Purdue in 2005 with degrees in English education and psychology. She is currently attending Purdue to earn her Master's degree in school counseling. Daisy is the author of the 2005 novel Everything Happens for a Reason. and is currently working on several more books, including the next novel in the Spin the Bottle series.

Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

I am a YA and women's fiction author. I love writing because I get to capture emotions people feel in everyday life and play with my readers' emotions! ;) I write characters people can relate to, and I almost always end a book with a cliffhanger to keep my readers coming back. Plus, life is always better with a little suspense! ;) My books are mostly about relationships and everyday life, with some extra plot twists thrown in for fun! My characters reappear from one novel to the next, and even when they're not main characters in the current book, you can still get updates on their lives. I travel whenever I can, I love animals and helping animal organizations, and I am slightly obsessed w/ men's pro tennis, the shows Revenge and Friends, the Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight movie trilogy, the 1920s, New York City, Paris, song lyrics, and many many books! :) You can find me online at: daisyjordan.com, facebook.com/AuthorDaisyJordan, twitter.com/daisyjordan06 (@daisyjordan06), authordaisyjordan.wordpress.com, and pinterest.com/daisyjordan06.

Reviews

[hpboy13 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just was not very good. I love me some coming-of-age stories, and thought that this would be a fun bit of fluff to read. Nope! First of all, this is not a complete book – there’s no climax, no resolution, no character arc. This book did a fine job setting up a story, but by the time the story was set up, there were ten pages left. And then I get the message, “Read the next book to find out what happens to Jill and Todd!” I’m sorry, but I won’t be reading the next book. This is not a TV show, where they leave off at “TBC…” and ask me to tune in next week. A book should actually have some merit on its own, and I won’t indulge this author.

But even before the abrupt ending, I was not having it with this book. I have two quibbles, one minor, one major. The minor one: who names their three main characters Jill, Hillary, and Hilton? Yeah, that wasn’t confusing to keep track of at all in the beginning especially once they added pet names like Hill and Jilly.

The major quibble: this book was agonizing to read through, because it was very convincingly written as by a 14-year-old. All the guys, down to the last one, are described as “hot” + a hair color. Like, really? Nothing about abs, muscles, dimples, smiles, anything? There are constant exclamations of “This sucked!” “Best night ever!” “Worst day ever.” “This sucked!” Those are direct quotes. Oy.

But I could forgive all that (and the whining, and the descriptions of outfits), if the characters had a sense of humor about themselves. I remember being 14 and gossiping with my friends – yes, they were boy crazy, and giggled, and had a lot of emotions. But they had a sense of irony about themselves – we all knew we were ridiculous, and kept that in perspective. That’s what was really missing from this book: a sense of self-awareness on the part of the characters. Instead, all the characters were 100% earnest in their absurdity; they always giggle but almost never laugh at themselves. It thus came off as an adult trying to imagine what teenagers are like, and doing it with a heaping helping of disdain.

And I have my own disdain… for this book, and for any writer who believes teenagers are actually as stupid as they seem.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huuuuuuuuge Daisy Jordan fan. I have read every single one of her books multiple times, and as a reader, these books helped give me the inspiration I needed to work on my own writing (something that I think is awesome!) I am particularly fond of the Spin the Bottle series because it deals with high school and things that almost every girl can relate to.

I would not teach these books whole class for obvious reasons (appropriateness, and male students would probably not take an interest in them!). However, I would definitely put these books on the shelf in my classroom. I think that students should be able to read things they truly enjoy in their free time, and I read this series during my senior year of high school and it really did just help me overall find enjoyment in reading. I think these books and all other books by Jordan would be widely popular with my female students. Plus I happen to know the author of the books and might be able to convince her to talk to my students about the books...I feel like they would think it was cool to see a real life author in the classroom ;)

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

If you have really good friends, then entering high school should be a breeze, right?

Jill and her friends Hillary and Lorylyn make a vow of friendship, to stay together through thick and thin, but Jill's finding that not everyone is sticking to the pact.

What happens when you drift away from your friends? While these three best friends start off together, boys and popularity break up the group. How can you be best friends with someone and not be able to tell them about the boy you're secretly crushing over while dating his best friend?

Jill's having a rough time navigating through freshman year. Can she come out on top with a boyfriend and best friends by her side?

Grab your best friend and read this book together -- and then gossip about all of the things going on in your life and celebrate friendships.