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Pretenders - FREE PREVIEW EDITION
Three girls, two guys, five secret journals.
The five most popular students at Noble High have secrets to hide; secrets they wrote down in their journals. Now one of their own exposes the private entries...
I am leaking these because I'm tired and I know you are too. The success bar is too high and pretending has become the only way to reach it. Instagrams are filtered, Facebook profiles are embellished, photos are shopped, reality TV is scripted, body parts get upgraded like software, and even professional athletes are cheating. The things we believe in aren't real.
We are pretenders.
The five most popular students at Noble High have secrets to hide; secrets they wrote down in their journals. Now one of their own exposes the private entries...
I am leaking these because I'm tired and I know you are too. The success bar is too high and pretending has become the only way to reach it. Instagrams are filtered, Facebook profiles are embellished, photos are shopped, reality TV is scripted, body parts get upgraded like software, and even professional athletes are cheating. The things we believe in aren't real.
We are pretenders.
- GenresYoung Adult
64 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 27, 2013
16 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Lisi Harrison
95 books2,843 followersLisi Harrison is the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling series "The Clique", "Alphas", "Monster High," Pretenders," and her first adult novel: "The Dirty Book Club" out 10.10.17. Lisi was born in Toronto, Canada, and lived in NYC for 15 years while she worked at MTV. She now lives in Laguna Beach, CA and is a member or her own Dirty Book Club.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 9, 2014
I am torn: I loved 98% of this book, but the last 5 pages made me want to throw my Kindle across the room. I can appreciate a good cliffhanger, but FIVE cliffhangers was almost too much. Almost. Thing is - I care about the characters and want to know what happens to FIVE people I learned to love over the course of the book.
Perhaps if I had known that this was a serial series, and I would be left hanging (cough, cough FIVE TIMES, cough), it would have been less upsetting. So I am going to give YOU a heads up - there are FIVE original characters navigating the academic, social and extra-curricular waters of high school.
I loved getting to know Sheridan, Duffy, Jagger, Lily and Vanessa. Fresh storytelling (Chapters are actually private journal entries), original characters, humorous dialogue, realistic - yet unexpected - plots and twists, awesome interaction and overlapping of the players involved... I could not put the book down - until the last few pages. Then I wanted to throw the book away.
Just as soon as the momentum was in full swing, BAM! Dead stop. Want more? Wait 6 months. So like I said at the beginning - I'm torn.
If teens can wait for the next installment, they will enjoy this book. I hope the "instant gratification generation" will care enough about the 5 characters to see what happens, even if it takes til June '14.
*I received a free copy of The Pretenders from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.
Perhaps if I had known that this was a serial series, and I would be left hanging (cough, cough FIVE TIMES, cough), it would have been less upsetting. So I am going to give YOU a heads up - there are FIVE original characters navigating the academic, social and extra-curricular waters of high school.
I loved getting to know Sheridan, Duffy, Jagger, Lily and Vanessa. Fresh storytelling (Chapters are actually private journal entries), original characters, humorous dialogue, realistic - yet unexpected - plots and twists, awesome interaction and overlapping of the players involved... I could not put the book down - until the last few pages. Then I wanted to throw the book away.
Just as soon as the momentum was in full swing, BAM! Dead stop. Want more? Wait 6 months. So like I said at the beginning - I'm torn.
If teens can wait for the next installment, they will enjoy this book. I hope the "instant gratification generation" will care enough about the 5 characters to see what happens, even if it takes til June '14.
*I received a free copy of The Pretenders from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.
January 25, 2016
This book is amazing. It's very interesting and has tons of drama. The book is written in diary form. Every few pages is someone else writing (it does mark who is writing). But the neat thing about this book is that its all REAL. 100% real. These people existed and wrote in their journals. These people are called the Phoenix Five; Jagger, Lily Bader-Huffman, Vanessa Riley, Andrew "Duffy", and Sheridan Spencer. The only downside of this book is that it has a MAJOR cliff hanger at the end, not 1 but 5 cliff hangers. Its different to see everyone's perspective on situations. If I say anything else I might spoil the book.
READ IT!!
READ IT!!
October 20, 2020
If you like books full of drama, then this one is for you. It is a great book involving young teens trying to understand life and trying to find themselves. There are arguments, happy parts, sad parts, and you'll find yourself wanting to know what happens next. You will also need to be able to keep track of the characters that are included in the book. It switches up on you, but if you pay attention you'll know what it going on. Overall, it is a really good book, and I highly recommend it.
October 28, 2021
There are five diaries put into one book, each have a problem that are dealing with and each student is connected their lives in some way. She leaves it on a cliffhanger to make you want more. The drama and interesting actions they take leads you to wanting more.
November 4, 2020
Left me wanting more, especially since it wasn't the complete story.
March 18, 2021
I was into this story, and it ended. I’m very confused and intrigued. I will probably grab the sequel, which will probably help. Fun read overall.
February 28, 2022
Leaves you wanting more at the end but very surface level character building.
December 31, 2013
Pretenders is the first book I have ever read by Lisi Harrison. I have heard of her other novels but I have never read them, so I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting into. I have also never read a book in journal format and I am not sure if I really like books written this way.
It starts out with a letter from the person who stole the journals from what they call the Phoenix five, or the popular kids. The journals were stolen by one of their own. The one who stole the journals wants everyone to know that even the popular kids are not what they seem that they are really just pretenders.
So this story is told through the journals of five different people. Three girls and two boys. They are suppose to be part of the in crowd?
Sheridan sees herself as an actress and it is reflected in her journal entry’s. She wants to be popular but she is finding high school is a lot different than middle grade. She doesn’t seem to know how to be herself much she is always trying to channel some sort of actress to get her through the day. Her best friend Audri is actually fitting in better than she is and I think Sheridan is a bit jealous.
Jagger is emancipated from his parents because his parents are in jail. They went a little overboard in helping a neighboring kid who was being bullied. Jagger now lives in the back of a pet shop and I thought it was pretty good of him to continue to go to school. He comes off as a bad boy and everyone is curious about him. But is he really what he seems?
Lilly, is a little on the strange side and a bit of a stalker. She has a major crush on the boy next door and she steals his things. I am not really sure how she becomes a Phoenix five because she is just strange. She is really smart because she was home-schooled before going to public school. She only started going to Pub school because her best friend Blake had to start going and she didn’t want to see her friend have to do that alone.
Duffy, is a jock. He is trying out for the varsity basketball team with this two best friends. Being on varsity means coming up with $2500 which he thought he could get from his parents but finds out they are broke. He gets a job, but it seems a bit sketchy but all he cares about is the money for basketball.
Vanessa, she thinks she has to be perfect at everything. I mostly comes from the fact that if she does good then her parents don’t fight and they go and eat at Beni’s. If she gets good grades on her homework they go and eat there, if she doesn’t something great like wins an award they eat there and while they are there they act like a normal family. At home all her parents do is fight and that makes her itch. It’s like she is allergic to shouting. Her favorite hobby is winning awards.
I just didn’t feel pulled into the characters or invested in their time.
Altogether they seem like very shallow teens, If this is what the in crowd was like when I was in high school I think I am glad I wasn’t in a clique. I was happy just getting through school under the radar.
It’s always those who seem to have it all and try to act like the world owes them that seem to have the most problems. I just didn’t really feel that sorry for any of them, they are going through rough times at home and at school but that is a part of life. What makes them so special?
Yes, I am sort of curious to know what is going to happen with them but there is a part of me that just doesn’t really care either. I am interested in knowing which one of the five is outing them to everyone. The one who stole the journals. I have never read Clique series but I am going to guess that if you like that type of book that you will probably enjoy this book more than I did.
It starts out with a letter from the person who stole the journals from what they call the Phoenix five, or the popular kids. The journals were stolen by one of their own. The one who stole the journals wants everyone to know that even the popular kids are not what they seem that they are really just pretenders.
So this story is told through the journals of five different people. Three girls and two boys. They are suppose to be part of the in crowd?
Sheridan sees herself as an actress and it is reflected in her journal entry’s. She wants to be popular but she is finding high school is a lot different than middle grade. She doesn’t seem to know how to be herself much she is always trying to channel some sort of actress to get her through the day. Her best friend Audri is actually fitting in better than she is and I think Sheridan is a bit jealous.
Jagger is emancipated from his parents because his parents are in jail. They went a little overboard in helping a neighboring kid who was being bullied. Jagger now lives in the back of a pet shop and I thought it was pretty good of him to continue to go to school. He comes off as a bad boy and everyone is curious about him. But is he really what he seems?
Lilly, is a little on the strange side and a bit of a stalker. She has a major crush on the boy next door and she steals his things. I am not really sure how she becomes a Phoenix five because she is just strange. She is really smart because she was home-schooled before going to public school. She only started going to Pub school because her best friend Blake had to start going and she didn’t want to see her friend have to do that alone.
Duffy, is a jock. He is trying out for the varsity basketball team with this two best friends. Being on varsity means coming up with $2500 which he thought he could get from his parents but finds out they are broke. He gets a job, but it seems a bit sketchy but all he cares about is the money for basketball.
Vanessa, she thinks she has to be perfect at everything. I mostly comes from the fact that if she does good then her parents don’t fight and they go and eat at Beni’s. If she gets good grades on her homework they go and eat there, if she doesn’t something great like wins an award they eat there and while they are there they act like a normal family. At home all her parents do is fight and that makes her itch. It’s like she is allergic to shouting. Her favorite hobby is winning awards.
I just didn’t feel pulled into the characters or invested in their time.
Altogether they seem like very shallow teens, If this is what the in crowd was like when I was in high school I think I am glad I wasn’t in a clique. I was happy just getting through school under the radar.
It’s always those who seem to have it all and try to act like the world owes them that seem to have the most problems. I just didn’t really feel that sorry for any of them, they are going through rough times at home and at school but that is a part of life. What makes them so special?
Yes, I am sort of curious to know what is going to happen with them but there is a part of me that just doesn’t really care either. I am interested in knowing which one of the five is outing them to everyone. The one who stole the journals. I have never read Clique series but I am going to guess that if you like that type of book that you will probably enjoy this book more than I did.
August 3, 2016
Not a memorable read. Yes, I'm critical, and I was intrigued by the first few pages of the book, but I lost interest quickly.
Let's get started with the characters. Shallow, high-school stereotypes. (Not sure if Harrison did this on purpose, to complete the theme of "phony") Sheridan, the perspective the book opens up to, besides the note from "Phoenix", is a girl who aspires to be an actress and is bordering popular. Her entries consist of teenage drama, if I remember, including best friends, rivals, etc.
Vanessa is the overbearing-seeming "nerd", who's physical beauty wins her popularity as well. She's very ambitious, part of the reason is that getting good grades prevents her parents from fighting.
Jagger is the oh-so-mysterious teenage boy who doesn't wish to write about his inner thoughts and emotions. His parents are in jail, so he lives in the back of a shop. (Just as a note, I'm glad Harrison made Jagger's love interest a side-character, instead of providing a main character x main character pairing. It's much more realistic that way.)
Duffy is the determined jock who'll do anything to maintain his position since getting a sport scholarship is the only way to attend college.
And finally, Lilly is the "skater" girl who happens to be a past homeschooler. She is also known as the "smart" character, and indeed she has both street smarts and academic smarts. Some parts of her entries consist of her writing about her crush, who happens to be Duffy. She steals Duffy's possessions to add to her collection.
To blatantly put it, I didn't care one iota about the characters. Maybe I should have known there would be angst, considering the theme is about being fake, after all. There must be something under that mask.
The characters also seem also cartoony and unrealistic, considering that Vanessa has footnotes on every page and has won every award that existed.
To keep picking on that scab that all the reviewers seemed to have noticed...the ending was rushed. Overall, what was the sum of the book, the final key, the final word? To keep reading on after what happened during prom? I'm not sure that I'll be eagerly awaiting the next installment.
However, I DO recommend this book for teens who read contemporary novels.
Let's get started with the characters. Shallow, high-school stereotypes. (Not sure if Harrison did this on purpose, to complete the theme of "phony") Sheridan, the perspective the book opens up to, besides the note from "Phoenix", is a girl who aspires to be an actress and is bordering popular. Her entries consist of teenage drama, if I remember, including best friends, rivals, etc.
Vanessa is the overbearing-seeming "nerd", who's physical beauty wins her popularity as well. She's very ambitious, part of the reason is that getting good grades prevents her parents from fighting.
Jagger is the oh-so-mysterious teenage boy who doesn't wish to write about his inner thoughts and emotions. His parents are in jail, so he lives in the back of a shop. (Just as a note, I'm glad Harrison made Jagger's love interest a side-character, instead of providing a main character x main character pairing. It's much more realistic that way.)
Duffy is the determined jock who'll do anything to maintain his position since getting a sport scholarship is the only way to attend college.
And finally, Lilly is the "skater" girl who happens to be a past homeschooler. She is also known as the "smart" character, and indeed she has both street smarts and academic smarts. Some parts of her entries consist of her writing about her crush, who happens to be Duffy. She steals Duffy's possessions to add to her collection.
To blatantly put it, I didn't care one iota about the characters. Maybe I should have known there would be angst, considering the theme is about being fake, after all. There must be something under that mask.
The characters also seem also cartoony and unrealistic, considering that Vanessa has footnotes on every page and has won every award that existed.
To keep picking on that scab that all the reviewers seemed to have noticed...the ending was rushed. Overall, what was the sum of the book, the final key, the final word? To keep reading on after what happened during prom? I'm not sure that I'll be eagerly awaiting the next installment.
However, I DO recommend this book for teens who read contemporary novels.
October 13, 2013
Pretenders by Lisi Harrison
Lisi Harrison is an amazing writer, and her newest book entitled Pretenders, was not at all disappointing. The characters were very realistic, and the plot has little twists and turns that keeps the reader on their toes. Pretenders is the story of 5 different journals that three girls and two boys have written as they embark on a new school year at their high school. Their tales tell about new people and new situations that end up changing their lives.
Because the book shows different perspectives of people, I will highlight my favorite character in the novel. Sheridan is a very spunky girl that loves to be the center of attention and wants to be the most popular girl in school. When she feels like her best friend is slipping away from her when a mean new girl enters the picture, Sheridan starts questioning her friendship and what it really means to be loved. Sheridan learns to find herself, instead of being someone that she isn't or what others want to see.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quick read, a book with drama and a slight mystery, or who have enjoyed Harrison's books in the past. Girls may find a higher interest in Pretenders than boys though. I liked this book because it kept my interest throughout the entire book, it was easy to understand, and it has creative characters. One thing I didn't care for though was that there was a lot of ties in with Lisi Harrison's other book series, The Clique. Because I have read some of that series, I understood the references, but for someone that hasn't read The Clique, it would be very confusing for them. None the less, Pretenders was a very good book that I think many young teenage girls should read!
Lisi Harrison is an amazing writer, and her newest book entitled Pretenders, was not at all disappointing. The characters were very realistic, and the plot has little twists and turns that keeps the reader on their toes. Pretenders is the story of 5 different journals that three girls and two boys have written as they embark on a new school year at their high school. Their tales tell about new people and new situations that end up changing their lives.
Because the book shows different perspectives of people, I will highlight my favorite character in the novel. Sheridan is a very spunky girl that loves to be the center of attention and wants to be the most popular girl in school. When she feels like her best friend is slipping away from her when a mean new girl enters the picture, Sheridan starts questioning her friendship and what it really means to be loved. Sheridan learns to find herself, instead of being someone that she isn't or what others want to see.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quick read, a book with drama and a slight mystery, or who have enjoyed Harrison's books in the past. Girls may find a higher interest in Pretenders than boys though. I liked this book because it kept my interest throughout the entire book, it was easy to understand, and it has creative characters. One thing I didn't care for though was that there was a lot of ties in with Lisi Harrison's other book series, The Clique. Because I have read some of that series, I understood the references, but for someone that hasn't read The Clique, it would be very confusing for them. None the less, Pretenders was a very good book that I think many young teenage girls should read!
November 12, 2017
I loved it!!! I give it a 4.8-5.0!!!!! I'm really picky about books but this one was really good. I recomend it for middle grade readers to high schoolers that are socially awkward. I found the characters very interseting and very believable. The way the characters and their friends were all connected made me want to keep reading and not stop. I cannot choose a favorite character because I liked them all and I think they all relate to me in a way.
Duffy: his family is poor and he has to lie about it and act like he's rich. (me too) I ship SHUFFY.
Sher: I love this girl!!! Shes not skinny (but not fat), she gets embarassed a lot, and she has a popular girl rival...... Just like me. I hate Audri and Octavia!! Audri reminds me of my last 3 best friends that I lost to a mean girl (like octavia).
JAGGER!!!: omg!!! Omg!! He's perfect. Hes a mix of an emotional sensitive type with a bad boy with secrets. And he lies. A LOT. (just like me) But he likes Audri. :( ugh i hate her.
Vanessa: she is so much like me. She's really smart and has an even smarter rival/friend. Just like me. I feel bad for her about blake. :( oh!!! And she can hack. (just like me) Also her parents fight a lot. (just like mine)
Lily: I don't like her very much. Shes too smart. And she doesn't deserve Duffy.
I cant wait 4 the next book!!!! This book just got really good then all of,a sudden ended
Duffy: his family is poor and he has to lie about it and act like he's rich. (me too) I ship SHUFFY.
Sher: I love this girl!!! Shes not skinny (but not fat), she gets embarassed a lot, and she has a popular girl rival...... Just like me. I hate Audri and Octavia!! Audri reminds me of my last 3 best friends that I lost to a mean girl (like octavia).
JAGGER!!!: omg!!! Omg!! He's perfect. Hes a mix of an emotional sensitive type with a bad boy with secrets. And he lies. A LOT. (just like me) But he likes Audri. :( ugh i hate her.
Vanessa: she is so much like me. She's really smart and has an even smarter rival/friend. Just like me. I feel bad for her about blake. :( oh!!! And she can hack. (just like me) Also her parents fight a lot. (just like mine)
Lily: I don't like her very much. Shes too smart. And she doesn't deserve Duffy.
I cant wait 4 the next book!!!! This book just got really good then all of,a sudden ended
May 23, 2015
I read The Clique books a few years ago, so I wasn't surprised by the shallow, confused, adolescent [honest? real?] minds of the high school freshman. Like The Clique, the book was a fast read and although the characters were beyond frustrating and immature (but maybe that's my age talking?) I still cared about them. I'm not sure if I want to see them all succeed, but I definitely want to know how they get out of the very deep, very awkward, holes they've dug themselves into. I'll definitely be on the lookout for the next one, if only to satisfy my curiosity.
As for the format, I liked being able to follow five different people. It was easy to follow for the most part, but sometimes I wished I could just read about one character instead of the others. It had a positive impact on my own interest in creative writing, so I'll add it to my list of learning experiences.
As for the format, I liked being able to follow five different people. It was easy to follow for the most part, but sometimes I wished I could just read about one character instead of the others. It had a positive impact on my own interest in creative writing, so I'll add it to my list of learning experiences.
October 27, 2013
Pretenders by Lisa Harrison was an interesting read. Going into the book I did not know that it would be written in journal entries by the 5 main characters, 3 girls and 2 boys. The 5 characters had a teacher who wanted then to full in their entire journal with what ever they wanted too in the span of the invite school year. There was drama between the girls likening the two guys but no one ever knew because it was written in their privet journals. Though this was an essay read it was not my favorite book I have read. I would recommend this book to people who like to read in journal entry styles.
May 6, 2015
VERY young adult in every sense, but it's still rather interesting. The characters are almost interesting but are too stereotypical and fall a bit flat because of that.
Not the best book I've read (maybe I would have liked it more five years ago) but I still want to read the rest of the series.
Not the best book I've read (maybe I would have liked it more five years ago) but I still want to read the rest of the series.
November 14, 2016
This book is made up of secret journals, of 5 high school students. Hearing from all the different perspectives help form the story. It is so good, I'm thinking of reading it again. It has so much drama and suspense.
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October 25, 2013YALLfest 2013 author.
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December 13, 2013I thought that it was so cool how they were all connected but didn't even realize how close they really were. I thought it was really interesting that it was from like 5 different point of views.
August 27, 2014
I loved this one. It was pretty good.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews