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Crestview Academy #1
Rhymes with Witches
From the author of ttyl, comes this smart, savage story of a high school where popularity can be stolen. Jane dreams of being chosen as the freshman member a dominant school clique made up of one girl from each class. When her wish is granted, and she is offered a place in their group, Jane discovers the terrible price of their particular kind of popularity. There is a sinister secret to their power, one that will change Jane forever. Darkly humorous and dead on, this book will leave readers shivering in recognition.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2005
35 people are currently reading
1073 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Myracle
95 books2,026 followersLauren Myracle is the author of numerous young adult novels. She was born in 1969 in North Carolina. Lauren Myracle holds an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. she has written many novels, including the famous IM books, ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r.
Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One) .
Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One) .
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August 22, 2020Let’s just say books you loved as an 11-year-old don’t always hold up when you’re 27...
November 1, 2011
Humans will pretty much eat, sleep, and crap their way to the place they think they should be socially. Some people feel ethically conflicted about using this eating, sleeping, and mating as a basis for judging and classifying. Some do not. Some embrace it and find a way to use the classification system as leverage for trending upwards in the eating, sleeping, and crapping departments. In rhymes with witches by Lauren Myracle,the embracers are The Bitches, and they are the high schoolers with the golden halos. They are the girls who can rock braces with colored rubber bands. Everyone at school wants to breathe their air. Their shit does not stink in a way that yours does. It doesn't stink because...magic! If you need more explanation, see the spoiler.
Ah, high school. I salute you with both my middle fingers. I think of high school when I recall Hamlet's "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune..." and it is not just because I read it then, although I did. Perhaps there is nowhere better than high school for watching humans jockeying about for all manner of blue ribbons. The brightest. The best dressed. The best eater, sleeper, crapper... The most likely to be the most likely to do anything. That ribbon, 'the most likely to win anything' ribbon would definitely go to one of The Bitches, who are made up of one girl from each class level. Each year, an old Bitch leaves and a new Bitch is chosen from among the Freshman class. They stay popular because, like I said, magic.
Jane is a Freshman normal. Like many girls in high school, she wants to transcend normal and be different- to be a unique snowflake- and she knows that to be unique and different and alive and transcendent she must become a Bitch, which would make her very much like the other three Bitches. (In my head, I made them Bratz dolls and found that it encapsulated the whole different but the same thing I am trying to convey here)
So, Jane, she's shooting for the popular sameness that The Bitches have- wide eyes, full lips, and whatnot. Jane knows this kind of thinking is ridiculous on some level, but, like many high school girls, doesn't want to question her desire or run a full logic breakdown because she is tired of eating her granola bar lunch in the library reading Ramona books (I happened to like this part of Jane). If I had read this book back in high school, I think I would have loved it to pieces in spite of its problems with loose ends lacking enough magical realism to make the book what it could have been. But I've been spoiled by Angela Carter and Kelly Link and girls that can do magic and a quick breakdance of logic. In the end, hard lessons. Poor Jane. And, poor book, I'm sorry, but your dark side of popularity wasn't as dark as I'd hoped...or remembered (the golden girls at my high school were of the 1990 variety, but they hardly needed black magic to do worse stuff than what is in this book- I guess they were just old school bad. Please, please, if the girls are going to be involved in black magic, dear author, deliver to us on the evil. More evil, more of the time. People should die and not just be threatened.). Ultimately, this book was a 2.5 for me, mainly because the premise showed promise, especially when Myracle mentioned Flowers for Algernon on the back flap.
"at first Charlie's happy with the change. And then, well, he isn't. Because there's a price to pay for turning into someone new. There always is...what if there was a way to manipulate not intelligence, but popularity?...")
Invoking Algernon deserves something, I think, since it was such a great sniffling read for me back when I was battling Bitches of my own and learning about the wearing of blue ribbons, social positions, and the heart aches and breaks associated with their presence or absence. (Cue Janis' Ian's "Seventeen" here)
Also, I accorded some grace to the book and its rating after I learned that there is another book, a prequel to this one, that may explain why feral cats and statues go hand in hand.
I came across this book after reading an article about censorship (here it is: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/a...). Curious, I checked my incredibly rural library (the only one in the county and the size of an auto parts store) for the titles mentioned. Not surprisingly, there were only two books available for me to check out. One was an award winning book (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62...) that created a bit of a stir because it harbored 'scrotum' on its first page, which I am reading now to my daughter. The other was this one, Rhymes with Witches. Both are hardly incendiary in my opinion. But as I have Hobbit feet, I am probably just not aware of the flames of hell licking my heels. Especially since now my little girl knows in perfectly biological terms what a scrotum is and is not.
Ah, high school. I salute you with both my middle fingers. I think of high school when I recall Hamlet's "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune..." and it is not just because I read it then, although I did. Perhaps there is nowhere better than high school for watching humans jockeying about for all manner of blue ribbons. The brightest. The best dressed. The best eater, sleeper, crapper... The most likely to be the most likely to do anything. That ribbon, 'the most likely to win anything' ribbon would definitely go to one of The Bitches, who are made up of one girl from each class level. Each year, an old Bitch leaves and a new Bitch is chosen from among the Freshman class. They stay popular because, like I said, magic.
Jane is a Freshman normal. Like many girls in high school, she wants to transcend normal and be different- to be a unique snowflake- and she knows that to be unique and different and alive and transcendent she must become a Bitch, which would make her very much like the other three Bitches. (In my head, I made them Bratz dolls and found that it encapsulated the whole different but the same thing I am trying to convey here)
So, Jane, she's shooting for the popular sameness that The Bitches have- wide eyes, full lips, and whatnot. Jane knows this kind of thinking is ridiculous on some level, but, like many high school girls, doesn't want to question her desire or run a full logic breakdown because she is tired of eating her granola bar lunch in the library reading Ramona books (I happened to like this part of Jane). If I had read this book back in high school, I think I would have loved it to pieces in spite of its problems with loose ends lacking enough magical realism to make the book what it could have been. But I've been spoiled by Angela Carter and Kelly Link and girls that can do magic and a quick breakdance of logic. In the end, hard lessons. Poor Jane. And, poor book, I'm sorry, but your dark side of popularity wasn't as dark as I'd hoped...or remembered (the golden girls at my high school were of the 1990 variety, but they hardly needed black magic to do worse stuff than what is in this book- I guess they were just old school bad. Please, please, if the girls are going to be involved in black magic, dear author, deliver to us on the evil. More evil, more of the time. People should die and not just be threatened.). Ultimately, this book was a 2.5 for me, mainly because the premise showed promise, especially when Myracle mentioned Flowers for Algernon on the back flap.
"at first Charlie's happy with the change. And then, well, he isn't. Because there's a price to pay for turning into someone new. There always is...what if there was a way to manipulate not intelligence, but popularity?...")
Invoking Algernon deserves something, I think, since it was such a great sniffling read for me back when I was battling Bitches of my own and learning about the wearing of blue ribbons, social positions, and the heart aches and breaks associated with their presence or absence. (Cue Janis' Ian's "Seventeen" here)
Also, I accorded some grace to the book and its rating after I learned that there is another book, a prequel to this one, that may explain why feral cats and statues go hand in hand.
I came across this book after reading an article about censorship (here it is: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/a...). Curious, I checked my incredibly rural library (the only one in the county and the size of an auto parts store) for the titles mentioned. Not surprisingly, there were only two books available for me to check out. One was an award winning book (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62...) that created a bit of a stir because it harbored 'scrotum' on its first page, which I am reading now to my daughter. The other was this one, Rhymes with Witches. Both are hardly incendiary in my opinion. But as I have Hobbit feet, I am probably just not aware of the flames of hell licking my heels. Especially since now my little girl knows in perfectly biological terms what a scrotum is and is not.
September 11, 2014
Gawd, I wanted to love this book. I really did. But I just couldn't.
For starters, I hated Jane. She was a very weak person who would stab her only friend (Alicia) in the back if it meant getting some popularity. I also hated Alicia. Even though I felt sorry for her when Jane betrayed her, I just thought she was a very mean and whiny individual. I hated pretty much everyone in this book. Except the cats. But even they got annoying.
Speaking of the cats, another reason I couldn't bring myself to give this more stars was a lot of things (such as: Lurl the Pearl's background, why the popular girls did these rituals, what spirits gave them this power, and not to mention WHY THE HELL ARE THERE A BUNCH A CATS RUNNING AROUND A HIGH SCHOOL?!) were unexplained. One of my pet peeves is when I finish a book and I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. I need answers!!!
WHAT THE HELL WAS WITH THAT ENDING?! No explanation of why a certain character did certain things. What happened to Jane? To everyone else? It ends on a total cliffhanger, and I do not think there is a sequel (correct me if I'm wrong. Please). Not to mention THERE IS INSTA-LOVE. The "romance" (if you can even call it that), with Jane and Phil just DOESN'T work, as Jane spends most of her time treating him like utter shit. And he still worships the ground she walks on. WHY?
The title has nothing to do with the story. I don't get it.
However, there is one redeeming point. This book paints a very realistic picture of high school, and how some kids just CARE so much about popularity, and how it can be like hell for some. I just started high school, and I really relate to the high school portrayed in this book. Plus, the school in this book has the same colors as my school. Creepy.
But overall, I just cannot recommend this book.
For starters, I hated Jane. She was a very weak person who would stab her only friend (Alicia) in the back if it meant getting some popularity. I also hated Alicia. Even though I felt sorry for her when Jane betrayed her, I just thought she was a very mean and whiny individual. I hated pretty much everyone in this book. Except the cats. But even they got annoying.
Speaking of the cats, another reason I couldn't bring myself to give this more stars was a lot of things (such as: Lurl the Pearl's background, why the popular girls did these rituals, what spirits gave them this power, and not to mention WHY THE HELL ARE THERE A BUNCH A CATS RUNNING AROUND A HIGH SCHOOL?!) were unexplained. One of my pet peeves is when I finish a book and I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. I need answers!!!
WHAT THE HELL WAS WITH THAT ENDING?! No explanation of why a certain character did certain things. What happened to Jane? To everyone else? It ends on a total cliffhanger, and I do not think there is a sequel (correct me if I'm wrong. Please). Not to mention THERE IS INSTA-LOVE. The "romance" (if you can even call it that), with Jane and Phil just DOESN'T work, as Jane spends most of her time treating him like utter shit. And he still worships the ground she walks on. WHY?
The title has nothing to do with the story. I don't get it.
However, there is one redeeming point. This book paints a very realistic picture of high school, and how some kids just CARE so much about popularity, and how it can be like hell for some. I just started high school, and I really relate to the high school portrayed in this book. Plus, the school in this book has the same colors as my school. Creepy.
But overall, I just cannot recommend this book.
February 16, 2010
I picked up this book from the library with mind that it was going to be typical chic lit.
The plot was pretty bad; filled to the brim with the cliched 'I want to be popular' mentality.
The characters were awful: The main character tried too hard to be self-righteous even throughout her 'Bitching', the best friend was a bitch to the end without actually being a Bitch, the popular girls a.k.a The Bitches were two-faced but confusingly so; the only consistent bitch was Bitsy, and I hated her. Being British myself, I found it quite insulting the way the author had her speak in that horrible accent, words such as 'luv', 'darling' and 'pet'. Finally, the picked on 'woe-is-me' girl turned out to become a Bitch anyway, despite being cynical of the whole idea, and just plain bossy. Her character only really appears at the end and it really confused and angered the heck out of me, probably not in the way the author intended.
The author didn't follow through with the the main character's train of thought, which I suppose was meant for the reader to figure out the next move for his or her self but I found it annoying and half-hearted.
The whole-sub plot with the killer cats turned out to be nothing, and had no connection to the book at all it seemed.
Unfortuantely, my preconceptions that all chick lit. is bad has been proven true, at least with this book.
The plot was pretty bad; filled to the brim with the cliched 'I want to be popular' mentality.
The characters were awful: The main character tried too hard to be self-righteous even throughout her 'Bitching', the best friend was a bitch to the end without actually being a Bitch, the popular girls a.k.a The Bitches were two-faced but confusingly so; the only consistent bitch was Bitsy, and I hated her. Being British myself, I found it quite insulting the way the author had her speak in that horrible accent, words such as 'luv', 'darling' and 'pet'. Finally, the picked on 'woe-is-me' girl turned out to become a Bitch anyway, despite being cynical of the whole idea, and just plain bossy. Her character only really appears at the end and it really confused and angered the heck out of me, probably not in the way the author intended.
The author didn't follow through with the the main character's train of thought, which I suppose was meant for the reader to figure out the next move for his or her self but I found it annoying and half-hearted.
The whole-sub plot with the killer cats turned out to be nothing, and had no connection to the book at all it seemed.
Unfortuantely, my preconceptions that all chick lit. is bad has been proven true, at least with this book.
February 8, 2010
omg i hate this book. It was full of crap. First Jane got what she deserved because she was only friends with Alicia when she was "invisible" which is very wrong. Also that is what she gets for being so nice to a person like Camilla. Why did she do that? Now look where she is at back where she started. At the bottom of the social list. i guess it was never meant to be, she was never meant to be a bitch. The part that i mostly hated in this book was the freaky magical stuff. Like having to steal for they can rise and another can fall. I felt also that Alicia was also very mean to Jane in the beginning and was very jealous.
I think that this book is trying to tell you that you should be happy with who you are and to not be something that your not. You might think that by being with the popular people is going to make people like you but the truth is that people won't really like you. It is all an act. In order to be popular i guess that you need to prove to your friends that you are worthy.
I think that this book is trying to tell you that you should be happy with who you are and to not be something that your not. You might think that by being with the popular people is going to make people like you but the truth is that people won't really like you. It is all an act. In order to be popular i guess that you need to prove to your friends that you are worthy.
March 4, 2015
I KNOW I read this book years ago, but I didn't blog about it, which means I don't remember it! So I re-read it this week since it's up for PPYA. I love the title, but that's about all I like about the book. I'm glad the author tackled the problem about how teen girls want popularity, but I hated the cats. Really? Feral cats in a school? Seriously? The cat scenes didn't even seem to fit into the rest of the story. The main character dumped her friends so quickly for the Bitches, the group of four girls who are the most popular girls in school. The Bitches really are witches, using the power of the goddess (through their humanities teacher) to suck popularity from other people to increase their own popularity. Interesting concept, but it fell flat. I think girls pick up this book because of the title, and think it's alright. But I didn't like any of the characters, and the conversation is so stilted, it's impossible to get to know them. I've tried really hard to like this author, but haven't been impressed.
March 31, 2009
Hmm. I really didn't care for this book too much. The people in it were terrible to each other, the language was unnecessarily awful, and I had a hard time feeling all that sorry for anyone (except Phil, who was awesome). (Actually, now that I think of it, that's what made Bliss good for me - I really genuinely liked the main character, as well as Sarah Lynn Lancaster and Lawrence.)
Honestly, I think I would have enjoyed it even less if I hadn't read Bliss first. That made it a LOT more interesting since you already know what went on at Crestview in the late '60s, and who the "bad guy" will be. I was also REALLY glad I read Bliss first despite the fact that it was written later, because I got totally fooled by the twists and turns of that book, and if I'd read this one first I would already have known the identity of S.L.L. from the start!
I would only recommend this to people who like books involving really nasty schoolmates, like The Clique.
This may even be my last experience with Lauren Myracle (other than a short story in an anthology I picked up) because her stories get too gross and obnoxious for me.
Honestly, I think I would have enjoyed it even less if I hadn't read Bliss first. That made it a LOT more interesting since you already know what went on at Crestview in the late '60s, and who the "bad guy" will be. I was also REALLY glad I read Bliss first despite the fact that it was written later, because I got totally fooled by the twists and turns of that book, and if I'd read this one first I would already have known the identity of S.L.L. from the start!
I would only recommend this to people who like books involving really nasty schoolmates, like The Clique.
This may even be my last experience with Lauren Myracle (other than a short story in an anthology I picked up) because her stories get too gross and obnoxious for me.
May 8, 2017
absolutely awful.
promotes sexual assault and victim blaming. AWFUL.
promotes sexual assault and victim blaming. AWFUL.
March 5, 2024
I don't know why I loved this book so much as a kid. I dont think the author handled the topic of sexual assault well. Camilla is sexually assaulted and slut shamed, harassed, and bullied as a result. It took me sooooooo long to read this because I went through a similar situation in school, and the response the girls have is very realistic. I was triggered and felt flustered as I continued to read. (I almost contemplated not finishing it, but my ego got the best of me!!) This book meant a lot to me when I was younger. ( Again, I don't know why.) Unfortunately, I find this book sloppy, and I will most likely never read this again.
My review back in 2022: I want to start off by saying I loved this book in high school. I can’t remember how many times I read it, but I know I really enjoyed it back then.
That being said, I am now older and can point out parts of the book that were uncomfortable and problematic. Myracle seems to keep many of her Black or POC characters one dimensional. I felt like Keisha had a few stereotypical lines for a Black woman. Secondly, the plot line of Stuart assaulting Camilla was weird. It could’ve been handled a lot differently. I know these girls are not good people. I even have firsthand experience of getting slut-shamed after being assaulted at school, so Camilla’s experience is very valid, but the comments the girls made outside her home were very troubling.
I know it’s 2022, and times have changed, but I absolutely hated seeing the r word in text.
I personally felt like there was so much going on…I don’t know.
I genuinely enjoyed the ending because it made the most sense. No one is above that yearning for fame and glory. Oh, I’m also happy Jane ended up with Phil!
Also, does Tina Knowles know Myracle used her exact name for a character in this book??
My review back in 2022: I want to start off by saying I loved this book in high school. I can’t remember how many times I read it, but I know I really enjoyed it back then.
That being said, I am now older and can point out parts of the book that were uncomfortable and problematic. Myracle seems to keep many of her Black or POC characters one dimensional. I felt like Keisha had a few stereotypical lines for a Black woman. Secondly, the plot line of Stuart assaulting Camilla was weird. It could’ve been handled a lot differently. I know these girls are not good people. I even have firsthand experience of getting slut-shamed after being assaulted at school, so Camilla’s experience is very valid, but the comments the girls made outside her home were very troubling.
I know it’s 2022, and times have changed, but I absolutely hated seeing the r word in text.
I personally felt like there was so much going on…I don’t know.
I genuinely enjoyed the ending because it made the most sense. No one is above that yearning for fame and glory. Oh, I’m also happy Jane ended up with Phil!
Also, does Tina Knowles know Myracle used her exact name for a character in this book??
March 12, 2015
STEER CLEAR AND DON'T READ THIS BOOK!
God...why do I keep reading books from Lauren Myracle thinking they might be good?! Oh, right, cos Peace Love and Baby Ducks was pretty good. Anyhow, I really don't know how she can have fame and published books when there are so many young authors who are much better than her. Who the bloody hell cares about her degree? Her books are bad. Okay, now on to the review-y bits.
This book yet again made me feel like the author was talking down to me. I loathed the main character which is a crucial part of a book - you have to like the main character! She was so BITCHY! Seriously! She's so whiny and annoying and needy and then her so called best friend was really mean. So, the main girl wants to be popular so bad and everyone worships these popular girls who call themselves 'the bitches' seriously? Yes. Sadly. This book was awful. It could have been better if I'd written it. Also the bitches get popular by stealing things from other girls and giving them to this witchy lady who has all these canibal cats in the school. (Really) I thought this was weird, the book left so many things unanswered (how'd the lady get all weird, why do the cats eat each other, blah blah blah) And at the end of the book, the main girl slightly saves this one loser girl who then pretty much back stabs her and the main girl loses her popularity whilst the loser girl becomes one of the bitches. Seriously. Then this guy who likes the main girl whom she dissed basically makes her feel all happy the end. It was a very lame ending, and an overall lame book.
STEER CLEAR AND DON'T READ THIS BOOK!
God...why do I keep reading books from Lauren Myracle thinking they might be good?! Oh, right, cos Peace Love and Baby Ducks was pretty good. Anyhow, I really don't know how she can have fame and published books when there are so many young authors who are much better than her. Who the bloody hell cares about her degree? Her books are bad. Okay, now on to the review-y bits.
This book yet again made me feel like the author was talking down to me. I loathed the main character which is a crucial part of a book - you have to like the main character! She was so BITCHY! Seriously! She's so whiny and annoying and needy and then her so called best friend was really mean. So, the main girl wants to be popular so bad and everyone worships these popular girls who call themselves 'the bitches' seriously? Yes. Sadly. This book was awful. It could have been better if I'd written it. Also the bitches get popular by stealing things from other girls and giving them to this witchy lady who has all these canibal cats in the school. (Really) I thought this was weird, the book left so many things unanswered (how'd the lady get all weird, why do the cats eat each other, blah blah blah) And at the end of the book, the main girl slightly saves this one loser girl who then pretty much back stabs her and the main girl loses her popularity whilst the loser girl becomes one of the bitches. Seriously. Then this guy who likes the main girl whom she dissed basically makes her feel all happy the end. It was a very lame ending, and an overall lame book.
STEER CLEAR AND DON'T READ THIS BOOK!
September 24, 2024
THIS WENT RIGHT INTO MY POOL WHEN I FINISHED IT. YEEET!!!
WHY DIDN'T SHE DESTROY THE WORSHIPING STATUES?!?!!?!?!?! AND EVERYTHING WOULD GO BACK TO NORMAL!!!????
I loved her Online girls series and Kissing Kate but this was pretty bleh. Jane was pretty shitty before being popular, then shitty being popular, and then guess what?? shitty groveling to people after loosing her popularity. and the one friend she had was pretty dickish to her and she clung to this boy bc he had a crush on her and could bask in the adoration without giving anything back to the poor guy.
so she had it coming and still gets the dorky most likely to be her boyfriend guy pal back(eeeeyy its good to keep someone as a backup plan right?? I guess she thinks so!!). which ugh I threw the book in the pool. she should have just stayed artificial and popular and cut to her an a ugly adult and the witchcraft drains your looks after high school and her being alone. Because that's kinda what I feel like was implied with the teacher/adult that talks about how she used this witchcraft back in her high school days(and she seems like a woman thats got NOTHING going for her in anyway as an adult) it would have made a stronger impact then "i stood up for the girl getting bullied and it back fired and the girl getting bullied just plan sucks anyways."
WHY DIDN'T SHE DESTROY THE WORSHIPING STATUES?!?!!?!?!?! AND EVERYTHING WOULD GO BACK TO NORMAL!!!????
I loved her Online girls series and Kissing Kate but this was pretty bleh. Jane was pretty shitty before being popular, then shitty being popular, and then guess what?? shitty groveling to people after loosing her popularity. and the one friend she had was pretty dickish to her and she clung to this boy bc he had a crush on her and could bask in the adoration without giving anything back to the poor guy.
so she had it coming and still gets the dorky most likely to be her boyfriend guy pal back(eeeeyy its good to keep someone as a backup plan right?? I guess she thinks so!!). which ugh I threw the book in the pool. she should have just stayed artificial and popular and cut to her an a ugly adult and the witchcraft drains your looks after high school and her being alone. Because that's kinda what I feel like was implied with the teacher/adult that talks about how she used this witchcraft back in her high school days(and she seems like a woman thats got NOTHING going for her in anyway as an adult) it would have made a stronger impact then "i stood up for the girl getting bullied and it back fired and the girl getting bullied just plan sucks anyways."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2008
What I learned:
1. Absolute popularity corrupts absolutely.
2. Feral cats do not make for positive learning environments.
3. If you ever had a creepy teacher, it is possible she really was a witch.
What I wish I understood:
1. How did the teacher get to be so creepy?
2. Why does Phil (the guy who likes Jane, the main character) persist in liking her after she treats him like dirt?
3. Why the reader should feel for Jane after she chooses herself over everyone else time and time again. To do the right thing once does not erase the previous hundred pages. To be pathetically overlooked does not make one automatically a sympathetic character. I came away with an element of "she gets what she deserves," which is not what I think the author intended.
The book is a quick and generally entertaining read, but it left. I like the dry, dark humor. However, I left the book with an unsatisfied taste in my mouth. Myracles ttyl triology is more engaging and what I would recommend to someone who is interested.
1. Absolute popularity corrupts absolutely.
2. Feral cats do not make for positive learning environments.
3. If you ever had a creepy teacher, it is possible she really was a witch.
What I wish I understood:
1. How did the teacher get to be so creepy?
2. Why does Phil (the guy who likes Jane, the main character) persist in liking her after she treats him like dirt?
3. Why the reader should feel for Jane after she chooses herself over everyone else time and time again. To do the right thing once does not erase the previous hundred pages. To be pathetically overlooked does not make one automatically a sympathetic character. I came away with an element of "she gets what she deserves," which is not what I think the author intended.
The book is a quick and generally entertaining read, but it left. I like the dry, dark humor. However, I left the book with an unsatisfied taste in my mouth. Myracles ttyl triology is more engaging and what I would recommend to someone who is interested.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
June 13, 2016I just uploaded a book book discussion on "Rhymes with Witches" on my BookTube channel. I found this book to be a cross between the films "The Craft" and "Mean Girls"...which makes for an interesting read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ie0S...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ie0S...
October 11, 2008
Just got it from the libarary ,Mrs.Hobdon recomended it .With the first like being "I so shouldn't of worn this thong " this book has to be very interesting!
September 19, 2022
honestly a very good book i remember reading it a couple of years back and i would recommend it to everyone.
December 5, 2015
This book is actual garbage.
I bought this book back when I was a young teenager, maybe like 14-16 I don’t remember. So I guess it was meant for my demographic. At that point in my life, I wasn’t very critical when it came to reading books-- I’d read anything that sounded or looked interesting, and if it was entertaining enough, I liked it. No analyzing the plots, world-building, character development, or any of that, just reading for fun. Of course I still read for fun, but I’ve read enough that my expectations have risen, and I think more about what I’m reading. That being said, even though I was young and didn’t really care about these things at the time, I hated this book. Just the thought of it still infuriates me, and I even GOT RID of my copy because I didn’t want to see it on my shelf. It’s just plain BAD.
Rhymes with Witches is one of those typical books about cliques and mean high school girls, but with an interesting twist: some sort of black magic behind the popularity of “The Bitches” AKA the most popular girls in school. Blah blah, main character wants to be popular, has to do various tasks to be initiated into The Bitches group. Honestly I don’t remember much about the characters like their names, etc., but the tasks the main character (Jane?) had to perform were pretty messed up and involved dumping her best friend and hurting others. I disliked her and “the Bitches,” but that wasn’t the worst part of the story. I mean I’ve read plenty of crappy books or seen movies about dumb high schoolers, so this wasn’t new, and it wouldn’t make me this mad. The worst part of this book was that it EXPLAINS NOTHING.
There’s all this hinting about some past popular girl who went to their school, cannibalistic feral cats running around everywhere (first of all who the hell allows feral cats to run around a school. Second, the scene with the cats eating the other cats was creepy, sure, but it was out of nowhere and never explained), and weird witchy sacrifices, but there is barely any explanation. I was actually almost starting to become interested when these scenes came up, but my curiosity was never fulfilled. It’s like the author was teasing me.
But the absolute worst part of it all? The ending. This was probably the most pointless, horrible ending I’ve ever read (that I can remember). This is what happens: Jane (main character) tries to be nice to some new, unpopular girl, and the girl backstabs her by doing the weird witchy sacrifice ritual (I think she gave Jane’s hair ribbon as an offering to the cats or whatever, nothing gruesome) which causes Jane to lose her popularity, and the new girl takes it instead. Suddenly, Jane is a nobody again, and none of her previously acquired “friends” or other popular kids will talk to her or acknowledge her. Oh no! What can she do? If this were any other typical, cliche high school popularity story, Jane would learn to accept herself or find new friends or hobbies or something, then move on, lesson learned. What happens instead? Jane gives up on everything, and goes to the park to cry about her misfortune. The end. I am 100% serious. The book ends with the main character CRYING IN THE PARK BECAUSE HER LIFE IS SO MISERABLE. IT JUST ENDS. I was dumbfounded when I got to the last page. How can any story end this way?? It felt like there should be a few more chapters at least so pussy Jane could at least attempt to put her life back together, but NOPE. Let’s just end it there! What a great message for young girls: if something sucks about your life, just break down and cry about it. To top it all off, this geeky dude who has a crush on her (God knows why, she was rude to him throughout the book) comforts her in the park, and she starts to like him…? It made no sense. I hated this book with a passion, and I am glad it is out of my possessions. I have no idea how this was published since there were so many loose strings, and would never recommend it to anyone, not even for light, frivolous reading. Just no.
I bought this book back when I was a young teenager, maybe like 14-16 I don’t remember. So I guess it was meant for my demographic. At that point in my life, I wasn’t very critical when it came to reading books-- I’d read anything that sounded or looked interesting, and if it was entertaining enough, I liked it. No analyzing the plots, world-building, character development, or any of that, just reading for fun. Of course I still read for fun, but I’ve read enough that my expectations have risen, and I think more about what I’m reading. That being said, even though I was young and didn’t really care about these things at the time, I hated this book. Just the thought of it still infuriates me, and I even GOT RID of my copy because I didn’t want to see it on my shelf. It’s just plain BAD.
Rhymes with Witches is one of those typical books about cliques and mean high school girls, but with an interesting twist: some sort of black magic behind the popularity of “The Bitches” AKA the most popular girls in school. Blah blah, main character wants to be popular, has to do various tasks to be initiated into The Bitches group. Honestly I don’t remember much about the characters like their names, etc., but the tasks the main character (Jane?) had to perform were pretty messed up and involved dumping her best friend and hurting others. I disliked her and “the Bitches,” but that wasn’t the worst part of the story. I mean I’ve read plenty of crappy books or seen movies about dumb high schoolers, so this wasn’t new, and it wouldn’t make me this mad. The worst part of this book was that it EXPLAINS NOTHING.
There’s all this hinting about some past popular girl who went to their school, cannibalistic feral cats running around everywhere (first of all who the hell allows feral cats to run around a school. Second, the scene with the cats eating the other cats was creepy, sure, but it was out of nowhere and never explained), and weird witchy sacrifices, but there is barely any explanation. I was actually almost starting to become interested when these scenes came up, but my curiosity was never fulfilled. It’s like the author was teasing me.
But the absolute worst part of it all? The ending. This was probably the most pointless, horrible ending I’ve ever read (that I can remember). This is what happens: Jane (main character) tries to be nice to some new, unpopular girl, and the girl backstabs her by doing the weird witchy sacrifice ritual (I think she gave Jane’s hair ribbon as an offering to the cats or whatever, nothing gruesome) which causes Jane to lose her popularity, and the new girl takes it instead. Suddenly, Jane is a nobody again, and none of her previously acquired “friends” or other popular kids will talk to her or acknowledge her. Oh no! What can she do? If this were any other typical, cliche high school popularity story, Jane would learn to accept herself or find new friends or hobbies or something, then move on, lesson learned. What happens instead? Jane gives up on everything, and goes to the park to cry about her misfortune. The end. I am 100% serious. The book ends with the main character CRYING IN THE PARK BECAUSE HER LIFE IS SO MISERABLE. IT JUST ENDS. I was dumbfounded when I got to the last page. How can any story end this way?? It felt like there should be a few more chapters at least so pussy Jane could at least attempt to put her life back together, but NOPE. Let’s just end it there! What a great message for young girls: if something sucks about your life, just break down and cry about it. To top it all off, this geeky dude who has a crush on her (God knows why, she was rude to him throughout the book) comforts her in the park, and she starts to like him…? It made no sense. I hated this book with a passion, and I am glad it is out of my possessions. I have no idea how this was published since there were so many loose strings, and would never recommend it to anyone, not even for light, frivolous reading. Just no.
March 3, 2022
Rhymes With Witches
Jane’s best friend is trying out for the cheerleading squad and tries to convince her that she needs to stop being a loser and step outside of her comfort zone to gain popularity. Unlike “The Bitches” (a clique that consists of a senior (Keisha) a junior (Bitsy) and a sophomore (Mary Bryan). Unfortunately, Alicia (Jane’s BFF) isn’t all that good during tryouts. To Jane’s amazement, Mary Bryan actually asks her to hang out and compliments her on her dress. Then Bitsy comes up to her the next day and suggests “she’s the one”. Then she hints at something happening Friday. Alicia says that she heard that “The Bitches” are picking a freshman to join their clique. Then Kesha approaches her and says that she’ll go to a popular senior’s party (Kyle) to see how she fits in with the rest of them. Only she doesn’t seem happy about it. Alicia’s sister (Rae) tries to put in their heads that because the Bitches have been around forever, and because things stop when they enter a room and then start back, and because you feel drawn to like them they cause it all. Rae thinks they *do* something and then they *become* something else. Rae tells this urban legend where a girl named Sandy did a ritual where used a cat as a sacrifice, slit its throat, and the Bitches were born. Jane doesn’t believe a word of it. Alicia tells her to stay away from the Bitches.
Alicia thinks the Bitch’s invite is a joke. Phil (Janie’s male friend) says it’s because she’s more beautiful than they’ll ever be. The next day Janie is distracted and trying to act impressive in case she runs into one. Totally ignoring Alicia’s cheerleading drama. Alicia makes her promise that if she should get popular she’ll take her along. On the way to the party, the Bitches let Janie in on a secret: you have to WANT it! At the party, they wanna see her in action so they sent her out to mingle (even though she doesn’t really know anyone there). Needless to say, she sucks at socializing. She even embarrasses herself in front of Nate (the guy she’s crushing on) when she can’t hold his attention. Janie sees Bitsy humiliate this girl by saying “her crush said” she’s an exhibition and likes to “put on a show” leaving her window open. (Note on how quick Bitsy switches up). Then she notices how Bitsy commands a guy there to rub her feet and he obeys. Her boyfriend gets mad until she commands him to go get her a drink and he snaps out of it. Janie is impressed by the way Bitsy put them down. Phil is confused why in the world she’d want these girls as friends. She says it’s not about being popular. She just wants to be down with their clique. Afterward, she finds a bug in the candy she just bit into. Both their boxes have bugs. Phil almost kisses Janie but doesn’t.
Janie sees that Phil and this other girl Camilla aren’t really under the Bitches spell. Janie takes the vow to keep all The Bitches secrets and is given a key. She’s now one of them. The Bitches tell Jane that she has to steal something (it can be small) every day and give it to one of the teachers (Lurl the Pearl). The key is to get into her office. Keisha also says that to rise someone else must fall, but Jane doesn’t take this seriously. Janie steals a tube of lip gloss from Alicia, while she tells her about her new crush. She and Mary take the sacrifice to Lurl the Pearl’s office. Mary reminds her of the warning when Jane tells her whose gloss it was. She still doesn’t take it seriously. Jane get an odd sensation when she feels her sacrifice has been accepted. At lunch, a party is planned in Jane’s honor that will be hosted by the cheerleaders and because of Jane’s opinion on the feral cats roaming the school, they’ll plan a pep rally to raise awareness. Jane notices that their lunches are different and better than everyone else’s. Jane starts to change. She gets annoyed when Alicia comes over to sit with them because she doesn’t belong there. Jane starts to avoid Alicia. Because Alicia was the flavor of the week, one of the cats pissed on her locker and she got given the nickname “Pe
Lurl the Pearl cryptically lets Jane know her “next assignment” is due at the end of the week. Oddly the students and teacher throw her a party (and it’s not even her birthday. Bitsy has a thing against Camila for overhearing her at a weak moment in an argument with her Dad (who left). Some of the other kids hate her too because she got this guy expelled for sexually harassing her. Jane actually saw it and Camilla dragged her to the office. Jane use to admire Camilla but now she hates her as much as the others. Jane tries to pass off one of the gifts her absentee father sent her as an offering but it’s a no go. After getting chewed out by Keshia, Jane learns that she was chosen because like the rest of them she was broken. Bitsy takes pity on her and gives her a brown bobby pin. Alicia and Jane get into a fight over her crush canceling their date and Jane suggesting maybe it’s Alicia. Alicia fired back that Rae was right about Jane changing. (Later she immediately tries to apologize over the phone).
The Bitches convince Jane (who previously accepted to go to the Fall Fling with Phil) to cancel her date and go with them. Jane stands up to Bitsy after a prank pulled on Camilla at a party puts her in danger (Bitsy creates a fake profile for her on a social media site). She realizes that just because they’re popular doesn’t mean they have to try to step on others that aren’t on their level of status. Bitsy says she’s no better because of the way she’s been treating Alicia and by the way the pin belonged to Camilla. Jane realizes that the reason Camilla is so hated is that Bitsy steals something from her every week. The Bitches all try to make her feel better. But it’s the tape of her being socially awkward at Kyle’s party that makes her decide she is never going back to that person. So the next day, she steals from a popular classmate to give her weekly offering. Jane finds out that Bitsy is having an after-party that she wasn’t invited to. On the way, The Bitches try to break into Camilla’s house and molest her with a stick, but Jane screams alerting Camilla and her neighbors and The Bitches take off. She tells Camila all about Bitsy siphoning off her power, and to prove it she offers to take her to Lurl the Pearl’s office. Inside her office, they find a roomful of Goddess statues that hold all the offerings from Camilla and all the other students. They also find a cradle with kittens eating the mother. A growling sound makes them get the hell outta there.
Jane later notices she doesn’t have the key and thinks she might have left it in the door. She goes back for it the next day and then realizes that Camilla has it. When she confronts Camilla, she refuses to give the key back. As a result, everyone treats her like shit. Camilla’s popularity has now risen and Jane’s has dropped. The Bitches replace her with Camilla and Nate humiliates her in the hallway but shoving her to the floor. Not even Alicia wants anything to do with her. There’s a part where she wonders about Lurl the Pearl and finds out that she was Sandy (the girl that everyone thought died). At the end of the book, Phil is still there waiting and ready to console Jane with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
My Thoughts: I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews on this book. Actually, it wasn’t *that* bad to me. It kind of reminded me of “The Craft” (slightly). You have these three girls that are connected with with-craft looking for a fourth. They're "different" and rumored to be "witches". The fourth is “good”. Jane was more horrible than Sarah but think about it. Jane did have Sarah moments. For example, she didn’t want to use her power to hurt Camila. And then Sarah had Jane moments. She used her power to make Laura’s hair fall out *and* she manipulated Chris’s feelings. Nancy and Bitsy are just mirrors of each other. They both turn out to be more evil and darker as the book (and movie) go on. Sticking a stick up someone’s ass? That’s just.. The dick is the stick? It also reminded me how in The Craft they all tried to (well Nancy tried to) siphon Minoa’s power. I think they all benefited from this (Nancy’s scars got taken, Nancy won the lottery, etc) Yes, these characters no doubt were HORRIBLE! But what I appreciated was the dark twist of a story that *could* have just been about an average cliquish story. I actually like that it tried to be different by making this clique be witches. And I thought it taught a good lesson, about who your REAL friends are. I definitely went through this phase in high school when I didn’t see who was really a friend and who wasn’t. I had to learn much later. I even appreciated the mystery and the reveal of who Lurl the Pearl turned out to be. But I did wonder what the hell was up with the cats tho. I’m thinking it may have had something to do with Lurl. Maybe a curse? But unfortunately, there’s no sequel. There’s another book (Bliss) and I want so bad for it to be Lurl the Pearl’s story, but I kinda doubt it will be.
Rating: 6 and a half
Jane’s best friend is trying out for the cheerleading squad and tries to convince her that she needs to stop being a loser and step outside of her comfort zone to gain popularity. Unlike “The Bitches” (a clique that consists of a senior (Keisha) a junior (Bitsy) and a sophomore (Mary Bryan). Unfortunately, Alicia (Jane’s BFF) isn’t all that good during tryouts. To Jane’s amazement, Mary Bryan actually asks her to hang out and compliments her on her dress. Then Bitsy comes up to her the next day and suggests “she’s the one”. Then she hints at something happening Friday. Alicia says that she heard that “The Bitches” are picking a freshman to join their clique. Then Kesha approaches her and says that she’ll go to a popular senior’s party (Kyle) to see how she fits in with the rest of them. Only she doesn’t seem happy about it. Alicia’s sister (Rae) tries to put in their heads that because the Bitches have been around forever, and because things stop when they enter a room and then start back, and because you feel drawn to like them they cause it all. Rae thinks they *do* something and then they *become* something else. Rae tells this urban legend where a girl named Sandy did a ritual where used a cat as a sacrifice, slit its throat, and the Bitches were born. Jane doesn’t believe a word of it. Alicia tells her to stay away from the Bitches.
Alicia thinks the Bitch’s invite is a joke. Phil (Janie’s male friend) says it’s because she’s more beautiful than they’ll ever be. The next day Janie is distracted and trying to act impressive in case she runs into one. Totally ignoring Alicia’s cheerleading drama. Alicia makes her promise that if she should get popular she’ll take her along. On the way to the party, the Bitches let Janie in on a secret: you have to WANT it! At the party, they wanna see her in action so they sent her out to mingle (even though she doesn’t really know anyone there). Needless to say, she sucks at socializing. She even embarrasses herself in front of Nate (the guy she’s crushing on) when she can’t hold his attention. Janie sees Bitsy humiliate this girl by saying “her crush said” she’s an exhibition and likes to “put on a show” leaving her window open. (Note on how quick Bitsy switches up). Then she notices how Bitsy commands a guy there to rub her feet and he obeys. Her boyfriend gets mad until she commands him to go get her a drink and he snaps out of it. Janie is impressed by the way Bitsy put them down. Phil is confused why in the world she’d want these girls as friends. She says it’s not about being popular. She just wants to be down with their clique. Afterward, she finds a bug in the candy she just bit into. Both their boxes have bugs. Phil almost kisses Janie but doesn’t.
Janie sees that Phil and this other girl Camilla aren’t really under the Bitches spell. Janie takes the vow to keep all The Bitches secrets and is given a key. She’s now one of them. The Bitches tell Jane that she has to steal something (it can be small) every day and give it to one of the teachers (Lurl the Pearl). The key is to get into her office. Keisha also says that to rise someone else must fall, but Jane doesn’t take this seriously. Janie steals a tube of lip gloss from Alicia, while she tells her about her new crush. She and Mary take the sacrifice to Lurl the Pearl’s office. Mary reminds her of the warning when Jane tells her whose gloss it was. She still doesn’t take it seriously. Jane get an odd sensation when she feels her sacrifice has been accepted. At lunch, a party is planned in Jane’s honor that will be hosted by the cheerleaders and because of Jane’s opinion on the feral cats roaming the school, they’ll plan a pep rally to raise awareness. Jane notices that their lunches are different and better than everyone else’s. Jane starts to change. She gets annoyed when Alicia comes over to sit with them because she doesn’t belong there. Jane starts to avoid Alicia. Because Alicia was the flavor of the week, one of the cats pissed on her locker and she got given the nickname “Pe
Lurl the Pearl cryptically lets Jane know her “next assignment” is due at the end of the week. Oddly the students and teacher throw her a party (and it’s not even her birthday. Bitsy has a thing against Camila for overhearing her at a weak moment in an argument with her Dad (who left). Some of the other kids hate her too because she got this guy expelled for sexually harassing her. Jane actually saw it and Camilla dragged her to the office. Jane use to admire Camilla but now she hates her as much as the others. Jane tries to pass off one of the gifts her absentee father sent her as an offering but it’s a no go. After getting chewed out by Keshia, Jane learns that she was chosen because like the rest of them she was broken. Bitsy takes pity on her and gives her a brown bobby pin. Alicia and Jane get into a fight over her crush canceling their date and Jane suggesting maybe it’s Alicia. Alicia fired back that Rae was right about Jane changing. (Later she immediately tries to apologize over the phone).
The Bitches convince Jane (who previously accepted to go to the Fall Fling with Phil) to cancel her date and go with them. Jane stands up to Bitsy after a prank pulled on Camilla at a party puts her in danger (Bitsy creates a fake profile for her on a social media site). She realizes that just because they’re popular doesn’t mean they have to try to step on others that aren’t on their level of status. Bitsy says she’s no better because of the way she’s been treating Alicia and by the way the pin belonged to Camilla. Jane realizes that the reason Camilla is so hated is that Bitsy steals something from her every week. The Bitches all try to make her feel better. But it’s the tape of her being socially awkward at Kyle’s party that makes her decide she is never going back to that person. So the next day, she steals from a popular classmate to give her weekly offering. Jane finds out that Bitsy is having an after-party that she wasn’t invited to. On the way, The Bitches try to break into Camilla’s house and molest her with a stick, but Jane screams alerting Camilla and her neighbors and The Bitches take off. She tells Camila all about Bitsy siphoning off her power, and to prove it she offers to take her to Lurl the Pearl’s office. Inside her office, they find a roomful of Goddess statues that hold all the offerings from Camilla and all the other students. They also find a cradle with kittens eating the mother. A growling sound makes them get the hell outta there.
Jane later notices she doesn’t have the key and thinks she might have left it in the door. She goes back for it the next day and then realizes that Camilla has it. When she confronts Camilla, she refuses to give the key back. As a result, everyone treats her like shit. Camilla’s popularity has now risen and Jane’s has dropped. The Bitches replace her with Camilla and Nate humiliates her in the hallway but shoving her to the floor. Not even Alicia wants anything to do with her. There’s a part where she wonders about Lurl the Pearl and finds out that she was Sandy (the girl that everyone thought died). At the end of the book, Phil is still there waiting and ready to console Jane with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
My Thoughts: I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews on this book. Actually, it wasn’t *that* bad to me. It kind of reminded me of “The Craft” (slightly). You have these three girls that are connected with with-craft looking for a fourth. They're "different" and rumored to be "witches". The fourth is “good”. Jane was more horrible than Sarah but think about it. Jane did have Sarah moments. For example, she didn’t want to use her power to hurt Camila. And then Sarah had Jane moments. She used her power to make Laura’s hair fall out *and* she manipulated Chris’s feelings. Nancy and Bitsy are just mirrors of each other. They both turn out to be more evil and darker as the book (and movie) go on. Sticking a stick up someone’s ass? That’s just.. The dick is the stick? It also reminded me how in The Craft they all tried to (well Nancy tried to) siphon Minoa’s power. I think they all benefited from this (Nancy’s scars got taken, Nancy won the lottery, etc) Yes, these characters no doubt were HORRIBLE! But what I appreciated was the dark twist of a story that *could* have just been about an average cliquish story. I actually like that it tried to be different by making this clique be witches. And I thought it taught a good lesson, about who your REAL friends are. I definitely went through this phase in high school when I didn’t see who was really a friend and who wasn’t. I had to learn much later. I even appreciated the mystery and the reveal of who Lurl the Pearl turned out to be. But I did wonder what the hell was up with the cats tho. I’m thinking it may have had something to do with Lurl. Maybe a curse? But unfortunately, there’s no sequel. There’s another book (Bliss) and I want so bad for it to be Lurl the Pearl’s story, but I kinda doubt it will be.
Rating: 6 and a half
May 16, 2011
This book was a edge-of-your-seat-nail-biting-"what will happen next"-fest...until the end. The end left me actually feeling very angry. The book is very "Mean Girls" in the sense that it's about a girl (Jane) who wants to be a popular girl, though she's almost invisible. She gets chosen by the elitists of the school (The Bitches) to become the next Bitch. In her initiation she finds out she must steal something from another girl every week to be part of the Bitches *spoilers ahead* Jane then finds out that by stealing these things and giving them to a teacher she is actually offering the owner of the possession up as a sort of sacrifice. No no, not like their blood or flesh etc...she's offering up their own popularity as sacrifice. As time goes on she can't ignore that the Bitches are doing things she doesn't agree with and she helps a girl who they were going to torment. She gets the girl to believe the whole "witchcraft/offering" thing and then the girl does a complete turn around and takes Janes popularity from her. The books moral value was completely lost, as Jane becomes a hero and tries to help someone out and sacrifice being popular for the sake of doing something good and moral...all she gets in return is everyone (including teachers, her former best friend, and her own mother as it is implied) hating her and treating her like utter garbage as her popularity is now being stolen from her by the girl who stabbed her in the back even though Jane was trying to help her. The only person she has left by the end of the book is a kid named Phil who had a crush on her but who (even before the Bitches) she only looked at as a friend. Myracle is a great writer in the way she words everything keeps you wanting more and more. It was a page turner and I was sure that by the end of the book, that some good would come of Jane's act of bravery, but sadly I was wrong. Other than this fact...the other problems I had was the mentioning of feral cats in the school, the finding of a group of cats eating flesh from a mother cat's stomach, a teacher who was in on this witchcraft (and thats just to name a few, there are so many more) - all of these WERE LOOSE ENDS! They were things that had the potential to make the story better if they were explained as I imagined they would be...but no, none of those ends were tied. The story ends before it even begins really, at first I was sure the rest of the pages of my book had to have been ripped out! The end of the book was disatisfying and looking back after reading it and counting up all of the things that didn't make sense or weren't explained at all left a sour taste in my mouth. The only reason it didn't get a 1 from me is that I actually enjoyed the book until I realized it was going no where at all.
October 10, 2011
OMG!!! This is a good book if you want a lot of drama. It's not in chapters, but in parts(3). I'm on the 3rd part and it's really good. I recommend this book to everyone!! :)
It's about this girl named Jane and she's the least bit popular. Her dad abandoned her three years ago to travel the world and sends her a gift every week, which only makes her feel even whose. she hangs with her friend Alicia. They worships the upper class popularity group called "The Bitches," made up of a Freshmen, sophomore, junior, and a senior. One day, she is forced by her mom to wear this tiny black dress, with a thong. by the end of the day Mary Bryan (A Bitch) talks to her after watching Alicia with her cheer leading tryouts. Alicia scolded her out because The Bitches was talking to them. Alicia and Rae (Alicia's big sister) told her that The Bitches are not what they seem. They say they do this voodoo dark magic to get you to worship them, to want to be them. Every year they pick a freshmen to join their group, and then some time during the year they go into a storage closet and one has to make a sacrifice. They have to cut slits in a cats throat. then the next day whoever did that is then dead the next day. They say that's why there is so many feral cats in the school. Jane didn't believe them. Jane was invited to a senior part that The Bitches were invited to. The Bitches hung out together for a while to insure that they would pick Jane to be the freshmen Bitch. They soon picked her be A Bitch and through her a out-coming party and everyone one finally noticed her. The Bitches told Jane that she has to steal something from someone every week and put it in Lurl the Purl's office and she can't steal from a friend. She's now have been ignoring her best friend Alicia. Her guy friend (Phil) has a huge crush on her since they met and asked her to Fall Fling only then did she cancel on him to be with The Bitches on a short notice, because Bitsy didn't want to go with her boyfriend, because he said to her that she was his dream girl, and Bitsy as every guys dream girl. Alicia is not friends with Jane anymore, and Phil is out with another girl at the Fall Fling. She then finds out that they're witches and that a girl has taken her place as the freshmen Bitch, and is now back to herself the unpopular Jane.
It's about this girl named Jane and she's the least bit popular. Her dad abandoned her three years ago to travel the world and sends her a gift every week, which only makes her feel even whose. she hangs with her friend Alicia. They worships the upper class popularity group called "The Bitches," made up of a Freshmen, sophomore, junior, and a senior. One day, she is forced by her mom to wear this tiny black dress, with a thong. by the end of the day Mary Bryan (A Bitch) talks to her after watching Alicia with her cheer leading tryouts. Alicia scolded her out because The Bitches was talking to them. Alicia and Rae (Alicia's big sister) told her that The Bitches are not what they seem. They say they do this voodoo dark magic to get you to worship them, to want to be them. Every year they pick a freshmen to join their group, and then some time during the year they go into a storage closet and one has to make a sacrifice. They have to cut slits in a cats throat. then the next day whoever did that is then dead the next day. They say that's why there is so many feral cats in the school. Jane didn't believe them. Jane was invited to a senior part that The Bitches were invited to. The Bitches hung out together for a while to insure that they would pick Jane to be the freshmen Bitch. They soon picked her be A Bitch and through her a out-coming party and everyone one finally noticed her. The Bitches told Jane that she has to steal something from someone every week and put it in Lurl the Purl's office and she can't steal from a friend. She's now have been ignoring her best friend Alicia. Her guy friend (Phil) has a huge crush on her since they met and asked her to Fall Fling only then did she cancel on him to be with The Bitches on a short notice, because Bitsy didn't want to go with her boyfriend, because he said to her that she was his dream girl, and Bitsy as every guys dream girl. Alicia is not friends with Jane anymore, and Phil is out with another girl at the Fall Fling. She then finds out that they're witches and that a girl has taken her place as the freshmen Bitch, and is now back to herself the unpopular Jane.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2012
I am kind of on the fence between "it was okay" and "I liked it." The writing itself was good, but I really felt let down by the ending. More on that later.
What Parents Need to Know: There are a lot of parties with drinking. No one gets trashed, but the alcohol is present. There is a mention of one girl having had sex. There is a student who gets groped by a football player in the hall. There are violent intentions. There is definitely bullying. If your teenager wants to read this, I highly suggest you read it first and make sure the two of you talk about it after s/he has finished.
What I liked: Overall, I liked the main character, and at first I liked the other characters as well. The characters had glimpses of other sides of them--glimpses that showed that these girls were "broken," which explained some of their behavior, though it doesn't make it acceptable. I like what Jane does in the end.
What I disliked: The ending leaves you hanging, in a certain way. It's hard to describe without putting in spoilers, but I didn't feel like there was a satisfactory resolution. By the end, I felt like the characters and what they did was a characture--it didn't quite feel "real" (and I'm not talking about the supernatural stuff). I don't know quite how to explain this feeling more specifically.
What Parents Need to Know: There are a lot of parties with drinking. No one gets trashed, but the alcohol is present. There is a mention of one girl having had sex. There is a student who gets groped by a football player in the hall. There are violent intentions. There is definitely bullying. If your teenager wants to read this, I highly suggest you read it first and make sure the two of you talk about it after s/he has finished.
What I liked: Overall, I liked the main character, and at first I liked the other characters as well. The characters had glimpses of other sides of them--glimpses that showed that these girls were "broken," which explained some of their behavior, though it doesn't make it acceptable. I like what Jane does in the end.
What I disliked: The ending leaves you hanging, in a certain way. It's hard to describe without putting in spoilers, but I didn't feel like there was a satisfactory resolution. By the end, I felt like the characters and what they did was a characture--it didn't quite feel "real" (and I'm not talking about the supernatural stuff). I don't know quite how to explain this feeling more specifically.
November 2, 2010
What is happening in this book is that Alicias friend wanted her to sign up for the cherliding tryouts and then she said that she did not want to try out because she did not want to be in the girls cheerleading table so she said no. SO she said she was not going to be in it for sure. But her friend convinced her to try out and she did and she got in the chereeleading so she had to sit by the cheerleanders at lunch since she was in the cheerllideg group but the bad thing is that her friend did not get into the group so she was really sad her friend had to eat alone at lunch.
January 6, 2016
That ending! Wayyy too rushed! Is there a sequel orrrr? Now I have to look it up.
She doesn't need a man to define her! She needs to girl up and stand up for herself and stop the voodoo in the school! That school was messed up!
I thought Lauren Myracle could write better than this... I'm really disappointed with this book
She doesn't need a man to define her! She needs to girl up and stand up for herself and stop the voodoo in the school! That school was messed up!
I thought Lauren Myracle could write better than this... I'm really disappointed with this book
April 5, 2020
I am so UPSET that this not getting the LOVE it deserves!!!! I read this book back in High School and reread it recently, and I really liked it.
February 17, 2021
Haunting. This book devastated me for about an hour after I had finished it. So much deeper and more horrific in tone than the pink cover would suggest.
I see people complaining that they didn't like the main character, and I was surprised because, I don't think the reader is meant to like Jane. Or Alicia. Or anyone really. This is a story about the dog-eat-dog world of popularity, everyone is clawing and snapping their way to the top of the pile. They're starving animals fighting over the right to sell their souls. Not likeable characters you could see yourself befriending. Because there are no friendships in this story, until the very end. There are only people using one another and trading on each other's popularity to get ahead.
Knocked a star off because I found the ending a hair unsatisfying. Already ordered 'Bliss' to see if that will add to the story and finish it off in a more final way.
SPOILERS BELOW
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What disappointed me about the ending was that, we discover that Lurl, this haggard old teacher obsessed with cultivating her population of feral cats, was once the most popular girl. The one who began this whole soul selling deal in the first place. I wanted to know, for sure, that the girls who left the school met the same fate - becoming old and ugly, twisted and strange. That would give Jane a positive ending, because then she'd know that she had escaped this awful fate. But I suppose that's what awaits every bright young thing crowned homecoming queen - magic or no magic -they will be replaced by someone younger, their yearbook will gather dust and no one will remember them as anything other than the old woman they are. I guess that's a message of the book. Even if it is depressing.
Still, I felt Jane needed to DO something at the end of the book. Needed to take control of the situation. Even if it was tracking down the previous senior b*tch to find out what became of her. Or a revelation that the feral cats ARE the girls of yesteryear, trapped within the school forever, now clawing and fighting for real. Maybe she could even have destroyed Lurl somehow, or tricked her.
I would even have taken a darker ending where Jane made a different deal to steal the popularity from ALL the b*tches to reign supreme. Anything other than her settling for a friendship with a guy she had no interest in and even less attraction to.
I see people complaining that they didn't like the main character, and I was surprised because, I don't think the reader is meant to like Jane. Or Alicia. Or anyone really. This is a story about the dog-eat-dog world of popularity, everyone is clawing and snapping their way to the top of the pile. They're starving animals fighting over the right to sell their souls. Not likeable characters you could see yourself befriending. Because there are no friendships in this story, until the very end. There are only people using one another and trading on each other's popularity to get ahead.
Knocked a star off because I found the ending a hair unsatisfying. Already ordered 'Bliss' to see if that will add to the story and finish it off in a more final way.
SPOILERS BELOW
*
*
*
*
What disappointed me about the ending was that, we discover that Lurl, this haggard old teacher obsessed with cultivating her population of feral cats, was once the most popular girl. The one who began this whole soul selling deal in the first place. I wanted to know, for sure, that the girls who left the school met the same fate - becoming old and ugly, twisted and strange. That would give Jane a positive ending, because then she'd know that she had escaped this awful fate. But I suppose that's what awaits every bright young thing crowned homecoming queen - magic or no magic -they will be replaced by someone younger, their yearbook will gather dust and no one will remember them as anything other than the old woman they are. I guess that's a message of the book. Even if it is depressing.
Still, I felt Jane needed to DO something at the end of the book. Needed to take control of the situation. Even if it was tracking down the previous senior b*tch to find out what became of her. Or a revelation that the feral cats ARE the girls of yesteryear, trapped within the school forever, now clawing and fighting for real. Maybe she could even have destroyed Lurl somehow, or tricked her.
I would even have taken a darker ending where Jane made a different deal to steal the popularity from ALL the b*tches to reign supreme. Anything other than her settling for a friendship with a guy she had no interest in and even less attraction to.
January 17, 2019
I read this book for the first time back in middle and had loved it. I thought I remembered parts of it and decided to reread it nine years later. I kind of hated it to be honest. I love the idea and I think there was a lot of potential to develop something cool. I was so shocked when I got to the end of the book because it is not the ending I remember at all (turns out I mixed it up with another book I can't remember lol), but most shocking is that the end is cut off. Like it feels like the author couldn't work on this anymore and just decided to publish the unfinished thing. If you were gonna go for the witchcraft and cat killing, go all the way. Don't just chop off the ending. The main character was also kind of awful. Even before becoming a Bitch, she was clearly annoyed with her best friend Alicia and was super two-faced. I'm glad Alicia cut her off (although Alicia was annoying in her own right too). The character I liked the most was Mary Bryan and even her personality seemed to shift. Kiesha straight up didn't have a personality. Bitsy was just a straight-up terrible person. We also never got any backstory on any of the other Bitches which was too bad. So overall, I think this had a lot of potential but just totally blew the mark.
October 25, 2019
Where do I start???
Firstly, I wish I could give half stars on Book Reads. I feel that this book is hovering for me between 2 1/2 stars and 3 stars. The reason I decided to give it 3 stars because the ending was actually enjoyable and the age range this book is aimed at was met. Due to the age of the book itself, connecting for me was not that hard. Meaning there were some slight references to the time frame it was printed in that I could personally connect with.
One thing to note is that for me this was a slow read. I am not a fan of DNF'ing books and will push through books to finish. I could see many people not finishing this book due to how slow the story line is.
Finally I wish that many of the characters were more developed or had a more detailed back story. I do not want to enter names to spoil anything. However, I will say that one of the oldest main characters had an interesting personality but I would have loved to read more about how she came to be who she was in the story.
Firstly, I wish I could give half stars on Book Reads. I feel that this book is hovering for me between 2 1/2 stars and 3 stars. The reason I decided to give it 3 stars because the ending was actually enjoyable and the age range this book is aimed at was met. Due to the age of the book itself, connecting for me was not that hard. Meaning there were some slight references to the time frame it was printed in that I could personally connect with.
One thing to note is that for me this was a slow read. I am not a fan of DNF'ing books and will push through books to finish. I could see many people not finishing this book due to how slow the story line is.
Finally I wish that many of the characters were more developed or had a more detailed back story. I do not want to enter names to spoil anything. However, I will say that one of the oldest main characters had an interesting personality but I would have loved to read more about how she came to be who she was in the story.
November 23, 2021
How can a book be weird and cliche at once? Well, set it in a high school bent on achieving certain social status—but add feral cats that roam the halls, a group of popular girls affectionately called the B!tches who literally spellbind people, and sacrificial offerings made to a creepy old teacher. A fun(ny), fast-paced read until an infuriating end. How does the author kill the plot? Rush past the climax to get nowhere quick, establish a feeble-minded, stubborn protagonist, and write her “friends” just as vapid. Then make every girl’s family drama or threats as vague as possible because #relatable and #triggermetimbers. Must end emphasizing barely brushed upon characters like they’ve been there the whole time. Basically, leave every end unfastened because “love will conquer all” or some irrelevant nonsense.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2019
***Maybe spoilers***
I really wanted to love this one. It had a great plot set up and interesting characters (Bitsy McGovern- I heart you).
I can't emphasize enough how cool this could have been. The storage room altar. The backwards revenge plot on Camilla. ALL OF THIS.
But the book should've been 100 more pages to take care of the hefty plot if set up for. It was almost glaringly obvious that a deadline came about from the publisher and there was no time left because there was no resolution at the end of the book. I was left VERY unsatisfied with what could have been an awesome read, and for that and the 100 pages I was robbed of, I'm docking two stars.
YES- that's how important an ending is to your readers.
I really wanted to love this one. It had a great plot set up and interesting characters (Bitsy McGovern- I heart you).
I can't emphasize enough how cool this could have been. The storage room altar. The backwards revenge plot on Camilla. ALL OF THIS.
But the book should've been 100 more pages to take care of the hefty plot if set up for. It was almost glaringly obvious that a deadline came about from the publisher and there was no time left because there was no resolution at the end of the book. I was left VERY unsatisfied with what could have been an awesome read, and for that and the 100 pages I was robbed of, I'm docking two stars.
YES- that's how important an ending is to your readers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2021
This isn't a book I would read normally, but for some reason they had it in my psych ward.
The one good thing I can say about it is it made me want to keep reading to find out what would happen next (then again I was in the psych ward and had noting else to do)
The characters were all trash. The main character Jane was very boring and unlikeable. We were supposed to feel sorry for Alicia but she was also mean and annoying.
The dialogue felt off?
There was absolutely no resolution. None at all. Still wish I knew what was happening.
The one good thing I can say about it is it made me want to keep reading to find out what would happen next (then again I was in the psych ward and had noting else to do)
The characters were all trash. The main character Jane was very boring and unlikeable. We were supposed to feel sorry for Alicia but she was also mean and annoying.
The dialogue felt off?
There was absolutely no resolution. None at all. Still wish I knew what was happening.
August 31, 2017
My daughter wanted to read this book. Because it seemed like it might be inappropriate for someone her age I decided to read it first.
It was an interesting concept and for the most part it was compelling. The ending really bothered me because it wasn't much of a resolution.
There was a lot of gratuitous content (mostly language) that did seem inappropriate for the age group that the book targets.
It was an interesting concept and for the most part it was compelling. The ending really bothered me because it wasn't much of a resolution.
There was a lot of gratuitous content (mostly language) that did seem inappropriate for the age group that the book targets.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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