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Expelled
One viral photo.
Four expelled teens.
Everyone's a suspect.
Theo Foster's Twitter account used to be anonymous--until someone posted a revealing photo that got him expelled. No final grade. No future. No fair.
Theo's resigned to a life of misery working at the local mini-mart when a miracle happens: Sasha Ellis speaks to him. Sasha Ellis knows his name. She was also expelled for a crime she didn't commit, and now he has the perfect way to get her attention: find out who set them up.
To uncover the truth, Theo has to get close to the suspects: the hacker, the quarterback, the mean girl, the vice principal, and his own best friend. What secrets are they hiding? And how can Theo catch their confessions on camera?
Four expelled teens.
Everyone's a suspect.
Theo Foster's Twitter account used to be anonymous--until someone posted a revealing photo that got him expelled. No final grade. No future. No fair.
Theo's resigned to a life of misery working at the local mini-mart when a miracle happens: Sasha Ellis speaks to him. Sasha Ellis knows his name. She was also expelled for a crime she didn't commit, and now he has the perfect way to get her attention: find out who set them up.
To uncover the truth, Theo has to get close to the suspects: the hacker, the quarterback, the mean girl, the vice principal, and his own best friend. What secrets are they hiding? And how can Theo catch their confessions on camera?
299 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 2017
1152 people are currently reading
5927 people want to read
About the author
James Patterson
955 books355k followersOfficial US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead
James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead
James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 482 reviews
March 29, 2018
Last year I read my first ever James Patterson novel - Crazy House. It was an interesting read with a great concept and I hold out hope there will be a sequel because it definitely lent itself to one. So when I spotted another Patterson book on my local library’s website, I requested it,mostly because Expelled sounded a lot like One Of Us Is Lying, one of my favourite reads last year and I was intrigued to see how Patterson pulled it off.
To be completely honest, Expelled is your run of the mill teen book. Four kids get Expelled, and our narrator Theo is one of them and he’s determined to prove his innocence - he knows he didn’t do it, but his school have a new zero tolerance policy and he doesn’t even get the chance to defend himself before he’s Expelled, three weeks before the summer break. For some bizarre reason, there is a girl on the front cover of the book despite the male narrator and honestly? This book was just meh for me. One Of Us Is Lying is miles better - character wise, plot wise, just overall. Expelled just didn’t seem believable - you may have a zero tolerance policy but you must surely also have 100% solid proof before you expel someone because lawsuits. It was just daft.
I liked Theo - although is obsession with Sasha bordered on stalker-like behaviour, especially since they don’t know each other prior to them both being Expelled. He is literally obsessed with her, worrying at least once a chapter about how she is and it was overkill. I think it was supposed to be romantic but it just came across creepy and weird. Really, the only concept I liked in the book was the whole making a movie thing, to try and prove their innocence. The rest I didn’t care a bit for.
I think one of my main issues with Patterson books is that he wants you to keep turning the pages, so his chapters are short and snappy but there’s no substance, you don’t feel like you know the characters or their motivations and so it all just ends up seeming rushed. Within the last 20 pages there were two fairly serious allegations and I was like really? That was the motivation behind the picture that started it all? That’s why Sasha was the way she was? I’m not demeaning her experience, it just felt like a cheap plot device. To just throw it in there with five pages to go is not tackling an issue, that’s just going for shock value and it left a pretty sour taste in my mouth, truth be told.
Expelled just wasn’t for me. If you want an actual Breakfast-Club like experience pick up One Of Us Is Lying. It has everything this book lacks and then some and there’s no end plot twists that just read like shock value. This was just 250 pages of not very much at only redeeming quality was Jude and even then, he got pushed aside in favour of Sasha. *eyeroll*
To be completely honest, Expelled is your run of the mill teen book. Four kids get Expelled, and our narrator Theo is one of them and he’s determined to prove his innocence - he knows he didn’t do it, but his school have a new zero tolerance policy and he doesn’t even get the chance to defend himself before he’s Expelled, three weeks before the summer break. For some bizarre reason, there is a girl on the front cover of the book despite the male narrator and honestly? This book was just meh for me. One Of Us Is Lying is miles better - character wise, plot wise, just overall. Expelled just didn’t seem believable - you may have a zero tolerance policy but you must surely also have 100% solid proof before you expel someone because lawsuits. It was just daft.
I liked Theo - although is obsession with Sasha bordered on stalker-like behaviour, especially since they don’t know each other prior to them both being Expelled. He is literally obsessed with her, worrying at least once a chapter about how she is and it was overkill. I think it was supposed to be romantic but it just came across creepy and weird. Really, the only concept I liked in the book was the whole making a movie thing, to try and prove their innocence. The rest I didn’t care a bit for.
I think one of my main issues with Patterson books is that he wants you to keep turning the pages, so his chapters are short and snappy but there’s no substance, you don’t feel like you know the characters or their motivations and so it all just ends up seeming rushed. Within the last 20 pages there were two fairly serious allegations and I was like really? That was the motivation behind the picture that started it all? That’s why Sasha was the way she was? I’m not demeaning her experience, it just felt like a cheap plot device. To just throw it in there with five pages to go is not tackling an issue, that’s just going for shock value and it left a pretty sour taste in my mouth, truth be told.
Expelled just wasn’t for me. If you want an actual Breakfast-Club like experience pick up One Of Us Is Lying. It has everything this book lacks and then some and there’s no end plot twists that just read like shock value. This was just 250 pages of not very much at only redeeming quality was Jude and even then, he got pushed aside in favour of Sasha. *eyeroll*
November 10, 2017
This one had a lot of potential to be a solid contemporary mature YA story - Breakfast Club-esque, social media, some darkness and intrigue without being depressing. BUT then the story goes somewhere WAY dark, but not until way toward the end and almost as an afterthought, although it was slightly foreshadowed throughout the book. As the reveal approaches I was almost yelling DO NOT GO THERE.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC for review.
SPOILER BELOW
Here's why - it's not fair to readers to have almost an entire book to be trauma and trigger free and then lay rape and incest on them and then go back to the original storyline as if nothing had happened. It's incredibly disconcerting and for teens, unnecessary.
I was engaged with this story and enjoying it, but the last portion wiped that out. If you want to write about rape and incest, go for it. There are books that do this incredibly well, but are up front about it. But do it right and honor it as the horror that it is, not include it as a "reveal" and bonus add-on.
If purchased for school libraries, mature YA collections only due to sex, drugs, alcohol, rape, incest, suicide.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC for review.
SPOILER BELOW
Here's why - it's not fair to readers to have almost an entire book to be trauma and trigger free and then lay rape and incest on them and then go back to the original storyline as if nothing had happened. It's incredibly disconcerting and for teens, unnecessary.
I was engaged with this story and enjoying it, but the last portion wiped that out. If you want to write about rape and incest, go for it. There are books that do this incredibly well, but are up front about it. But do it right and honor it as the horror that it is, not include it as a "reveal" and bonus add-on.
If purchased for school libraries, mature YA collections only due to sex, drugs, alcohol, rape, incest, suicide.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2017
This book has fallen in my esteem since I finished it. I probably would have rated it at like a 2 or 3 a week ago, but as I think about it and talk about it more and continue to try to think through the story... I just like it less and less as I find myself truly identifying my problems with it. It's not the book it's marketed as - that's the main thing I want the people reading this review to know. It plays itself as this "teamwork, group dynamic, high school mystery" and it really isn't. The marketing on the cover - with the girl leaning against the wall and the quote "Getting expelled was the best thing that ever happened to her" both seem to point to an idea that this book is going to revolve around Sasha (the main female character), and that's really not what this book is about At All. The main character is so self-centered and prejudicial, and he clearly doesn't think about other people as real people - and even though the book tries to address this, his behavior doesn't actually change. Plus, no spoilers, but the ending was rushed and super problematic for me.
October 30, 2017
Remember when I was saying how the new theme in teen books seems to be The Breakfast Club with a mystery twist. Expelled by James Patterson and Emily Raymond is another book on that theme. In the case of Expelled though, they are at the Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200 but instead of going straight to detention they have been expelled. Will Foster had a secret twitter account where he exposed the school student's secrets - he was his school's version of Gossip Girl. Except when a photo is posted to his account, the person hasn't covered their tracks and has set up Will Foster and the people in the photo - Jude who is the school's mascot and Will's best friend and Parker - the school quarterback. There is also was a fourth person expelled Sasha. Will can't believe how unfair this is and without school and his final grades, there goes his chance of entering college. After talking to his friend and getting Parker and Sasha on board, Will decides to create a video proclaiming their innocence but as they the video goes along - Will discovers that stories aren't adding up and that the other's may not be as innocent as they proclaim and that they are hiding secrets? What secrets will Will uncover? Find out in Expelled by James Patterson and Emily Patterson with their latest YA release.
November 9, 2017
Was the ending revelation really necessary? I think not. That was way too big of an issue to throw out at the very end of the book. It made absolutely no sense to me and really killed the ending. Overall, a good young adult book, until the end. Very poor decision making on that one.
It was obvious that something was going on with Sasha and that we would eventually find out, but of all the things that could be the problem, that is what they picked??? It had nothing at all to do with what the rest of the book was about.
It was obvious that something was going on with Sasha and that we would eventually find out, but of all the things that could be the problem, that is what they picked??? It had nothing at all to do with what the rest of the book was about.
July 27, 2018
Quick read- if it was any longer it would have felt like it was dragging on because there was very little plot. VERY LITTLE. Most of the story was just setup and then in the last couple of pages there was a small reveal to resolve the story.
March 12, 2023
I picked this book up while I was reading another that was really heavy for me. So, I got into this book thinking I was about to get a book where some kids get expelled and just start trying to find out why and who framed them.
But did I get that really? No. And here I am to list all of the problems I had with this book, because I HATED IT that much.
1) The unoriginality in characters: Theo is a typical "normal" not popular, but not a nobody at school. Sasha is the "not like other girls" girl, who likes poetry and knitting and she's troubled and she's not like other girls and is also an asshole and rude. There was nothing lovable about Sasha to be honest, especially when she was talking to others except the protagonists. Parker (the only actual character I liked and felt sorry for in this book) was the cliche jock who's an ass, the "prince" of the school or something. Jude, the artistic bi best friend, whose sexuality offers nothing to the plot but I guess we need representation? Like I legit didn't know he was bi until someone mentioned it in the reviews here. Jeremy (or Jere7my *eye roll*) was the "nerdy" computer guy, then Felix (?) who was the Youtuber type of dude and a bunch of other extras that were STEREOTYPICAL.
2) The misleading in the cover and synopsis: I thought the story would be about Sasha, but I got whiney Theo instead.
3) Theo's whining: To me the protagonist was a complete asshole. He is facing struggles and I'm not invalidating the trauma he must have gone through after discovering his father dead, or that he's sad his mom is not there for him. But he just seems to be so ungrateful for what he does have; he whines about the food he eats, instead of maybe idk cooking while his mom is working her ass off? He doesn't sound like the guy who is fed up and can't care for anything anymore, he sounds like a self-centered person who didn't care anyway. And he's also totally obsessed with Sasha, who he never knew before this incident and he's like "in love with her" and he always "worries" about her. Whatever.
4) Plot problems:
a) The documentary-movie investigation to save THEO: I originally liked the idea. It reminded me of Dear Zachary and I really loved that documentary! But... oh boy. So the investigation was not an investigation at all. They just went around asking a bunch of people if they did it or not as if they'd confess. The right investigation would've started from asking Parker who the girl with him was and if he didn't remember, ask someone else about who was there. Generally looking for witnesses first. But oh! Wait! Who cares? We don't wanna prove Jude's innocence right? We only care about who posted it, not who's in the picture! Moving on... It wasn't really an investigation. It was just accusing people and suddenly getting a flash of who it might be and them confessing.
b) Which brings me to my next point, WHY PARKER? It was not only predictable, it was- Okay, so Parker was the only redeemable guy, the only one who actually had a reason and okay his actions were not good, but I pitied him. It was a huge disappointment to have him be the one who did it. I would've liked to see Theo's enemy be someone completely different, someone he or we didn't suspect, someone who held a grudge, a much more complicated plot, but maybe I was expecting too much.
c) The absence of parents: WHERE ARE THE PARENTS IN ALL THIS. Except for Sasha's dad, to which I'm gonna get soon, and Theo's mom (who served NOTHING to the plot) no one was there for their kids when they got unfairly expelled? Idk the system in wherever this is happening but I read in the comments that you can't have that happen. Anyway, bad writing. The only "good" thing about absence of parents is leaving the house whenever the teenagers want and having useless parties.
d) The "dad" subplot: USELESSSSSSS. It offered nothing to the plot, just made Theo "hurt". Legit, even when the mom said she found a letter from his dad, the letter was complete bullshit. Imagine discovering your dad after he committed suicide, getting traumatized and after years or months idk finding a letter that's like "oh here's all our memories", "remember you are the best thing that happened to me" and other shit like that. WHAT THE FUCK? Offer some better closure dude! Have the dad confess the pain was unbearable, in a more touching way, have him say that he can't take it any longer, that he has thought about it a lot, that he doesn't want to trouble them with taking care of him SOMETHING. Not stuff that helped Theo in NO WAY.
e) FUCKING SASHA'S SUBPLOT THAT SHOULDN'T BE PLOT AT ALL: It is hinted in the book that something is happening with Sasha, like at her home. I thought after she confessed stealing the money that it would be something like that her dad was actually fired or that he was angry at her for getting expelled. BUT NO. Literally offering again NOTHING to the plot, we had to have like 20 pages of Sasha's abuse for SHOCK VALUE. No. It is revealed that she's been sexually abused by her dad for years. To me who has experienced something in the past, this was complete and utter bullshit, a total trigger, a fucking almost unexpected thing (I never thought they'd actually go there) that sent me into angry mode and later led to a huge mental breakdown. That was utter disrespect and no sensitivity. AND OH MY GOD- The part I hated the most: THEO RUNNING OFF AFTER SASHA FINALLY SPOKE TO SOMEONE. Literally leaving her behind to care for his own self-centered ass, having some scene with that officer that helped him nowhere, and then pulling a stupid stunt to prove to Sasha, what? That life will bring you down, but you can get up? Stupid. Then they romanticize the situation? If I were Sasha I would've kicked him in the face for leaving me in the first place. And what? Then Sasha had to tell a teacher who had to in turn call the cops? THEO DIDN'T FUCKING KNOW TO CALL THE COPS HIMSELF WITH SASHA? TELL HER THAT THEY'RE GONNA GO THROUGH IT TOGETHER?
You can see I got very angry. Sincerely, from someone who didn't need that book ever in my life, that was the worst book I've ever read. Useless, I learned nothing, disappointing though somewhat promising by the synopsis and totally disrespectful and inconsiderate. Burn this book. I simply wasted not 3 hours of reading it, but 4 for breaking down and sleep. Fuck this book.
But did I get that really? No. And here I am to list all of the problems I had with this book, because I HATED IT that much.
1) The unoriginality in characters: Theo is a typical "normal" not popular, but not a nobody at school. Sasha is the "not like other girls" girl, who likes poetry and knitting and she's troubled and she's not like other girls and is also an asshole and rude. There was nothing lovable about Sasha to be honest, especially when she was talking to others except the protagonists. Parker (the only actual character I liked and felt sorry for in this book) was the cliche jock who's an ass, the "prince" of the school or something. Jude, the artistic bi best friend, whose sexuality offers nothing to the plot but I guess we need representation? Like I legit didn't know he was bi until someone mentioned it in the reviews here. Jeremy (or Jere7my *eye roll*) was the "nerdy" computer guy, then Felix (?) who was the Youtuber type of dude and a bunch of other extras that were STEREOTYPICAL.
2) The misleading in the cover and synopsis: I thought the story would be about Sasha, but I got whiney Theo instead.
3) Theo's whining: To me the protagonist was a complete asshole. He is facing struggles and I'm not invalidating the trauma he must have gone through after discovering his father dead, or that he's sad his mom is not there for him. But he just seems to be so ungrateful for what he does have; he whines about the food he eats, instead of maybe idk cooking while his mom is working her ass off? He doesn't sound like the guy who is fed up and can't care for anything anymore, he sounds like a self-centered person who didn't care anyway. And he's also totally obsessed with Sasha, who he never knew before this incident and he's like "in love with her" and he always "worries" about her. Whatever.
4) Plot problems:
a) The documentary-movie investigation to save THEO: I originally liked the idea. It reminded me of Dear Zachary and I really loved that documentary! But... oh boy. So the investigation was not an investigation at all. They just went around asking a bunch of people if they did it or not as if they'd confess. The right investigation would've started from asking Parker who the girl with him was and if he didn't remember, ask someone else about who was there. Generally looking for witnesses first. But oh! Wait! Who cares? We don't wanna prove Jude's innocence right? We only care about who posted it, not who's in the picture! Moving on... It wasn't really an investigation. It was just accusing people and suddenly getting a flash of who it might be and them confessing.
b) Which brings me to my next point, WHY PARKER? It was not only predictable, it was- Okay, so Parker was the only redeemable guy, the only one who actually had a reason and okay his actions were not good, but I pitied him. It was a huge disappointment to have him be the one who did it. I would've liked to see Theo's enemy be someone completely different, someone he or we didn't suspect, someone who held a grudge, a much more complicated plot, but maybe I was expecting too much.
c) The absence of parents: WHERE ARE THE PARENTS IN ALL THIS. Except for Sasha's dad, to which I'm gonna get soon, and Theo's mom (who served NOTHING to the plot) no one was there for their kids when they got unfairly expelled? Idk the system in wherever this is happening but I read in the comments that you can't have that happen. Anyway, bad writing. The only "good" thing about absence of parents is leaving the house whenever the teenagers want and having useless parties.
d) The "dad" subplot: USELESSSSSSS. It offered nothing to the plot, just made Theo "hurt". Legit, even when the mom said she found a letter from his dad, the letter was complete bullshit. Imagine discovering your dad after he committed suicide, getting traumatized and after years or months idk finding a letter that's like "oh here's all our memories", "remember you are the best thing that happened to me" and other shit like that. WHAT THE FUCK? Offer some better closure dude! Have the dad confess the pain was unbearable, in a more touching way, have him say that he can't take it any longer, that he has thought about it a lot, that he doesn't want to trouble them with taking care of him SOMETHING. Not stuff that helped Theo in NO WAY.
e) FUCKING SASHA'S SUBPLOT THAT SHOULDN'T BE PLOT AT ALL: It is hinted in the book that something is happening with Sasha, like at her home. I thought after she confessed stealing the money that it would be something like that her dad was actually fired or that he was angry at her for getting expelled. BUT NO. Literally offering again NOTHING to the plot, we had to have like 20 pages of Sasha's abuse for SHOCK VALUE. No. It is revealed that she's been sexually abused by her dad for years. To me who has experienced something in the past, this was complete and utter bullshit, a total trigger, a fucking almost unexpected thing (I never thought they'd actually go there) that sent me into angry mode and later led to a huge mental breakdown. That was utter disrespect and no sensitivity. AND OH MY GOD- The part I hated the most: THEO RUNNING OFF AFTER SASHA FINALLY SPOKE TO SOMEONE. Literally leaving her behind to care for his own self-centered ass, having some scene with that officer that helped him nowhere, and then pulling a stupid stunt to prove to Sasha, what? That life will bring you down, but you can get up? Stupid. Then they romanticize the situation? If I were Sasha I would've kicked him in the face for leaving me in the first place. And what? Then Sasha had to tell a teacher who had to in turn call the cops? THEO DIDN'T FUCKING KNOW TO CALL THE COPS HIMSELF WITH SASHA? TELL HER THAT THEY'RE GONNA GO THROUGH IT TOGETHER?
You can see I got very angry. Sincerely, from someone who didn't need that book ever in my life, that was the worst book I've ever read. Useless, I learned nothing, disappointing though somewhat promising by the synopsis and totally disrespectful and inconsiderate. Burn this book. I simply wasted not 3 hours of reading it, but 4 for breaking down and sleep. Fuck this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2024
3 Stars for Expelled (audiobook) by James Patterson and Emily Raymond read by Michael Crouch.
Several teens get expelled from High School for something that they didn’t do and they teamed up to prove their innocence. They decide to film a documentary to put on TouTube to help generate more support. And along the way they make friends and find a scandal that goes all the way to the core of the school.
Several teens get expelled from High School for something that they didn’t do and they teamed up to prove their innocence. They decide to film a documentary to put on TouTube to help generate more support. And along the way they make friends and find a scandal that goes all the way to the core of the school.
Read
May 7, 2020The plot was mediocre, unsuspenseful, and predictable. Generally disappointing.
January 10, 2018
No. No. Protagonist was dull and not developed. Lots of big subject matter (suicide! abuse!) that was handled incredibly irresponsibly. This book made me so mad.
June 3, 2019
This book was very heart lifting and showed what some teenagers have to go through, even in a family, like Sasha. James Patterson is a very captivating and motivating author.
November 8, 2017
This was a pretty good book. It is really directed toward YA but it kept me interested and reading. I've actually been enjoying more of James Patterson's YA novels lately than his adult books.
October 14, 2022
I expect so much more from James Patterson. Expelled wasn’t much of a straight or strong book. The ending was so abrupt. We hear nothing more about Jude’s ending and what happens to the football coach. James Patterson had too many concepts together and he couldn’t put them in. 1 star. Abrupt. Lousy.
May 26, 2020
One hard story. Kids going through the most horrific things life could throw at them, only to be covered up by adults who don't want a scandal or worse. Sad to say, it often happens in real life. And it's horrifying.
June 1, 2021
Theo Foster is a good student, an eleventh grader at Arlington High School where he is editor of the school newspaper. His Dad passed away six months ago and now another terrible thing has happened. He has been expelled, disciplined for disruptive behavior at school. Theo created a secret Twitter account where he posted school gossip and harmless rumours. The administration knew about it but let it go until he maliciously posted a photo that tarnished the reputation of a star athlete and the high school community. The photo taken at night, showed the star football quarterback Parker Harris, drunken and shirtless with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and the other hand very close to the bare breast of an unidentified woman. Behind him, someone wearing the school mascot’s tiger head, is peeing on what appears to be Parker’s #89 football jersey.
Someone else took the picture and posted it from Theo’s computer. He has no idea how that happened and despite his pleas of innocence he is hauled before the administration who mete out his punishment. He is expelled, forbidden to attend school or set foot on school property for the last three weeks of the school year. It means he will miss his exams and forfeit his entire school year. With that black mark on his record, he will never get the scholarship he needs to attend college.
Theo’s best friend is Jude Holtz, also expelled because he is the school mascot and suspected of being in the picture with the tiger head. Neither of the boys can prove they were not involved as part of this prank. Even the football hero Parker Harris has been expelled, unable to explain his behavior because he says he was so blitzed on Jack Daniels he doesn’t know who was with him that night.
Sasha Ellis is another student who has been expelled from school, but for a different reason, accused of stealing money from the school soda machine. Sasha is very smart, an unusual girl who has few friends. Theo has quietly had a crush on her for over three years but has never spoken to her. She and her father, a literature professor, live in a large house on the right side of town and Theo knows she is out of his league, but that doesn’t stop the feelings he has for her.
Their situation brings Theo, Jude, Sasha and Parker together and Theo decides to enlist their help in making a film, an investigative documentary about their experience during which they will try to find out who posted the photo and expose them. Although they share the humiliation of being expelled, that doesn’t make them good friends and working together proves to be a challenge. They have little expertise in filming, so they enlist two other students, Jeremy a computer geek and Felix a sophomore who makes prank videos. Even with their help, they quickly discover making a film is much more difficult than they ever imagined and don’t make significant progress. Theo begins to wonder if they can really take on the school board, but he remains angry at the unfairness of it all. The only one who isn’t being punished is the person who did this and he is determined to find out who that person is.
In between periods of filming and interviews, Theo remains frustrated, discouraged and even frightened about how this expulsion and his missed year will affect his future. It even interferes with his ability to get a job as a clerk, his application dismissed by a member of his community who recognized him as one of the students who was part of the high school scandal and refused to hire him. Even his friends begin to distance themselves from him and he is banned from the local coffee shop. Suddenly he and the others have hit the news as poster children for teenage delinquency.
Theo spends a lot of time at The Property, the piece of land his parents purchased on a pond just after they were married and where they planned to build their dream home. Theo loves it there and in the past spent hours there fishing with his Dad. For him, it is a refuge, a place to think where he feels happiest, but the property may have to be sold. After his father's sudden death, his mother has had to work two jobs just to pay the bills and she can only do that for so long before she is completely worn out. The idea of selling it bothers him; it feels like just one more thing he is going to lose.
Each of Theo’s friends has a storyline. Jude, who describes himself as a bisexual virgin and a painter is not drawn in detail and appears flippant about the entire affair. Parker appears to have everything a young teenager could want, a great athletic body and enough talent to lead a winning team to victory on the football field. He is less invested in the film project as his well-to-do parents enrolled him in a private school after he was expelled and he is not suffering as much as the others. But Parker has a private life no one knows about and his personal story is strong and moving. Sasha moves into and out of the project at her own pace and Theo never quite knows how committed she is to the project. She only recently moved to the neighborhood and hides a deep dark secret about her home life at home. Her story feels forced and contrived as if the writers felt they needed to provide an awkward jolt towards the end of the novel.
The mystery is not difficult to solve and the small group finds an innovative way to expose what has been going on at the school.
Although I have not rated this book highly, I do believe there are two areas that deserve some praise. Parker’s account of how he was being used by others and Theo’s thinking about his father’s death are both well done.
This is a story aimed at young adults, something I didn’t know when I first picked up the book, unfamiliar with the small logo on the spine identifying it as a “jimmy book”. It is a good story about a boy who lost his father, his school, his reputation and came close to losing his best friend; a story about someone just trying to figure out his life when it seems the whole world had turned against him.
I like the fact Patterson and his co-writers have targeted young readers. Whatever brings readers to books is a good thing, the first step in a process that starts somewhere, whether it be comic books or Harlequin romances. The more they read, the more they learn how to distinguish between what is good, what is not very good and what is not worth reading. Kids want to read about their world, the one they live in which they believe is so different from that of adults. They like books written by writers who understand that world with all its angst, egocentric thinking and expectations of immortality. And for that particular audience, this may be a book that they enjoy.
Someone else took the picture and posted it from Theo’s computer. He has no idea how that happened and despite his pleas of innocence he is hauled before the administration who mete out his punishment. He is expelled, forbidden to attend school or set foot on school property for the last three weeks of the school year. It means he will miss his exams and forfeit his entire school year. With that black mark on his record, he will never get the scholarship he needs to attend college.
Theo’s best friend is Jude Holtz, also expelled because he is the school mascot and suspected of being in the picture with the tiger head. Neither of the boys can prove they were not involved as part of this prank. Even the football hero Parker Harris has been expelled, unable to explain his behavior because he says he was so blitzed on Jack Daniels he doesn’t know who was with him that night.
Sasha Ellis is another student who has been expelled from school, but for a different reason, accused of stealing money from the school soda machine. Sasha is very smart, an unusual girl who has few friends. Theo has quietly had a crush on her for over three years but has never spoken to her. She and her father, a literature professor, live in a large house on the right side of town and Theo knows she is out of his league, but that doesn’t stop the feelings he has for her.
Their situation brings Theo, Jude, Sasha and Parker together and Theo decides to enlist their help in making a film, an investigative documentary about their experience during which they will try to find out who posted the photo and expose them. Although they share the humiliation of being expelled, that doesn’t make them good friends and working together proves to be a challenge. They have little expertise in filming, so they enlist two other students, Jeremy a computer geek and Felix a sophomore who makes prank videos. Even with their help, they quickly discover making a film is much more difficult than they ever imagined and don’t make significant progress. Theo begins to wonder if they can really take on the school board, but he remains angry at the unfairness of it all. The only one who isn’t being punished is the person who did this and he is determined to find out who that person is.
In between periods of filming and interviews, Theo remains frustrated, discouraged and even frightened about how this expulsion and his missed year will affect his future. It even interferes with his ability to get a job as a clerk, his application dismissed by a member of his community who recognized him as one of the students who was part of the high school scandal and refused to hire him. Even his friends begin to distance themselves from him and he is banned from the local coffee shop. Suddenly he and the others have hit the news as poster children for teenage delinquency.
Theo spends a lot of time at The Property, the piece of land his parents purchased on a pond just after they were married and where they planned to build their dream home. Theo loves it there and in the past spent hours there fishing with his Dad. For him, it is a refuge, a place to think where he feels happiest, but the property may have to be sold. After his father's sudden death, his mother has had to work two jobs just to pay the bills and she can only do that for so long before she is completely worn out. The idea of selling it bothers him; it feels like just one more thing he is going to lose.
Each of Theo’s friends has a storyline. Jude, who describes himself as a bisexual virgin and a painter is not drawn in detail and appears flippant about the entire affair. Parker appears to have everything a young teenager could want, a great athletic body and enough talent to lead a winning team to victory on the football field. He is less invested in the film project as his well-to-do parents enrolled him in a private school after he was expelled and he is not suffering as much as the others. But Parker has a private life no one knows about and his personal story is strong and moving. Sasha moves into and out of the project at her own pace and Theo never quite knows how committed she is to the project. She only recently moved to the neighborhood and hides a deep dark secret about her home life at home. Her story feels forced and contrived as if the writers felt they needed to provide an awkward jolt towards the end of the novel.
The mystery is not difficult to solve and the small group finds an innovative way to expose what has been going on at the school.
Although I have not rated this book highly, I do believe there are two areas that deserve some praise. Parker’s account of how he was being used by others and Theo’s thinking about his father’s death are both well done.
This is a story aimed at young adults, something I didn’t know when I first picked up the book, unfamiliar with the small logo on the spine identifying it as a “jimmy book”. It is a good story about a boy who lost his father, his school, his reputation and came close to losing his best friend; a story about someone just trying to figure out his life when it seems the whole world had turned against him.
I like the fact Patterson and his co-writers have targeted young readers. Whatever brings readers to books is a good thing, the first step in a process that starts somewhere, whether it be comic books or Harlequin romances. The more they read, the more they learn how to distinguish between what is good, what is not very good and what is not worth reading. Kids want to read about their world, the one they live in which they believe is so different from that of adults. They like books written by writers who understand that world with all its angst, egocentric thinking and expectations of immortality. And for that particular audience, this may be a book that they enjoy.
December 4, 2017
I'll give this book four stars if only because of Theo and Jude - a terrific narrator and a terrific Stiles, and even better, a Stiles they actually, on the page, write as openly bi rather than leaving it ambiguous and up to our headcanons. Sasha deserves mention too, because she's a very complicated character, much more so than I tend to expect Patterson to deliver. Though maybe that's his cowriter Emily Raymond's hand at work. Overall, this story is a longer one than it should be, and a little repetitive too, but the character dynamics are the saving grace. That said, though, I'm obligated to give you some trigger warnings for suicide, rape, and parental abuse - and the last two, especially, take those warnings seriously. The ending of this book made me more than a little queasy, especially since this isn't the first Patterson YA book to include it this year alone.
November 9, 2017
Another quick little Breakfast Club "who dunnit". Enjoyable and a fast read.
July 25, 2021
It was an okay read. Took a lot longer than needed to get to its point. I can only give it 3 stars.
November 5, 2019
This book was a quick read, and frankly not an attention grabber. 3.5 stars most certainly. I feel this book tried to be extremely interesting but it would just tell you instead of showing you what was so interesting.
February 21, 2019
Okay, if the entire narration is from a guy, why does the cover show a girl and state "getting kicked out of school is the best thing that ever happened to her" [a highly dubious claim]? Seriously, this is Theo's story but they make it appear like it's all about Sasha. It also claims to be a "raw darkly humorous story," but I never saw any humor in it, and the plot devices are fairly obvious (other than a totally gratuitous denouncement at the end).
SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOU OWN RISK...
You were warned...
There were way too many issues with plausibility for me to take this seriously. The zero tolerance expulsion policy without conclusive evidence was laughable. Someone was wearing the mascot's head and got filmed peeing on a football jersey, so they expelled the mascot. Any idiot in school could have been wearing it; they had no way to prove it was Jude who did it. And why were all the parents so passive about their kids getting booted out like that? If my kid got railroaded out I'd have an attorney parked on their doorstep the next morning with lawsuit in hand.
Theo is a self-centered putz who is creepy about obsessing over Sasha. Jude is weirdly apathetic about having his life screwed over, doing some "I'm just going to become a rich artist without going to school" routine. Then he finally gets pissy when an art camp turns him away because of his destructive behavior and realizes that maybe he won't get into college and perhaps he should start giving a shit and taking it seriously.
And if this was supposed to be a current story the claim that the football coach was shooting the whole team up with steroids was utter bullshit.
But the real "throw the book across the room" moment came with Sasha's grand announcement at the end; her daddy dearest has been pressuring her into sex since she wound up on his doorstep as a teenager. It felt thrown in just for shock value, and then quickly passed over. That cost it a star right then.
There were also a couple of continuity issues that could have easily been corrected; reading them told me not much effort was put into it.
First, #89 is NOT a quarterback's uniform number; they wear #s 1-19 which you could have checked in 2 seconds on Google. So seeing that on essentially the first page already had me questioning the story.
The baseball scene is equally inaccurate. Apparently Arlington High is the only place in the world where the home team bats first instead of second. Again, how much effort does it take to get that simple detail correct? Did no one read it for continuity?
Not sure why Patterson associated his name with this drivel.
SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOU OWN RISK...
You were warned...
There were way too many issues with plausibility for me to take this seriously. The zero tolerance expulsion policy without conclusive evidence was laughable. Someone was wearing the mascot's head and got filmed peeing on a football jersey, so they expelled the mascot. Any idiot in school could have been wearing it; they had no way to prove it was Jude who did it. And why were all the parents so passive about their kids getting booted out like that? If my kid got railroaded out I'd have an attorney parked on their doorstep the next morning with lawsuit in hand.
Theo is a self-centered putz who is creepy about obsessing over Sasha. Jude is weirdly apathetic about having his life screwed over, doing some "I'm just going to become a rich artist without going to school" routine. Then he finally gets pissy when an art camp turns him away because of his destructive behavior and realizes that maybe he won't get into college and perhaps he should start giving a shit and taking it seriously.
And if this was supposed to be a current story the claim that the football coach was shooting the whole team up with steroids was utter bullshit.
But the real "throw the book across the room" moment came with Sasha's grand announcement at the end; her daddy dearest has been pressuring her into sex since she wound up on his doorstep as a teenager. It felt thrown in just for shock value, and then quickly passed over. That cost it a star right then.
There were also a couple of continuity issues that could have easily been corrected; reading them told me not much effort was put into it.
First, #89 is NOT a quarterback's uniform number; they wear #s 1-19 which you could have checked in 2 seconds on Google. So seeing that on essentially the first page already had me questioning the story.
The baseball scene is equally inaccurate. Apparently Arlington High is the only place in the world where the home team bats first instead of second. Again, how much effort does it take to get that simple detail correct? Did no one read it for continuity?
Not sure why Patterson associated his name with this drivel.
December 29, 2017
First of all, no matter what you may think of James Patterson, there's absolutely something to be said for a book you can read 200 pages of in an hour and not feel like it was utter fluff. That's really cathartic.
The actual book suffers a bit from cover copy that could either be considered a spoiler or plain misleading, as well as taking too long to get to the meaty bits of the story. Patterson and his co-author are trying to cover some very heavy material in the subplots, and while it isn't poorly handled, it could have benefited from a little more time to really make the point. The ending is rushed as well, albeit not enough to make the book feel unsatisfactory.
Basically this is a good book that could have been a great one with a little more time. It's still worth reading if you want a quick, not-t00-fluffy YA novel, but if you're looking for substance, that's not really here.
The actual book suffers a bit from cover copy that could either be considered a spoiler or plain misleading, as well as taking too long to get to the meaty bits of the story. Patterson and his co-author are trying to cover some very heavy material in the subplots, and while it isn't poorly handled, it could have benefited from a little more time to really make the point. The ending is rushed as well, albeit not enough to make the book feel unsatisfactory.
Basically this is a good book that could have been a great one with a little more time. It's still worth reading if you want a quick, not-t00-fluffy YA novel, but if you're looking for substance, that's not really here.
September 28, 2018
Theo is expelled for posting a party pic online. The only problem, Theo didn't really post the photo. He involves some other students that were expelled at the same time to help him find out who was behind the photo.
A not-so-great updated version of The Breakfast Club. A group of teens get expelled from school, but some aren't exactly guilty of the charges. A quick YA read that is part contemporary and part mystery. Theo is mostly self-centered, but in the way that is normal for teenagers. Some of the other characters were interesting, but their stories weren't fully developed.
A not-so-great updated version of The Breakfast Club. A group of teens get expelled from school, but some aren't exactly guilty of the charges. A quick YA read that is part contemporary and part mystery. Theo is mostly self-centered, but in the way that is normal for teenagers. Some of the other characters were interesting, but their stories weren't fully developed.
May 21, 2018
Je viens juste de finir ce livre (Chacun ses raisons en VF) et franchement c’est une déception pour moi. Je me suis ennuyée et j’ai eu beaucoup de mal avec les personnages et le style des auteurs. La fin est un peu plus émouvante alors ça remonte le tour, mais même la pseudo révélation m’a laissée de marbre. Bref, un roman qui n’a pas su me convaincre ...
November 20, 2019
This book needs a trigger warning—I couldn’t believe how they ended it with the reveal that her father was raping and sexually abusing her, when there was nothing about that anywhere else. I also thought the story fell flat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 22, 2019Expelled, by James Patterson, was not one of my favorite books. I would give this book four stars for a couple of reasons. This book didn’t make me want to keep flipping the pages as much as I would have liked. It had a good story line and was suspenseful but I couldn’t relate to the characters that much. These are a few reasons why I rated this book four stars.
The first reason why I didn’t love Expelled is because I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. One of the characters is Theo. He is the narrator of the story. He lives with his mom and his dad died when he was only sixteen. Theo is also the school newspaper editor. I live with both of my parents and my brother. I do not do any writing or are on the yearbook staff for the school like he is. One thing I did like about this book is that James Patterson incorporated a letter from Theo’s dad to him. I thought that this was important to the story because his dad comitted suicide after being diagnosed with a disease. The letter, on page 211 and 212, gives Theo more closure on his father's death that before. Who Theo finds is guilty in the end really shocked me. I'm not going to spoil the ending but I wasn't expecting the ending to be like it was.
Expelled is a suspenseful book but I would have second thoughts about reading this book again. I would not recommend this book to any younger kids because of some language used throughout. I feel like many highschoolers would like this book but I honestly was not a huge fan. For me the characters were hard to relate to and I didn’t want to keep flipping the page. I did like how it was suspenseful and had an ending that I would not have guessed. That is why I would give this book four stars.
The first reason why I didn’t love Expelled is because I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. One of the characters is Theo. He is the narrator of the story. He lives with his mom and his dad died when he was only sixteen. Theo is also the school newspaper editor. I live with both of my parents and my brother. I do not do any writing or are on the yearbook staff for the school like he is. One thing I did like about this book is that James Patterson incorporated a letter from Theo’s dad to him. I thought that this was important to the story because his dad comitted suicide after being diagnosed with a disease. The letter, on page 211 and 212, gives Theo more closure on his father's death that before. Who Theo finds is guilty in the end really shocked me. I'm not going to spoil the ending but I wasn't expecting the ending to be like it was.
Expelled is a suspenseful book but I would have second thoughts about reading this book again. I would not recommend this book to any younger kids because of some language used throughout. I feel like many highschoolers would like this book but I honestly was not a huge fan. For me the characters were hard to relate to and I didn’t want to keep flipping the page. I did like how it was suspenseful and had an ending that I would not have guessed. That is why I would give this book four stars.
March 4, 2019
Full Review can be found at Http://www.thegraduatedbookworm.com
Although very late, I would like to thank the amazing people from Hachette Books Canada for sending me a copy in exchange for a review! I will be honest though, this wasn't my favourite book, even though there were some great moments!
I feel like there were moments that the book kind of dragged. I know the whole point was that they were trying to find out who posted the photo, but it felt like they were dragging it on for too long. I DID however like some of the banter between Theo and Sasha even if he was to chicken to actually just kiss the girl! You could tell how much he's pined over her, and I felt like yelling at him through the book...
Overall, It wasn't my favourite book I've read. There could be a number of reasons for it, but I'm sure there are others out there who really would enjoy this book! I just couldn't connect with any of the characters and I felt like a lot of them seemed younger than the age they were written in.
Although very late, I would like to thank the amazing people from Hachette Books Canada for sending me a copy in exchange for a review! I will be honest though, this wasn't my favourite book, even though there were some great moments!
I feel like there were moments that the book kind of dragged. I know the whole point was that they were trying to find out who posted the photo, but it felt like they were dragging it on for too long. I DID however like some of the banter between Theo and Sasha even if he was to chicken to actually just kiss the girl! You could tell how much he's pined over her, and I felt like yelling at him through the book...
Overall, It wasn't my favourite book I've read. There could be a number of reasons for it, but I'm sure there are others out there who really would enjoy this book! I just couldn't connect with any of the characters and I felt like a lot of them seemed younger than the age they were written in.
September 25, 2018
Theo Foster had the worst birthday ever. He was expelled after a very revealing photo of the school's star quarterback (Parker Harris - who is also expelled) is posted on Theo's secret Twitter account. The photo also includes the school mascot urinating on a jersey. Although they do not know who is under the head of the mascot, they assume that it is Jude, Theo's best friend. Sasha Ellis is also expelled after she is accused of stealing the money from the school's snack machines. Who would frame all these students when they have proclaimed their innocence? Theo enlists the help of Sasha, Felix (a notable You-Tuber), Jere7my (a computer geek), and Parker himself, to find out who posted that picture. Who did it may not surprise you but the why probably will. A book that reveals what those who are innocent will go through to get to the truth.
February 25, 2018
Expelled is centered around a mystery and it has an unrelated twist at the end. I predicted both of them after reading the first five chapters. This must mean:
A. I'm a super sleuth.
B. James Patterson was trying to develop the protagonist as one who overlooks the obvious clues around him because he is too focused on himself.
C. This story and its characters are not very original.
Unfortunately, I'm leaning toward the latter. Somehow(!) this is the first book I've read by James Patterson, and if this book is any indication, I now understand how he's able to churn out a new book every month: he uses just enough pop-culture references to hide the fact that his stories and character's are ones we've experienced at least a dozen times before. Theo, the protagonist, is the misunderstood teenage boy with the heart of gold who is in love with the mysterious, tortured teenage girl; Sasha is the mysterious, tortured teenage girl; Parker is the jock; Jude is the gay best friend; Jere7my is the computer nerd.
Expelled is filled with stock characters and stereotypes galore. To be fair, so is basically everything by John Green, but at least he gives his characters odd quirks to distract from the fact that they came off an assembly line.
Anyway, while it's being marketed as being "reminiscent of The Breakfast Club," I think one could easily argue that it's basically a modern retelling of The Breakfast Club, or at least, it's trying so hard to be that to argue otherwise would be splitting hairs. In fact, in my terrible memory tally, The Breakfast Club is mentioned by name at least three times in the book. At first I thought it was meta and self-aware (and awesome!) but then I started to think it was just lazy and derivative.
Here's the thing: James Patterson is a good writer. So even though I had a very good idea (that turned out to be accurate) about where this story was going, I did enjoy the ride. The story is accessible, the characters are likable (even if I liked them more when their names were Q and Margot in Paper Towns by John Green), and the chapters are short and sweet. I also really appreciate the fact that Patterson is aware of Magic: The Gathering enough to feature a character not only playing it, but naming cards from the most recent expansion, no less. That was cool.
A. I'm a super sleuth.
B. James Patterson was trying to develop the protagonist as one who overlooks the obvious clues around him because he is too focused on himself.
C. This story and its characters are not very original.
Unfortunately, I'm leaning toward the latter. Somehow(!) this is the first book I've read by James Patterson, and if this book is any indication, I now understand how he's able to churn out a new book every month: he uses just enough pop-culture references to hide the fact that his stories and character's are ones we've experienced at least a dozen times before. Theo, the protagonist, is the misunderstood teenage boy with the heart of gold who is in love with the mysterious, tortured teenage girl; Sasha is the mysterious, tortured teenage girl; Parker is the jock; Jude is the gay best friend; Jere7my is the computer nerd.
Expelled is filled with stock characters and stereotypes galore. To be fair, so is basically everything by John Green, but at least he gives his characters odd quirks to distract from the fact that they came off an assembly line.
Anyway, while it's being marketed as being "reminiscent of The Breakfast Club," I think one could easily argue that it's basically a modern retelling of The Breakfast Club, or at least, it's trying so hard to be that to argue otherwise would be splitting hairs. In fact, in my terrible memory tally, The Breakfast Club is mentioned by name at least three times in the book. At first I thought it was meta and self-aware (and awesome!) but then I started to think it was just lazy and derivative.
Here's the thing: James Patterson is a good writer. So even though I had a very good idea (that turned out to be accurate) about where this story was going, I did enjoy the ride. The story is accessible, the characters are likable (even if I liked them more when their names were Q and Margot in Paper Towns by John Green), and the chapters are short and sweet. I also really appreciate the fact that Patterson is aware of Magic: The Gathering enough to feature a character not only playing it, but naming cards from the most recent expansion, no less. That was cool.
August 3, 2023
This is a different style of writing from the other James Patterson books that I am accustomed to reading e.g. murder mystery. It was an easy follow and would be a good book for a teenager to read. There should be a trigger warning as this book involves, suicide, drug use, rape.
In this book we meet Theo who is being expelled from school along with a few others, all of which claim they were set up and that someone else is actually guilty. Theo has recently lost his father and is often found out at their property trying to escape the reality of what is happening around him. Theo's best friend, Jude, has also been expelled but doesn't seem to have as big of an issue with it as he is an artist and thinks this will help him boost his career. Sasha, another student who was expelled is a love interest of Theo. The three together start to work together and try to figure out who has set them up. Parker is the fourth student who was expelled but he doesn't actually care because he comes from money and his family can just register him elsewhere. Reputations/morals will be questioned, friendships will be challenged, and secrets will be exposed.
In this book we meet Theo who is being expelled from school along with a few others, all of which claim they were set up and that someone else is actually guilty. Theo has recently lost his father and is often found out at their property trying to escape the reality of what is happening around him. Theo's best friend, Jude, has also been expelled but doesn't seem to have as big of an issue with it as he is an artist and thinks this will help him boost his career. Sasha, another student who was expelled is a love interest of Theo. The three together start to work together and try to figure out who has set them up. Parker is the fourth student who was expelled but he doesn't actually care because he comes from money and his family can just register him elsewhere. Reputations/morals will be questioned, friendships will be challenged, and secrets will be exposed.
February 16, 2018
This is my first James Patterson book, surprisingly enough. I didn't really like the story, because I didn't feel like there was much to it. It's not really as big a mystery as it's made out to be, and really, it's just Theo asking questions and realizing what was in front of him all along. Then the last part with Sasha...I just didn't hink it was handled well or written well, honestly.
Kind of mediocre, which surprised me because I'd always heard James Patterson was pretty good. Three stars.
Kind of mediocre, which surprised me because I'd always heard James Patterson was pretty good. Three stars.
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