Art Geeks and Prom Queens

by Alyson Noel

Being the new girl is tough, just ask sixteen-year-old Rio Jones. A New York transplant, Rio has no clue how she's going to fit in at her fancy new private school in Southern California. Plus, being late, overdressed, and named after a Duran Duran song doesn't make the first day any easier for her.

Then Rio meets Kristi. Beautiful, rich, and a cheerleader, Kristi is the queen bee of Newport Beach. And Kristi isn't friends with just anyone, so Rio is thrilled when she's invited to be part of the most exclusive, popular clique. Of course, like any club, Kristi and her friends have rules: Always smile (even if you don't mean it), always dress cute (and never repeat outfits), and always flirt (but only with jocks, preps, and rich college guys).

At first Rio is having a great time, but as she becomes more immersed in this jet-set crowd, she figures out there is one last rule that her new friends forgot to mention: Don't cross Kristi . . .

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Fiction, High School, Realistic Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

*Note to readers: I'm slowly adding to the long list of books I've read, books I'm reading, and books I want to read. I only add books I loved, hence all my ratings are 5 stars.


Alyson Noël is the #1 NYT best-selling author of many award-winning and critically acclaimed novels for readers of all ages.

With 9 NYT bestsellers and millions of copies in print, her books have been translated into 36 languages, and have topped the NYT, USA Today, LA Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Wall Street Journal, NCIBA, and Walmart Bestsellers lists, as well as several international bestsellers lists.

She is best known for THE IMMORTALS series, THE RILEY BLOOM series, and SAVING ZOË, which was adapted into a movie now available on Amazon.

Upcoming works include:

RULING DESTINY- book 2, in the STEALING INFINITY series

STEALING INFINITY- Optioned for TV by Valhalla Entertainment - available now!

FIELD GUIDE TO THE SUPERNATURAL UNIVERSE - Optioned for TV by producers Charles Matthau and Michael Zoumas with Andrew Orenstein and Matt Hastings attached as show runners

Born and raised in Orange County, California, she’s lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan and is now settled in Southern California. Learn more at www.alysonnoel.com.

Instagram:
http://instagram.com/alyson_noel

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AlysonNoel/

Facebook:
Official me: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alyson...

Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/alysonnoel/

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was seventeen, I was given a gift card to B&N for Christmas. I’d always loved to read, but had fallen out of the habit ever since I’d hit high school – at most, I was reading a few books per year. I just didn’t seem to have enough time for it. But what eventually got me back into reading was that gift card, fifty dollars of pure sweetness. One of the books I ended up buying with my little slice of heaven was Alyson Noel’s Evermore. While I didn’t exactly love it, seventeen-year-old me was definitely entertained. About a year and a lot of Evermoreish books later, I gave Alyson Noel’s Art Geeks and Prom Queens a try. To be honest, my taste in books has changed drastically since then, and I just don’t have the patience for books like Art Geeks and Prom Queens. But even then, when a book like Evermore was still somewhat fulfilling, Art Geeks and Prom Queens just did not work for me.

And here’s why: Art Geeks and Prom Queens ticks off every box on my list of YA pet peeves. Filled with rampant wish fulfillment, unoriginal/embellished/exaggerated school dynamics and a bizarre take on high school drug culture, Art Geeks and Prom Queens tries to be real and relatable but completely misses the mark. Protagonist Rio is well-to-do without really knowing it, model-like beautiful without knowing it and, of course, lands the hot guy of her dreams, all in one neat little package. This alone wasn’t enough to make me dislike Art Geeks and Prom Queens, but this type of character has been done so many times, and done better.

Even though recent New York to Newport Beach transfer Rio is unaware of how rich/pretty she is, richer/prettier “Queen Bee” *eyeroll* Kristi plucks her out of the grasp of her first-choice friends, artist/stoners Mason and hot-but-has-a-girlfriend Jas, to join her group of other rich/pretty people. Sound familiar? Did I forget to mention that Jas was hot?

Caught in the midst of Kristi’s world, spineless follower Rio is suddenly surrounded by money, drugs, alcohol, boys and, well, hotter boys. Of course, none of this is really Rio’s fault – she may be Kristi’s right hand, but she isn’t like those other girls. Kristi and the other rich/pretty girls do drugs, drink themselves blind and hookup randomly, but, where the other girls cannonball into the water, Rio only dips in her baby toe. What was so fresh about Art Geeks and Prom Queens, Sr. is that Cady commits 110% to being a Regina, even without realizing it herself.

And that doesn’t make her or Regina a 110% Queen Bee bitch in the end, it makes them individuals (read: actual people) who took girl-on-girl hate to an extreme – who made mistake after mistake, but were not chalked up to one-note, soulless vacuum bots like Kristi. There was just so, so much potential for both Kristi and Rio to develop into something more than the better protagonist v. her popular/evil/totally unfeeling arch-nemesis and to address all the crap going on between them. Alas. In the end, they were exactly what you would expect – Kristi dwells forever in her unfeeling abyss of Prada, nose high in the air, while Rio achieves her dreams and reclaims her humanity. That was really such a shame.

And finally, as I’ve already pointed out a few times, this novel is basically Mean Girls fanfiction, but with more rampant drug-use and more Juicy Couture than Lindsay Lohan ever saw. Mean Girls didn’t invent this concept, nor did the book it was based on, but so many of the little things lined up together it was like she ripped the manuscript right out of Tina Fey's hands, slapped on some new names and was ready to go. If you’re going to rip something off so blatantly, at least do it better – heck, at least do it well.

By the end of the book, everything is tied up with a neat little bow. Rio is back to her old friends, Jas (read: hot) and Mason, of course on Jas’ chiseled arm. Her mother has finally accepted her for everything she is and isn’t and Kristi is an obstacle no more. Life is great. But as any teenager (as anyone, really) would know, life rarely comes with a bow, and rarely in a single chapter.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reconozco que después de inhalar dos líneas de coca me siento muy hiperactiva, consciente y algo poderosa, y estoy vagando de un lado a otro hasta que termino de pie fuera de la pequeña cabaña al lado a la piscina.

puede haber algún que otro mini mini mini spoiler

Creo que esta es la primera vez que leo un libro juvenil con una portada tan infantil y un contenido tan turbio.
Esta historia es una montaña rusa impresionante. No paran de pasar cosas y, a medida que avanzamos, es todo más complicado: empezando con cosas como cambiar tu forma de ser para caer bien a alguien, hasta meterse en drogas y en un cojamos entre todos y con todos que me dejó IMPACTADA.

La protagonista, Rio, cambia su forma de ser (vestimenta, pensamiento, actuación, etc) de un momento al otro. Empieza siendo una """"geek"""" alto término en un nuevo colegio con dos nuevos amigos igual de """"geeks"""" que ella y termina siendo la "más popular del colegio. Así como si nada. De un día al otro da un giro de 180° y consigue todo lo que """"""""""cualquier chica quiere"""""""""""


Porque es TAN NATURAL imitar y juntarte con un tipo de gente que siempre criticaste y que según vos no tiene sentido que sean así.






Lo mejor de todo este cambio, es que todo el mundo se lo cree. ¿En serio? ¿¡EN SERIO!? No puede haber nada más falso en todo esto. Como que yo mañana me tiña el pelo de rubio y todos crean que ese es mi color natural y me ALABEN por él.





Rio se mete en una relación completamente tóxica con las chicas populares de su nuevo colegio. La "reina" Kristi, le impone una especie de códigos y reglas por seguir. Decidiendo cómo tiene que actuar, con quién juntarse, dónde ir y cuándo. Todo esto con unas extorsiones raras.
Era la típica relación que todos tildan de "machista opresora" solo que entre amigas.


Cuestión: Río intenta hacer todo lo que Kristi apruebe. Pero, por supuesto, tiene miles de idas y venidas para llegar a la "perfección".






Idas y venidas que la terminan condenando para un futuro.


Ese futuro es el peor durante 30 páginas, tranqui, empezamos en la parte más turbia con las adicciones y el sexo porque sí* y toda la extorsión se vuelve peor.


*Ojo, que no digo que esté mal tener sexo con quien quieras y cuando quieras. O cualquier otra cosa. Pero... ¿a esos niveles? No. Eso ya no era sano.



Aunque hasta ahí era más o menos predecible (menos los puntos del sexo y drogas), después de todo eso, nuestra protagonista se rebela y VUELVE A SER QUIEN ERA EN LA PRIMER PÁGINA.
DE NUEVO. EL MISMO CAMBIO. OTRO GIRO DE 180°.





180°+180°= 360° = UN GIRO = ESTÁ IGUAL QUE DONDE EMPEZÓ.


Lo bueno de todo esto, es que al final ocurrió algo que estuve esperando durante un largo rato.


PD.: Le pongo 3 estrellas porque a pesar de todo me distrajo un montón de toda la tarea y me entretuve bastante.

[Charlize Diedericks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly this book was a big doze of reality! I am kind of a naive person and don't like reading about drugs, because it has never played a role in my life in any way, so I really don't relate to the character. As soon as it comes up I feel disconnected. But I have mixed feelings about this one. I really enjoyed the style of writing, although there were a few things I think that I would like to change about the story to make it more loveable. Like Jas... I loved everything about him, except the pot bit, and it makes me sad because it really spoiled the romance for me, because I would never see myself being with someone like that so I wasn't that into her crush on him. At the end where they kissed I was supposed to smile like a freak while reading it as I do in all the romance bits in books. But I found myself not really caring, because I totally lost my interest in Jas in the pot smoking scene. Other than that it was a really good book. I loved the characters, made me remember the movie Mean girls (does that ring a bell?) What I totally loved is that Krisi was a brunette, and Rio the blond, seeing as it is always the other way around. It might sound insignificant, but it actually played a role in the way I felt about the whole story. Either way, good story, would definitely recommend reading it, but do not get your hopes up if you are craving a romantic light read.
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[Arminzerella · Rating 1 out of 5]

77 pages in and I'm really not enjoying this anymore. It starts out ok - Rio Jones is the new girl at her school (having just moved to California from New York). Rio's never been all that noticeable, but she gets her braces removed, shoots up a few inches, and, suddenly, in the new wardrobe her former-model mother has purchased for her, she's a knock-out. Rio falls in with a group of art-geek stoners her first day of school and develops a crush on Jas (hot surfer boy material). But she's not sure where her loyalties lay when the most popular girl in school, Kristi, starts paying her some attention and tells her that she can't be friends with the stoners if she wants to get in good with the "right" crowd.

Suddenly Rio can't or won't speak her mind. She's like some kind of deer caught in the headlights of popularity, and I've read/heard this story a million times. I hate these kinds of exclusive mean-girl cliques, and I have no sympathy for the girls who get caught up in that kind of power struggle. It's going to take another 146 pages for Rio to figure out who she really wants to be, get the guy, and apologize to her *real* friends. That's just a guess, of course, because I'm not going to finish this. It's already irritating me.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art Geeks and Prom Queens
By Alyson Noel
St.Martin's Griffin
ISBN:0312336365

"She holds up the denim mini skirt and sparkly tanktop she gave me right after she broke the news about moving, as if it were no more than a simple costume change and that they weren't really wrecking my life" (Noel 1). Not everyone has to start over, to leave one place and go to another. New school, new house, no friends, and a mom who wants only what's "best" for her daughter.

Rio and her mom have moved from the fast pace of New York to sunny California. Her mom wants her to be the popular, juicy coture wearing girl that everyone notices, but Rio doesn't want to be that. But her very first day at school, she succumbs to her mother's outfits, and does to school in a hot pink sweatsuit. Rio is stil Rio and her outfit doesn't stop her from being herself when she goes to her art class and then out with people her mom wouldn't approve of. Even though one guy is super hot to her. When she tries to fit in, it leads her to the top of the social pyramid but what goes up has to come down.

I liked this book because it was entertaining. There wasn't anything new about it. I really liked the ending because of what Rio learns. I thought overall it was a good book even though it was pretty predictable. I would recommend it to someone who wants a quick read that's fairly short and entertaining. I think anyone could benefit from reading it.

[Megan Leprich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alyson Noel is definitely one of my guilty pleasure authors. I've been reading her books for years and I have loved everything she's written. I've probably read this book 5 or 6 times now and I still enjoy it.

This book is about Rio (named after a Duran Duran song, not Brazil) who is uprooted from her life in New York and moved to California. Rio starts to quickly realize how different things are in California, from the way people dress, act, and how different the schools are. She sees herself as more of a photography nerd so when the most popular girl in school takes an interest in her she decides to try and ditch her geeky ways to become cool. When a bad incident happens at a party, she realizes how hard it is to fit in with the popular girls and realizes how mean they really are, Rio decides to stay true to herself while also taking down the mean girl.

I secretly love books about high school drama, especially ones like this. I don't know if it's because I've been out of high school for awhile but I never see myself growing tired of reading this book. I love Alyson Noel's writing style and I love how she portrays all of her characters. You honestly feel like you're in the book with them, the books are so detailed and relatable.

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throwback to cheesy bitchy problematic (r word, homophobia, fat shaming 😅) mid-2000 novels. No way would it be published and acceptable today but I enjoyed it as a tween and it still delivers a good dose of nostalgia today 😂

That ending was so rushed though! There should've been one more chapter or two.

[Izzy Naveda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ni siquiera puedo empezar a describir todo lo que no me gustó de este libro. Tuvo un final aburrido y algo apresurado, sumado a que la protagonista no solo se vuelve una perra Queen Bee, sino que es peor que eso, simplemente llegué al punto en el que no soportaba ni leer sus estupideces, tsskk. Por lo menos reconoce cuando tiene que cambiar.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fun change of pace. It was a quick entertaining read. If you are nerdy like me you'll appreciate it.

[Layla W · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book at all. It was basically like mean girls but they try to make you feel bad for the main book. I did read the whole book hoping that it would get better the more I read it but it was not good.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to start out saying that this book was amazing and I was so happy that I got into it and I didn't put it down. I started at the beginning of January not being able to find any good books that I might like. I was trying not to find much of an R rated book like my last one but at the same time, I didn't want to find any boring books. It took me about a week or two to find the right book. Once I found this one it was two days before midterms and I just didn't have any time to read because of my other classes. A week before the book review was due I was not even halfway through the book so I started instead of going on my computer at home, I read. I found this book in my classroom library and it started a bit confusing but I enjoyed it.

At the beginning of the book, Art Geeks And Prom Queens Rio Jones just moved to Orange County. She was a New York transplant. She didn't know how she was going to fit in at her new private school in southern California. While on her first day she was overdressed and very late to school she meets Jas and Mason. Mason is a girl and Jas is a boy. They are Misfits and no one likes them. They instantly befriend Rio. After a while of being friends with Mason and Jas.

Rio then meets Kristi. Kristi Is a cheerleader, rich and pretty. Kristi runs Newport beach. Kristi askes Rio to become her friend And automatically Rio says yes because she doesn't know where she fits in. Kristi doesn't want Rio hanging out with Jas or Mason anymore because Kristi doesn't like them. Kristi thinks Mason is a lesbian weed smoker and the Jas is a weed-smoking loser. Kristi has something mean to say about everyone even her friend. Rio ends updating the hottest senior at their school Tyler. Tyler wants Rio to have sex with him but Rios not ready. One day they are about to go to a party and they agree that that day is the perfect day too because her parents are out of town. but they decide to go to the party first and some people ask them to play spin the bottle and it lands on Kristi. Kristi ends up standing up and taking Tyler upstairs, Tyler ends up cheating on Rio because it was "Just a game."

Rio ended up mad and took a few shots and then it goes downhill. A boy tries to take advantage of drunken Rio and she then gets accused of cheating on Tyler even though she didn't. She becomes a loser again and tries to make a difference in the school. She sticks up to Kristi and in the end, she gets everyone to turn on Kristi. Jas accepts her apology and they have an amazing moment in the end.

This book was super fun to read. It was very easy to read as well it reminded me of something that I would read as a freshman. The characters made me think about social hierarchy in schools and how some girls think they run the place while others sit back and don't do anything. This didn't hit me as a romance book more of hitting me as a book about finding one's self and figuring out who they want to be. I was really happy with the dynamic characters as well. Everything was practically how high schools today would look. The suspense was also a big thing, it kept me on my feet which were funny because my English teacher called me out for reading in class because I was so into the book.

There were two things that I didn't care about in this book as well. The fact that Tyler cheated on Rio got me angry. I do understand why the author put this in the book though. It does frequently happen in teen relationships especially with "popular" kids and age differences. The last thing that left me in so much pain is that there isn't another book!!! The author left it off perfectly for another book to be published but she didn't. It's killing me!!!!!

This book was entertaining. I would like to recommend this book to who people want to read about social norms in school and want a bit of jazz for someone new. In the end, I was left in amazement and astonishment for how great this book was. I would totally read more of this if there was another book.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Title: Art Geeks and Prom Queens

Author: Alyson Noel

Published By: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (April 1, 2010)

Genre: Young Adult

Recommended Age: +13

Reviewed By: Emily Tuley / AngelsCryHavoc

Blog Reviewed For: Great Minds Think Aloud Literary Community

Rating: 5 Ravens


I’m a sucker for Young Adult books especially some of the ones that have that good moral behind the story. With todays Youth seeming to loose their innocence younger and younger each year or having to deal with the brutality of bullying that only seems to have gotten worse than when I was a kid it was some books like these that helped me cope with things and deal especially when it felt like I had no one to talk to or a parent I was delusional enough to think wouldn’t listen. I knew better once I had gotten older and there isn’t a moment or day that passes by that I don’t feel thankful for the dad I had god knows I probably put him through a few rounds of hell at my rebellious age.

This book is about a young girl of seventeen , Her name is Rio. Yes her mother named her after one of even my favorite Duran Duran songs from the eighties. Use to being the gangly awkward geek back in her home city of New York Rio is swept away to Orange County living in California and soon learns that over the time she thought she was awkward she had grown into her body and looked more like her retired “almost” Super model mother Jahne Jones. Starting out at the new school she meets with Mason a very trendy artsy girl and what others call a geek and Jas the extremely handsome laid back dreamer/Surfer that everyone calls a pot head or loser. To begin things seem simple and her crush for Jas makes things awkward but fun for Rio till she finds out he has a girl friend. Seeing the type of girl he dates Rio assumes of what the girl is like and tries to transform herself into that girl by joining in with the popular girls.

Kristi and her two lackeys as they are first known to Rio. Soon enough with all the debauchery and scandals that travel through the girls group Rio finds herself on top only to be quickly ripped down by Kristi and sunk into a brutal bullying and scandalous harassment of Rio. After breaking down talking to her mother and her father about the situation. Rio shows just how to properly handle a girl like Kristi and how to know that she’s nothing like what the others think she is. Reforming her bonds with Jas and Mason and finding out who she is not who everyone wants her to be Rio is a very smart, strong and lively girl that shows you no matter what wrongs you make you can always fix them with the rights and staying true to yourself.

This is definitely a book I will give to my daughter when she gets old in hopes that she will feel the inspiration I think it gives to all girls that read it and learns from it as well that it’s always good to be you. Not what the others think are you.

[Mim-Is-Reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

New girl who starts off pretty smart and confident, but at her initiation into the popular clique, she fizzles to weak, bitchy and a complete follower.

Irritating.

There's no other way around reviewing Art Geeks and Prom Queens than getting nasty. Halfway through, I'd rolled my eyes a few times, wondering if I was reading a cheesy diary of someone who is actually in high school, giving writing a go.
The tone of writing, the voice of the main character, all the brand name dropping and fancy living had me wondering if I had gotten sucked into someone's mind, a mind that's full of delusions of grandeur.

Like in half the YA books I've been reading lately, of course the teenagers are constantly drinking, snorting drugs, popping pills and being promiscuous to have a good time. Cliché, much? If I were a teenager, I would be completely insulted by the author's thinking. For once, is it too much to ask for an author to write out high schoolers who have a good time without getting wasted, talking overextensively about "hooking up" and being labeled "cool" for doing it? Who will ever speak for those who prefer not to do ish like that? And who will mold a character that won't suddenly wither when she's in the so-called "in" crowd?

Predictable ending - the meanest of the mean girls gets what she deserves, the main character kisses and makes up with everyone she dissed, and everybody lives happily ever after. A surprising ending would have probably led me to giving this book 2 stars, but too bad.

Again I ask, was this book written by someone in high school? The grown-ups are not acting like grown-ups, rather than older version of teenagers.
Rio, the main star, has a mother who doesn't give a shit about her daughter's comfort in her own skin, pimping her out to the popular girls because hey, if you're not popular, you're not somebody.
In one of those 'awesome' parties that kids in her school throw, Rio actually sips champagne in the presence of someone's father and the man doesn't even bat an eyelash! WTF.

Snotty, juvenile behaviour that made me want to punch those shallow guys and girls. I'm not turning to grab a James Patterson book but I need more than a book being so darn superficial.

If this was what the author wanted to achieve: congratulations, I felt like I was watching a Disney movie.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was this book?

I swear this is the ultimate fantasy of every girl, to somehow be magically 'pretty enough' to be noticed by the popular girl and welcomed into the folds.

Yes, this was a story about Mean Girls ... a twist on it.

It was so BAD. I can't tell you how many times the protagonist made NO sense. She stopped caring about her crush and started caring about the popular girls so fast it was unbelievable. Although what she did at the end was cool, she was just the most insufferable person I've ever seen, who changed her mind about things so quickly it was just pathetic. Her thought pattern reminded me of a frenetic gerbil.

Really, I should have quotes to convince you. But I don't have the book on me at work.

Just know, this book is not good. If you have a secret addiction to poorly written YA chick lit with unbelievably Hollywood bitchy protagonists, you will enjoy this book, as I did.

But it was still really really bad and I would never read it again. Probably going to donate my copy to Goodwill.

[Sleepless Dreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you compare between this and Mean Girls, this brings nothing new to the table. I can't think of a single thing that's different here. To me, that's a big problem.

I don't know why I have this book. I think I somehow remembered it would be about gay couples. This really influenced my reading because I kept thinking Rio would come out and date someone else.

I feel like Rio should have apologized to JC and it's not fair that just because he's a jock, Rio assumes he doesn't have feelings. There's so much toxic masculinity in this book. I wouldn't want 14 or 12 year olds to read it.

All in all, I'm very motivated to finish a reading challenge, as the last two years have been embarrassing. So anything that gets me closer to that goal is welcome.

what I'm taking with me
• There was no reason for Jas to be that nice.
• I feel that if I'd think about this book enough, I'd discover plot holes.
• The dialogue wasn't great.

[Stamyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alyson Noel's form of writing really captures my attention. I loved alot of things about Rio. First of all: ♥heart the name. Second: I love how everyone seems to be against her but if she just open her mouth, she can bring them to their senses. And Third: I LOVED how she was clumsy and screwed everything up. No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, I'm just happy this character made so much more than I have (well...). Rio is fun to chill with and i'm glad Alyson introduced me to her :) This one is a win.

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story. Lots of drug use, random hookups. Trying to reach teens 'on their level' to teach how to 'be yourself'. But...I'm not quite sure it made the connection. In the end after being tortured school-wide on the word of one person, she quickly and decisively turns it around by confronting this one person. Hmm. Then the story gets wrapped up into a tidy happy ending. One question...why not just ask if the guy has a girlfriend? Stop chasing other girls guys. Makes the heroine feel unredeemable from the beginning.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rio, named for her mom’s favorite Duran
Duran hit, has moved from New York to a fancy private school in Southern California. Almost immediately she has to choose between the “jet set” popular kids and the “art geeks” she meets in AP art class. Though the novel is positive, it includes short references assuming casual acceptance of recreational marijuana use, drinking (with negative consequences), and a relatively graphic near rape.

[Yuri Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

La mayor parte del libro estaba como "Quiero golpear a Rio" Por pasarse de confiada e inocente con esas amigas, la otra mitad era pura angustia tipo "Se esta enredando más y más" este es un claro reflejo de una vida adolescente y la telaraña social por la cual debe pasar sin hacerse daño.

Me ha hecho reír, sufrir, enojar y en un punto cuando y cito "Mi padre tiene los ojos llorosos"casi se me sale una lágrima.

Me ha gustado mucho!

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alyson Noel really brought out the emotion in the characters. As I was reading it, I definitely felt like I was the main character. I would take a break from reading and come back to reality and find myself feeling exactly as the main character did and felt like I was living her life. It took awhile to realize that nothing was wrong and I managed to separate reality from fiction.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Alyson Noel, So I was really looking forward to reading Art Geeks and Prom Queens - especially because it's not fantasy and paranormal like her other books I have read. I really enjoyed this book and the story was great and I couldn't put it down. If you like Meg Cabot then I would highly recommend this book. :]

[Hallela Hinton-williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that was perfect for listening to while trying to fall asleep. It did make me question my future in school administration. And why anybody would name their character, over the age of 10, Jen-Jen un-ironically is beyond me, it was an okay, at times infuriating, book.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really got me thinking about what I should be careful about when I go into high school and to always stay true to myself no matter what.

[Eve Muratore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, kind of short and shallow at some points. but still a good light read for before bed

[Krissy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF!!!!!!

Excessive use of the 'R' word just pissed me off to no end.

[Annamarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rio is starting a new school mid term, she is a geek and proud but her mum - an almost super model - thinks that Rio could be less geeky and more girly and popular and she goes as far as choosing what Rio should wear on her first day at school so that she will get noticed and become popular.

On her first day she is late and the girl sat next to her in her first class spends the whole time staring at her but during her second class Rio makes friends with Mason and Jas, they are in her art class and they invite her to Jas' house for lunch, while there Rio find out that they smoke weed and because she doesn't want to seem like a loser she joins in and when the three go back to school they end up being late getting caught and getting a weeks detention.

This incident makes her mum tell Rio that she shouldn't hang with Mason and Jas as they are bad for her but Rio doesn't really care what her mum says and the next day she continues to hang out with Mason and Jas.

After a few days Rio becomes friends with Kristi, Kristi is the popular girl but becoming her friend comes at a price, she MUST stop hanging out with her fellow art geeks and spend her time shopping and doing whatever else Kristi says. When Rio invites her new friends home her mum is finally happy to see that she is now friends with the popular group. The problem is deep down Rio is really unhappy being Kristi's friend as there are rules she must follow, but she doesn't want to go back to being the kid no one notices.

Kristi helps Rio to get with JC who just wants to sleep with Rio but she keeps putting it off, Rio's mum and Kristi even plan a party for her that she doesn't want. While being Krisit's friend Rio starts to take drugs, partying and drinking.

Rio eventually starts to date Tyler a senior and becoming more popular than Kristi and she doesn't like this, Rio even has a date to the Moondance and all the seniors like having Rio hanging with them and Drew the guy who Kristi is hooking up with all the time doesn't ask her to go to the dance with him.

Rio, Tyler, Kristi and the others attend a party where they play spin the bottle, at first Rio doesn't want to join in as she doesn't think its right to hook up with someone else while Tyler is with his friends drinking but when he asks her to join in she does. This is where everything starts to change, Drew spins the bottle and ends up kissing Rio and Kristi doesn't like it and when Kristi spins the bottle it lands on Tyler, Rio hopes that Kristi and Tyler won't do anything but instead they leave to go upstairs to hook up. Rio takes herself off upstairs and cries but after re applying her make-up she goes downstairs and have a few drinks and ends up making out with Drew who starts to make a move on Rio who has to kick him to get him off her.

While trying to leave the party Rio and Kristi get into an argument and Rio's whole world starts to fall down around her. Kristi starts to spread rumours about Rio and everyone at school starts to ignore her even Tyler and the rest of the seniors. Kids in the hall start pointing and laughing at her and calling her names, someone also defaces her locker and puts dog poo in the locker and when she tries to tell the Head Teacher what had happened to her locker and who she thinks did it he doesn't believe her.

Now she has no friends Rio pretends to her mum that everything is wonderful until one day her mum tells her that she needs to pick out a dress for the Moondance, Rio snaps she can't take it anymore, she goes into the bathroom and cuts all her hair off and then goes down for her dinner and her mum freaks out and Rio finally tells her everything.

The following Monday Rio goes to school and confronts Kristi and calls her out on all her rubbish and she starts to become friends with Mason and Jas again.

The ending was great as Rio finally gets to be who she wants to be and her mum is happy for her she is even happy with Rio being friends with Mason and Jas again. This story tells it like it is for most young people who go to High School, especially if your new. It basically tells you to be who YOU want to be and NOT what everyone else wants.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew going into this book that it probably wouldn't be covering new ground, but I did not expect it to be so derivative, predictable, and disappointing (meaning I felt nothing redemptive of the main character or any of the other characters for that matter). Shallow teens that make repeated bad decisions and adults that are either overbearing, callous, and selfish, or lack any backbone and have no inclination to stand up for and support the unhappy children in this story.

I gave the story two stars because I think it's written fine and you do get to know the characters, but the MC, Rio, starts off likable enough but too quickly devolves to become something that a day before she literally shunned becoming. I get wanting to fit in at a new school, and the stress that young people feel when put into the jungle of high school life, but this girl seems to have an admirable confidence at the beginning of the book and when confronted with any little possible stress, she "turns to the dark side." Thankfully, not completely abandoning all her principles, but certainly wearing the dunce cap with almost no strong peer pressure bearing down... just a sudden desire to be popular and get the perks, and become something her vain former model mother wants her to be that she has been pushing back against all her life until this moment. What????

Don't worry, the ending is only partially disappointing and for me, when it comes to teens, I would almost rather have an unrealistic ending where the girls are intelligent and stand up to desires that are not necessarily good for them (drugs, multiple hook-ups, entitlement, cruelty toward others) and their parents/teachers see that the kids are not happy and do something to improve their physical and emotional well-being. Sigh...

There's clever humor when Rio is behaving like a typical teenage girl smitten with a cute boy or trying to find her way fitting in at school. I liked that girl, but there wasn't enough of her in this story. And she had no backbone. Ugh.

I listened to the audiobook and felt the narrator, Katie Schorr, did a really excellent job reading this book and representing the characters, young and older.

[Saoirse C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenage girl Rio and her mother and father have moved across the country because Rio's father is a powerful lawyer who has multiple occasions where he has to be uprooted and placed in different parts of the U.S. for his job. Rio starts to notice how different schools and people can be in California, even though these people may be the same age. She's thrown into a school and she doesn't really know where to place herself, friend-group wise. Rio then meets a girl named Kristi, who her model mom thinks is the best prospect to be Rio's new best friend. Rio doesn't even know how to feel but she's definitely on the side of not wanting to be friends with Kristi. Rio is somewhat learning about herself and who she is as a person in this whole book. She doesn't know whether to be with friends that are true to you, or friends that open up social opportunities. In Rio's logic, everyone deep down wants to be popular or just the feeling of being liked by everyone. Rio goes through mental, physical, and even emotional changes throughout this book and it was a really interesting read.

The feeling like you were reading Rio's diary really appealed to me. She described each event in great detail. I could honestly picture the book being turned into a popular movie. I'm always a sucker for realistic fiction, especially teen fiction and this book is a great example of that. I also liked how I felt I could place myself into the book.

How is this book not being turned into a movie? That's my only complaint. Secretly, I was trying to think of real-life actors that could easily play the characters of the books and maybe I should be a director! I really would love to see this book be brought to life and that is my only complaint. (It really isn't even a complaint when you think about it.)

[Corene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago, when I was already a very old adult, and always remembered it as a particularly good YA novel. Now after revisiting the book on audio, (with the reader doing an excellent job with the first person narration and portrayal of the main character,) it is easy to see how the book has aged.

Rio is a New Yorker who moves with her parents across the country to Newport, California during the middle of her junior year. Her new school and the people in it are very different from New York, and she herself has physically changed recently, thanks to her beautiful and, “almost” a supermodel, mom’s genes. Where Rio was once comfortable flying under the radar as an art geek, and hiding behind a camera taking photos, she is now a bit more glamorous, catching the eye of boys in her school, and getting the attention of the class queen bee and her minions.

The story very much follows the plot and arc of the movie “Mean Girls,” only the mean people here are even meaner, there’s excessive bullying, and a lot of drugs, drinking and sex. The pop culture references are, of course, dated, and the “r word,” is dismayingly used often, and usually as self-talk. There’s not much here to make a parent choose it for their child to read, but I was surprised by how much I did actually enjoy it. A lot of that had to do with listening to the talking book as Rio tells her story.

There is redemption, and all ends well for the main character. I won’t give spoilers, but a couple of things had me go, “huh,” in the way the author concluded storylines. The tropes and cliches that made some readers give the book one or two stars didn’t bother me. Some are actually part of what makes the book entertaining, and I liked the Mean Girls similarity. Maybe the author could write a sequel and revisit these characters at their 20 year reunion.

[Mx.Lucey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Content Warning:homophobia,drug abuse,underage drinking,bullying and molestation
Honestly I had high hopes for this book because it was rated pretty high on Hoopla but sadly it sucked. These kids are outrageous!! Rio smokes pot her first day of school(I'm not really against it but she's 16 and it was illegal when this was written so it shocked me). Then later she spends $90 on a tshirt and $300 on a skirt(truly wild). AND does coke as well as underage drinking THEN she gets molestated at a party! I mean thankfully she realizes the mistakes that got her there like hanging with the wrong popular girl BUT like the author could've written something so much better!! This feels like some story used to scare middle schoolers away from trying to be popular AND gay in high school. Kristie is obviously coded as an ashamed closet lesbian cheerleader(BUT I'm A Cheerleader!)who destroyes any girl who tries to get close to the girl she has a crush on(Mason)so like that's a story that could've been written and still been good. She could've written it to where Mason gets upset about Kristie bullying Rio so she confronts Kristie then Kristie admits her crush and Mason admits her's too then they kiss all happy!! The end!! Would've been 100 times better! OR (alternate Sapphic option) when Kristie put the note in Rio's locker with the hearts over the i and the flower petals around the o ; she could've been flirting...like she could've been testing Rio's reaction to LGBT+ people by calling Mason a lesbo and then Rio could've defended Mason then asked Mason if it was true and Mason could've said "no but I heard Kristie is" then Rio could've figured it out and like sent Kristie a message asking her out and then they fall in love!! Two great options that would've been better than this!