What If . . . All the Rumors Were True

Choose Your Destiny #5

by Liz Ruckdeschel, Sara James

After a year at Hillsdale High, Haley thinks she knows what she’s in for as she starts her junior year. She knows what to expect from the it girls, the brains, the rockers, and the artists. She knows how to handle drunken disasters, shoplifting scandals, IM warfare, and out-of-control false rumors. But none of the lessons learned during her sophomore year can prepare her for this what’s Haley supposed to do when everything they’re saying about her is true?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Realistic Fiction

300 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember the time when you used to horde those Goosebumps Choose Your Own Adventure books? Well, this one's a Choose-Your-Destiny book. TM.

This is the last book in the What If... series of choose-your-own-destinies by Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara James, and stars a girl named Haley. After a year in Hillsdale High, she thinks she has finally conquered her new school, now a Junior, she is in a rush to fill her college application with interesting activities, like her other classmates. But along with that hurdle is the upcoming SATS, being ignored by her supposed-boyfriend, and a huge bundle of rumors. Can she really handle all of those issues? And what if the rumors were true?

I picked this book up without really thinking and seeing that it was a choose-your-own-whatever thing, I thought it wouldn't be that bad. I was wrong on both counts. I should have thought before picking this up, and just because it's those interactive fiction stuff does not mean it would turn out good.

The plot is simple enough, the endings predictable enough, that no matter what you choose, you're pretty sure what's going to happen already. There is also a lot of repetition in the plot going on, as if you haven't read about what happened before turning the page, and you have to be reminded for the umpteenth time AGAIN. I understand that as choose-your-own-adventures go, it's easy to lose the reader, but in this book, it's like your mom telling you over and over again that her back is aching so you need to do the vacuuming yourself.

I also don't like the characters that much. I mean, Haley's very well-rounded and everything, but they're all so one-sided, the cute well-rounded smart guy Reese, the beautiful and sporty Sasha, the rich bitch Coco. It just screams "Book Characters!" to me. I don't really connect with them and I can't feel them as live human beings. And to think that Haley's destiny is in my hands.

After reading the book once and getting to my chosen ending, I decided to read the whole book, every destiny, and every ending, to see if it would improve. No, it didn't. If you would like to read books about teenage life, better not pick this one up, too dull. But then, if you've read the other books, or this is your thing, then go ahead and dive in.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What If... All the Rumors Were True was just the other novels, great!

Rumors and gossip. Every teenager in Hillsdale, New Jersey has to find out who's with who, or who did what with who. Haley is one of them. But, what if one of those rumors were about her?

What can I say, choosing Haley's life story, next exciting thing for her to do is fun! I adore Reese, the smart, popular guy, and always try to make Haley do something with him. I find myself sticking away from the nerds and art geeks, and let her hang with Coco and Whitney, and the rest of the jocks, for some reason, more specifically, I find that those are her true friends.

These just captivate me. I want to read the next, and next. Fantastic!

[Brandee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit hesitant to read this book at first - I am not the best at making decisions. But I was interested in reading something where there were so many different ways that the story could go and end up and it was all up to the reader. Overall, I enjoyed this book but I felt as though there were some turns that were disappointing or didn't make sense. For instance, there is one chapter where you decide if the main character joins soccer, the debate team, or tries out for the play. I chose for the character to join soccer and then a few chapters (or decisions) later, she was suddenly in the debate club. I feel that the concept of this book is great and I still enjoyed reading it but there are some kinks that could have been fixed before publication.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am glad that Haley finally found someone to like her back without her having to change. No more Reese who is on/off. But I am uncertain about my liking to the other storyline this book takes. I have read it 3 times to get different results and ended up only liking one. Some chapters supposdly connect with eacother but then have absolutly nothing in common. Reminded me too much of the first book.

[Megan Whitworth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is quite possibly the most terrible book I have read in a long time. The characters, including the main one, have no depth whatsoever and every conflict introduced was never resolved. I only read it because it's meant to be "Choose your own adventure" and I used to love the Goosebumps choose your own adventures, but this just had no redeeming qualities. It's hard to believe that this trash even got published.

[Harley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read one of these "choose your own destiny" books but I enjoy them. I just like how you choose the characters path, how you can make or break them. I did get her to end up with the romantic interest I wanted (not the one I started out with, but not complaining cause option b was better), although it was odd cause like two chapters before I had her making out with some other guy, whoops. We're jut gonna pretend that didn't happen.

[Alexandra707 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book, "What if... All the Rumors Were True" was not the best book I have read because the topic of this book is Rumors and even though I like that topic... I didn't find that interesting, all though I did manage to finish it. :)

[Rena · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay, but I really only read the part of the story that was really safe choices. I did not enjoy reading through it, and I was just bored at a library. You get to choose your own story, but this one is not as good as some of the others I have read.

[Allie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful book.

Half of the chapters have absolutely nothing to do with what you were reading before. New characters that were never introduced.

It makes no sense, and was a bland,confusing read.

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's fun because I read it twice with two totally different endings! :D

[Ashley Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its an awesome book.

[Meaghan Mallia · Rating 4 out of 5]

good series

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. I liked the chose your own destiny. Not everything seemed realistic. Some parts also didn't match up with what was going on.

[Rea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read the first three books of this and after I read the path I was on, I read through every other path in the book. I haven't done that with this one yet though…