Review: The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher
Paperback, 304 pages
Published May 7th 2013 by Gallery Books
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First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into whom, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

 

 

My Review:

This was one of those 3 star books that I hate reviewing because I can’t ever think of anything good to talk about. It was a book that I enjoyed but there was nothing that really stood out to me. This is a contemporary novel that still has drama to it. These are the contemporary books I like so it did have enough going on to keep my attention.

This book follows around Angie, a popular cheerleader, but definitely not the head of the group. Lizzie was Angie’s best friend for a long time but she never really new a lot about her. We learn that Lizzie kept a lot of stuff hidden from Angie because she didn’t want to make her go away.

We are introduced to a few different characters in this book besides Lizzie and Angie, although they are the two main characters. Now as I’m writing this review I actually realized that I can’t remember anyone else’s names and I just finished reading it a couple days ago. I will get into that in a second though. Drake is Angie’s ex-boyfriend and the boy that Lizzie was caught with after prom. Drake was one of those guys who thought that if he was really nice he could get his girl back. I wasn’t a fan of him at all, especially after the end of the book. Kennedy was head cheerleader, she played the standard bitch roll in the story. I usually like when a story has one of these girls, although she wasn’t as bad as some of the books I’ve read. Marvin is a big nerd who lived next door to Lizzie and he was sure they were meant to be together. Finally we have Jesse Martinez. He is a Mexican boy who has a very wild sense of style. He had Angie grow to be friends and I think he is my favorite character from the book.

Now to explain why I couldn’t remember names, none of them really stood out to me. Even my favorite character I remembered who he was in the book but I had totally forgotten his name. Nothing in this book really stood out to me. It flowed nicely and everything but it was easily forgotten. I really wasn’t impressed with the first half of the story, but I did enjoy the last part, especially the ending. I have read reviews where people say they knew what was happening but I honestly didn’t see it coming. The way the very end was handled was nice too. I really enjoyed reading the pages of Lizzie’s diary. I found myself looking forward to when she would find another page.

The writing in this book was ok, I didn’t really have a problem with it, I did read some reviews where people didn’t like it though. Other than the characters not really sticking with me, I did enjoy the story. As I said, drama thrown in with a contemporary is something I like to read. Suicide, depression, and a mystery fit nicely into that category.

Do I Recommend this Book/Series?

Yes. I would say if you like drama filled contemporary novels then go ahead and pick this up. It wasn’t too bad for a debut novel.

My Rating:

 

*This book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an hones review.