Review: A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL by Kristin Walker ****

When a mandatory course forces Fiona to “try the knot” with super-jock Todd Harding, she’s convinced life couldn't get any worse. Until her crush is paired with her arch enemy (otherwise known as Todd’s obscenely hot, slightly sadistic girlfriend). But that’s nothing compared to her best friend’s fate – a year with the very goofy, very big Johnny Mercer.
A series of hilarious pranks leave Fiona wondering: is there something her “best friend” hasn’t told her? Could there be more to Johnny Mercer than an awesome music collection? And most intriguing, could Todd Harding have a heart beneath his pretty-boy exterior?

Firstly, you may have noticed that I haven't used the standard cover picture this time (you can see that one here) and you might be wondering, "Wait, is that ... a cake?!" As a matter of fact, it is a cake indeed from the book launch thingy and I found this picture when I was browsing the author's blog and thought it would be fun to use - doesn't it look deliiiiiicious? Yummy, just looking at it makes me hungry, hehe!

Moving on to the actual book, which was simply adorable and hilarious! While reading it, I felt as if I was actually watching a Hollywood comedy (the book would make a great film), which means that I was often laughing out loud, but on the other hand I rolled my eyes at the cliches (even if they were twisted around a bit) and predictabilty and occassional cheesiness, but on the whole, I loved this book and it really cracked me up! :D

OK, so maybe I wasn't entirely convinced by the plot - the fake marriage course was an interesting idea and of course all the wrong people were paired up, which was hilarious, but I admit that Marcie's "secret" and Fiona's cheerleading and Johnny's role didn't really fly with me.
As far as characters go, Fiona the narrator (with the best names ever) was absolutely positively fantastic and luckily none of the characters annoyed me and they had dimension, some just weren't entirely believable - it's like they were trying to defy the stereotypes and but it didn't quite work. But like I said, no one annoyed me so that's good!

On the plus side, this book definitely stands out due to the hilarious narration. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments and the verbal fights between Princess Pisspants (aka Fiona) and Senor Shitslacks (aka Todd) were fantastic and oh so funny! They were like the perfect pair, who couldn't be more different and yet they have so much in common. I honestly loved their interactions!

The cover's great too and while the people on it may be completely random (they don't match the characters at all, but oh well), I like the fact that it's different and that it really stands out! It would definitely make me pick the book up in a bookshop!

Anyway, while I didn't completely adore the plot and some characters, I enjoyed this lovely book tremendously and I strongly recommend it, especially if you're looking for a light read or need some cheering up - this book is guaranteed to do the job! It sort of reminded me of Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway, which was also pure fun to read!

Lastly, I'd like to thank Jessica from Cover to Cover (who was in charge of PR) for contacting me about the book and to Kristin herself for sending me a copy! To find out more about the book, please visit the author's website, which is really well made and it even features a playlist for the book (yay for Creep by Radiohead).

overall rating:
plot: 3/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 4/5


ps: On a slightly unrelated note, the wonderful Park Avenue Princess needs some more followers in order to reach the magical 1000 when she will do a massive giveaway so head over there if you'd like to help her out. She is famous for her incredible giveaways (not just books) and if you say you were sent here by me, you and I will both get extra points for next contests. She is an amazing blogger indeed so please go help her get to 1000 followers! :)