Review: MY LIFE UNDECIDED by Jessica Brody ****

PLEASE READ THIS! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.

Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.

But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!

Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.

But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.

I was hooked by the premise of this book as soon I first heard of it. I mean, have your blog readers make the decision instead of you by voting on a poll? It sounds ridiculous and yet kinda intriguing. I certainly thought it was original and had enough potential for interesting (erm, catastrophic?) consequences so I gave it a try and the book certainly didn't disappoint!

Our girl Brooklyn Pierce, also known as the infamous Baby Broklyn (why? read the book :p), has made a whole lot of horrible decisions in her life, but organizing a secret party at her mum's model home and then accidentally burning it down has to be the worst one yet. It landed her at the police station, she's sentenced to community work, her parents have grounded her, her best friend Queen Shayne refuses to even acknowledge her and overnight she turned into a complete loser. She knows she's not the best at making decisions so she sets up a blog where she will poll the readers on what she should do. Whenever somebody asks her a question, she says she'll think about it and then asks her blog readers asking what to do. Should she be a Miss Goody Two Shoes or a Bad Girl? Should she try out for the rugby team? Should she accept the invitation to the winter formal? Should she renew her magazine subscription? What should she read for her English Class? She vows to do whatever the blog readers decide and surprisngly does - well, most of the time ... And then things get complicated and her blog goes viral and oh my!

This book was a quick and easy read about a young girl coming to terms with the fact that everyone makes mistakes and that's just a part of life. Perfection doesn't exist, that's only perception. The story wasn't very complex, but it was entertaining and nicely written. It features a love triangle, an interesting relationship with a moody old woman and a lot of dilemmas. The ending was a bit too fairytailish to me, but overall I really quite liked the book.

A cute, modern, original and enjoyable read that will definitely speak to teens!

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