The List

The List
Siobhan Vivian
332 pages
Publisher: Push
Source: Library
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Every year a list is posted at Mount Washington High declaring the ugliest and prettiest girl in every grade.  No one knows who does it or how the honor is passed on from year to year.  The List follows the lives of the eight girls on the list during the week after it's posted, homecoming week.

I loved this book!  Let me start out by saying that it's not just a fluffy contemporary novel, The List really has some depth and the character development is amazing.  We really get to know each of the eight girls in the 332 pages of the book; they were all unique and reacted to their placement on the list differently.  I think it's great that Siobhan Vivian was able to come up with eight unique personalities and let the reader get to know them all equally - it's a feat I couldn't accomplish!   Anyway, you would think the "ugly" girls would get all depressed and the "pretty" girls would be ecstatic, but that really wasn't the way it worked out and that took this book to the next level; from stereotypical fluff to realistic contemporary.

The character that stuck out to me the most was Sarah.  For some reason I kept picturing her like Janice Ian from Mean Girls but more hardcore.  (And no, I'm not going to compare the novel to Mean Girls because it's nothing like Mean Girls.)  I understand why she acted the way she did, strangely enough I really do, but I do think that hints at the need for therapy.  Perhaps all eight girls could benefit from a dose of therapy.  The fact that the list existed at all is unfortunate.

Five stars!  This is a really unique YA contemporary standalone that is not at all too fluffy.  I think The List would make for a great book club book, I could see a lot of discussion occurring based on the different girls' reactions.  This book is a must read!