A Match Made in High School: Review

Title: A Match Made in High School

Author: Kristin Walker

Release Date: February 2010

Published By: Razorbill

Pages: 278

Goodreads Rating: 3.71 stars

Review: It's like Fiona's worst nightmare come true: her principal announced a new marriage education program, and she has to pretend to be married to the hugest jerk in the world, Todd. As if that's not bad enough, Todd's girlfriend, who absolutely despises her, is paired with Fiona's long-time crush, Gabe. Fiona's just glad, though, that she wasn't paired with the weird Johnny Mercer, though as she gets to know him better, she starts to wonder if he's really so weird.

Admit it: that summary makes A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL sound like possibly the most stereotypical and predictable young adult novel on the planet. At least, that's certainly what I thought when I first picked up this book, but I forced myself to read it because of the abundance of glowing reviews out on the blogosphere. And boy, were those glowing reviews deserved!

This book was every inch the cute and addicting story the colorful cover promises, and more. Fiona narrates with a hilarious voice that would keep you entertained even with a slow-as-growing-grass storyline (which there wasn't - it was plenty fast!), but the funniest parts by far were her numerous occasions of banter with Todd. They hated each other from the start and evolved into pseudo-friends that loved to hate each other, and their dialogue could cheer up the saddest person.

My expectations were right in that there were predictable elements to this book, but they were offset by some cliché-busters present throughout the novel. This whole paragraph's going to be a minor spoiler, as a head's up. I really liked that instead of ending up with Todd as many light contemporary novels would lead into, Fiona ended up with Johnny instead. What I appreciated the most, though, was that Johnny wasn't some super-gorgeous hunk or even just a generally attractive guy - he was a nice, average-looking guy, which I found satisfyingly realistic and refreshing.

All in all, A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL was, well, a match made for me! I went into this thinking it would be cute, light, and predictable, and the first two were certainly true. Although there were parts that were a bit predictable, the funniness and the unique twists down the line more than made up for it. If you enjoy light-hearted, addictive contemporary, this book is a match for you as well.