Book Review: The Julian Game by Adele Griffin

The Julian Game by Adele Griffin
Release Date: August 26, 2010
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 200
Received: Library
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 
Goodreads Page

Check out my Cover Review for The Julian Game!

Summary

All new-girl Raye Archer wants is a way into the in crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker picks her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity so she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. It's a fun and dangerous thrill at first, but Raye hadn't counted on falling for Julian herself and igniting Ella's rage. 

As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge, creating an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she's helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter. 

Adele Griffin's riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge.

Review

It’s a good thing I’ve started exercising again, because with all of this author cheerleading I’m doing, I need to get in shape. I am totally fangirling here. Ever read a book by an author and think, “Where have you been all my life?!” It started with an innocent Goodreads giveaway (Tighter review) and, well, I may have a few more Adele Griffin books making their way through inter-library loan as I write this review. 

Small appreciation

Usually I’m a “more is more” kind of person, and don’t get me wrong, I love my series, but you know what really knocks my socks off? A tiny book that packs a punch. When an author can take a measly 200 or fewer pages and create a book with characters who live and breathe, a story that hits me in the gut or grabs a hold of my heart and then leaves me thinking about the book long after I’ve turned the last page, well, that right there is just perfection. 

Add in the fact that I just really like the way Adele  writes and I’m floored. I think this is a much more difficult feat to accomplish in a short book than it is with the flexibility of a longer book or series. I’m always left in awe, and that’s where I am right now: Awed. And maybe more than a little uncomfortable (in the best possible way). 

The Julian Game is a mere 200 pages on the dot. I figured I would fly through it in an hour or two, but that is so not what happened. It took me two whole days to get through this slim book, but that’s not to say I wasn’t enjoying myself. Oh no, it took me so long because I kept putting the book down to think about what I had just read. Think! And not just about one issue either. There is so much to think about here: cyber bullying, online anonymity, teenage relationships, mean girls, insecurities, friendship, control, and so much more. I could write an essay.  This is not a light-hearted or funny mean girls book.

Painfully real

I always say it and I’ll say it again: I am a character girl. The thing here is, the characters? They’re kind of horrible people. Not always, and not all of them (Natalya is by far the most awesome best friend in the world), but at some point through the course of the book each of the main characters acts in a less than admirable way. But you know what? I may be outing myself here, but I loved these characters because I could relate to each and every one of them. They were so real. The relationship between Raye and her crush? Totally, painfully real. Ella’s maniacal need for power and control? Real, relatable. Raye’s insecurities? Oh boy, I’ve totally been there.

I’ve read a lot of mean girl books, and while I’ve enjoyed many of them, I often feel like there’s something missing in them. The mean girl is just a little unbelievable. She’s a caricature. The storyline is just a little too predictable. The guy just a little too “You’re an unrealistic fictional hottie.” The cruelty, as mean as it may be, often lacks that spark, that little something that makes a deeply buried tiny vulnerable nugget inside of me sob in painful sympathy.

All of those “somethings” are most definitely not missing here. Ella is a mean girl. She’s horrible, and yet…a part of me loves her. She’s so fragile, and in many ways she (embarrassingly) reminded me of myself at that age. There’s a scene where she is instructing Raye to take control of her life. This scene comes right on the heels of another scene where Ella’s complete lack of control is exposed like a raw, weeping wound. The juxtaposition of these two scenes just made my heart break for her. But you know what? She’s still a mean girl and I liked that. I like that the characters don’t all hug and become friends because that would be a cop out. I wouldn’t buy that and this book is too real for that kind of resolution.

Raye wasn’t a paragon of virtue herself, but I really liked her anyway. This is probably in large part because I saw much of my teenage self in her. Her narration is searing and honest. She grows so much through the book, but it’s not an obvious growth. There isn’t any one scene where she has an epiphany and vows to change her ways. Her growth is subtle, slowly and unobtrusively building as Raye gains experiences and, ultimately, wisdom. She is a very different person by the end of the book, with all of her changes honest and believable.

Lecture-free zone

I could go on and on, but I just wanted to touch on one more thing I really appreciated about this book: It wasn’t preachy. Cyber bullying is topic that is primed for preaching. It practically comes with its own ready-to-use soapbox and bullhorn. And yet Adele took the pontificating paraphernalia and chucked them out the window.  Thank you! The message is clear, it’s there, but it’s not in your face. And you know what else? It isn’t some unrealistic or knee-jerk call to action. The message is harsh but it’s also honest and true.

The same goes for Ella’s OCD (which is wonderfully never mentioned by name and never made into a “teaching issue”).  There were so many things here that could have been made into an awkward after-school special that just feels so false, but Adele masterfully skipped around these traps.

Sometimes I shouldn't judge a book by its cover

I had seen a number of mixed reviews for this book and I was pretty nervous about it. What if I didn’t like it? After reading and loving Tighter I didn’t want to be let down. The cover made me even more nervous. I don’t really like it (though I understand and appreciate it a lot more now: my cover review). I had a very different idea of what the book was going to be like based on that cover. The girl looked too quirky and I was worried this would be a book that reached desperately for quirky-cool humor and instead came off as trite. I also didn’t like the blue hair, but that’s probably because I’m old. Talk about misjudgment! My assumptions couldn’t possibly have been further from the truth.  

I am so glad I read Tighter because I don’t think I would have given The Julian Game a second glance otherwise. Boy would I have missed out! Because guess where this book is going? That’s right, the Special Shelf.

 Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 


The Julian Game satisfies the following challenges:

• 2nds Challenge 2011
• Library Reading Challenge

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