Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Rivals


The Rivals by Daisy Whitney
4/5 stars
Little, Brown and Company, 2012
344 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Library

The Mockingbirds was one of my favorite reads so I was interested in reading the next installment. One of the issues I had (actually my only issue) was that the students undertook their own vigilante justice because they don't think the administration will do anything. I was horrified that the faculty and staff were not notified and neither were the police nor her parents when Alex was date raped (seriously, she never talks about/to her parents...I can't imagine not talking to my mom every day...is the boarding school setting really sufficient to erase the parental units?) Excitingly this book does tackle that issue.

It is now Alex's senior year and she has become the leader of The Mockingbirds but her first case is going to test the group. Unlike previous crimes which had a clear perpetrator and victim, a cheating scandal is brewing. Who is plotting this? Who would be considered the victims? And how are they going to gather evidence to shut this down?

Alex does reach out to the administration early on and receives the very clear message that they want their students to be successful. But no action is taken. Although I find it difficult to believe that these adults would be so blase, at least they were represented.  As for the vigilante aspect, Alex's attempts to explore the cheating ring draw her in deep and have her questioning that very thing. There are no easy answers, no black and white answers in the real world.

To add to all of that drama, Alex is trying to get in to Julliard and is having struggles with her boyfriend as a love triangle seems to pop up. As I ended up liking the other guy more (he has beautiful hands), this wasn't my favorite aspect. It also seemed to be a bit much on top of all the drama around the cheating. Additionally the love triangle just falters at the end; if it's going to play a role, I wanted it to play a bigger one (I might never be satisfied on this issue-if there had been more, I probably would have complained that it was dragged out for too long.)

Overall: A challenging sequel that delves deeper into the moral implications of vigilantism and justice, among others while deepening the characterizations of main character Alex and her friends.

Cover: My mom thinks the boy looks like Harry; I thought Louis but either way we both think he looks like a boy from One Direction, which is quite frankly a weird direction (haha) to take this cover. Females are the most important characters so why isn't a girl on the cover?

18 comments:

  1. I do like the sounds of this one. Great review. I am off to check of the first book. :D

    Jenea @ Books Live Forever

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    1. I thought the first book was amazing and I really like Whitney's writing style.

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  2. Great review! We haven't picked up this series but we've been curious about it. Also, your last paragraph (about the cover) is so good! We laughed, and then we thought "HM, great question..."

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    1. I know that cover won't make sense to some people but I'm hoping others do know 1D. I checked with my sister and she agrees with me that it looks like Louis.

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  3. I just found my review of this one (I wrote it almost a year ago and haven't posted it yet). I can't say I felt like the book was so necessary to the series, ya know? I don't remember being too in love with it and I really enjoyed the first one.

    I do love the boy on the cover though. haha.

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    1. I agree that the book doesn't feel quite necessary to the series. Do you think you'll ever end up reviewing it? I would certainly read that.

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  4. Didn't read this but I can't wait for this author's next book that is coming out in June -- When You Were Here. That really sounds like my kind of book.

    Jen @ YA Romantics

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    1. I'm interested in checking out When You Were Here as well-I believe it's male POV so that's always interesting.

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  5. I've had The Mockingbirds for years now (since it came out) and still haven't read it! I'm glad it's a good one for you, I need to pick it up soon!

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    1. You should definitely read The Mockingbirds-great, challenging contemporary.

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  6. So now is this it for the series or will there be another book? I remember the Mockingbirds and for the longest time thought it was part of The Hunger Games LOL!
    Great review! I think he looks like Harry. Alot!

    Heather

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    1. I don't really know if this ends the series. It could be but there would also be room for a new protagonist to rise up. I totally get why you'd think this was part of THG-so similar!

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  7. Oh my gosh, this guy does look like Harry! You're right though, he doesn't belong on the cover. A girl should totally be there instead. I really need to read this sequel; I loved the Mockingbirds so much, but I just haven't had time to get to the sequel. Based on your review, it sounds like I'd enjoy it. Great review!

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    1. I think you'll probably like The Rivals too and I'm glad to know someone else would prefer a female on the cover.

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  8. I want to read The Mockingbirds. I still haven't made the time to read it yet but it sounds really fascinating. This sequel does too even though it has the dreaded love triangle.

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    1. I thought The Mockingbirds was fantastic-I was very upset with the way the love triangle was handled but overall still a pretty good read.

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  9. I absolutely loved The Mockingbirds. This one was okay but I was disappointed in it. Maybe because it was just okay whereas The Mockingbirds was something special.

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    1. I wholeheartedly agree that The Mockingbirds was special and this book lacked that extra element.

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