My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman (1 ARC Tours)

Release Date: Available Now from Henry Holt

Source: 1 ARC Tours

Synopsis:

With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade.

Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamor for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel.

Bjorkman's debut novel is a quick, fun read that I found it impossible to put down. Roz and Eva are two fascinating ladies who's sisterly relationship I totally buy. There's just enough balance between friendship and hatred to make it believable. No sisters get along constantly. There are always periods of togetherness followed by periods of I-really-wanna-strangle-her..uh ness. At least that's how it's always been with me and mine.

I like that things aren't all hearts and flowers and I really love all of the other characters in the book who are just twisted enough to keep things hopping. This has to be one of the funnest and most engaging casts of characters I've stumbled across in quite some time. Now this is a high school I would've enjoyed attending and I most certainly would've been hanging with these awesome theater geeks.

There's tons of witty dialogue and lots of backstage backstabbing as well. The book also offers an amazing collection of Shakespearean insults, with a helpful little glossary in the back. This novel was just a real joy to read and at its heart was this wonderful message about how important it is to just follow your heart and be yourself. It's an important message and one that can't be shared enough with the world at large.

I doubt that Bjorkman is planning a sequel, but if she happens to, I would love to see it. I'm more than ready to hang out with Roz, Eva, and gang for as many books as Bjorkman wants to write.