Book Reviews

Book Review: My Life Undecided

Media Type: Book
Title: My Life Undecided
Author: Jessica Brody
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Pages: Hardcover; 320
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Source: Publisher
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Intended Reading Group:
Young Adult
Content Screening:
Nothing of note
HDB Rating:
5 Keys to My Heart

PLEASE READ THIS! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.

Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.

But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!

Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.

But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.

My Life Undecided was such a fun and quick read that I was honestly sad when it was over! I simply cannot find the words to explain how witty and hilarious this book really is, but I promise to try.
Brooklyn, or Brooks for short, has trouble following close on her heels. She doesn’t get in trouble intentionally. Or so she says. It’s just that all the ideas she has that sound fantastic at the time end in, well, sirens and video cameras. What’s a girl to do? Why poll the Internet of course! If you can’t make a good decision yourself, why not let other people make it for you!
Brooklyn’s voice was spot on for a high school aged girl, who is just trying to get by. She has all the normal issues that most girls her age do, including coming to terms with who to include in her life. What I loved about most about Brooklyn’s character, truly, was that she was so honest with herself all the time. It’s not like she didn’t know when she’d messed up, or what the consequences would be, or even that her blog readers were right in certain situations. She is spunky, and stubborn, and just a huge ball of a lovable character. Every few pages the reader is treated to a new page in Brooklyn’s blog, and I loved how much that let us get to know her. As the book progresses, she learns that life doesn’t always work the way we want it to, but that’s okay sometimes. Watching her grow into her own was fabulous.
The other characters that revolve around Brooklyn are also vivid and filled with personality. I especially was drawn in by the two guys who are in her life. There’s Hunter, the hot and dreamily Southern guy who is the apple of Brooklyn’s eye. He may or may not be the best choice, but he sure is delicious! Then there’s Brian. I loved Brian, but I generally root for the underdog in most cases. He was the sweet, debate loving boy who clearly adores the girl he is hanging around but is stuck in the friend zone. Poor guy! The focus isn’t heavily on the romance aspect, which I liked, but it’s there. Never fear my romance loving friends. I fell in love with all these crazy characters, and I’m sure you will too.
I’ll stop going on and on now, and just let you know that I really and truly adored My Life Undecided. There are laugh out loud funny moments in here that are too numerous to count. Jessica Brody has written a book that is sweet, funny, and just full of high school drama goodness. You won’t find anything tough about finishing this book. It’s a quick read that will leave you giggling at the end!






FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.