Book Blurb
I'm Chelsea Halloway and I will happily destroy your social life if you mess with me. Just ask anyone. There is no situation I can't handle. Divorcing parents? No problem. An ex-boyfriend who wants to date Smith High School's biggest geek instead of me? Just a matter of time before I can make him see reason. At least, until my parents decide to ship me off on a study abroad trip to Cambodia…
Now instead of being admired as the queen of the Notables, I'm stuck with a bunch of college students who don't take me seriously, and a professor who accidentally landed himself on the wrong side of a drug lord. And it's up to me to get us all out of the country alive--even the annoying jerk with the green eyes who won't stop calling me "princess."
Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
Toot's Review by Stacy Sabala
Chelsea Halloway is the top notable at her school, in other words, most popular. However she is having the worst night ever. The boy she is in love with rejects her for Mackenzie, a geek. Her parents have finally decided to get a divorce and tell her when she gets home. Of course the worst part is they are taking her out of school and shipping her off to Cambodia for a semester of her junior year. She is shocked. Her popularity at school will become non-existent. Her hard work training in ballet will come to an end as the program in Cambodia won’t offer dance. Her parents have sure handedly ruined her life.
When she is left at the airport by herself as usual, she tries to figure out how to ditch Cambodia and sneak off to another, better destination. Of course since she doesn’t want to be there, she alienates the students she is travelling with. She shuts them out before they have a chance to make fun of her. They are college students and she is a lone high school student. Things get worse when she realizes she has inherited a watch dog in the form of her father’s TA, Houston. This trip keeps getting better and better.
Just when she tries and starts finding her footing a little with the others and appreciating professor Neal, things spiral out of control and the trip goes from bad to worse. Chelsea, Neal and Houston are in the wrong place at the wrong time. As a result, the trip turns into a race of life and death. Chelsea has to find her strength, use her gifts and lead her college age friends through a dangerous situation, hopefully all in one piece.
This was an interesting book. It wasn’t what I expected at all. Chelsea is queen bee at her school and flaunts it a bit. However there is a lot of hurt and anger below the surface thanks to her parents. She has locked so many of her emotions away that it makes her a complex character the more you read. At first sight she appears to be a selfish and spoiled person, a type of mean girl. As the reader progresses through the story, her layers of insecurities are peeled back for all to see. It provides vulnerability for her character which is worth the journey. The author also provides an exciting read full of adventure, danger and emerging trust. Chelsea figures out on her own how worthwhile she really is. It was a good read and an excellent YA story. I give it a 4 out of 5.
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