Author: Eileen Cook
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: January 4th, 2011
Genre: YA, Realistic Fiction
Hailey Kendrick is the girl who has it all. She’s popular and pretty, has good grades, comes from a good family, goes to an elite school and has the perfect boyfriend. However, things are never as perfect as they seem. Ever since her mother’s death in a freak accident, Hailey has been trying to live as safely as possible. Although she does her best to be the perfect daughter, nothing she does seems to get the attention of her father, who sent her to boarding school after her mother’s death. When Hailey finally does something to get his attention, it is not in the way she always wanted. When Hailey is caught breaking school rules one night, she finds herself losing her boyfriend and most of her friends. She quickly goes from being one of the most popular girls in school to the most hated when the school’s dean punishes everyone in school until Hailey turns in the person who was with that night. After one night changes everything in her life, will Hailey be able to make things right?
A quick light read, The Education of Hailey Kendrick is full of teenage drama that will keep you reading. Overall, I thought it was okay. I was never bored and it succeeded at keeping me interested, but I found myself frustrated with most of the characters throughout the novel. I didn’t feel that sorry for Hailey, since all of her problems were of her own making. Plus, she kept making things worst for herself. However, she was a fairly realistic character, since I knew a lot of people like Hailey in high school. Girls who try too hard to be perfect and are paranoid about any potential danger. I was happy to see her grow throughout the novel. At times Hailey annoyed me, but other times she was very witty and funny. A lot of the characters felt like clichés to me, the most obvious being the spoiled, attention-seeking heiress. Even Drew was very familiar from other YA novels: the outsider who is nothing like the boys the main character usually dates, and is full of wisdom about life. Things were wrapped up too neatly in the end for my taste, but that can be good if you like happy endings. Cook’s writing style was good enough that I would give another one of her books a try, even though I didn’t like this one.
If you like a light and fun novel with lots of drama but a happy ending than this might be for you. However, it just wasn't for me.
2.5/5
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