Wednesday, June 12, 2013

ARC Review: Georgetown Academy Season One (Books 1-4)

Title: Georgetown Academy Season One
Author: Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Drama
Source: Publisher
Goodreads | Amazon (Book One)

Meet Ellie, Brinley, Evan, and Taryn — Four sophomores at Georgetown Academy, D.C.’s most exclusive private school, where among the exclusive parties and perfectly manicured lawns, student life seems drama-free. But everyone always has something to hide.

THE IT GIRL NEXT DOOR
Everyone wants a piece of Ellie Walker and her Senator mom, but Ellie’s always been happy to cede the spotlight. Kind-hearted, sweet, and half of G.A.’s perfect power couple, Ellie has it all…until her ex-boyfriend, Gabe, moves back to town and turns her world upside down leaving her to choose between love and loyalty.

THE DC PRINCESS
Brinley Madison, of those Madisons, relishes her family’s status as the ultimate D.C. insiders. While her political strategist father plays kingmaker, Brinley maneuvers behind the scenes in school and at home. Brinley knows better than to keep a secret that could hurt her family, but sometimes desire turns to addiction, putting the family reputation at risk.

THE OUTSIDER
Evan Hartnett doesn’t have the typical pedigree of a G.A., student. In fact, she has no pedigree at all. Her academic scholarship may get her access to the classroom, but she’s still on the outside looking in…until a series of unexpected boyfriends rocket her to national attention.

THE CALIFORNIA GIRL
Taryn Reyes’ laid-back, bohemian vibe doesn’t exactly mesh with her new surroundings, but she’s remarkably secure and unconcerned. But after her first run-in with D.C.’s dirty politics, she finds out that keeping her integrity and her heart intact may be harder than she thinks.
Review by  Nara

Dayum. When I picked this book up, I was expecting a fair bit of drama- relationships, falling outs etc. etc. and that's definitely what I got. I just wasn't expecting it to be so damn good! Georgetown Academy is, in one word: addicting. It's incredibly addicting. Just the drama after drama after drama keeps you absolutely riveted. See, in some other books, the constant drama would be terrible, but in GA this certainly wasn't the case. It was deliciously scandalous. Not that I watch Gossip Girl, but I imagine if you enjoy TV shows like that, you'd probably enjoy this series.

I loved how the book was written in a multiple point of view style- you could see the story as each of the characters sees it. It was nice how the different points of views entwined until you eventually get the entire picture. It was also good how even though it was an active fiction (i.e. choose your own adventure), you could still go back and choose all the other options, so it wasn't as if you felt like you were missing out on sections. Then again, if you didn't like a particular girl, you wouldn't necessarily have to read excessive amounts from her point of view. (I read all the points of view though, because I didn't want to regret not choosing certain options).

Quick character descriptions:
Evan- honest, always tries to do the best by her friends, pretty much just all round awesome.
Ellie- the "perfect" one who attempts to hide her flaws, more worried about her behaviour reflecting back on her mother's image than her own happiness.
Brinley- initially a bit of a bitch, definitely concerned about her image, gets better as the series progresses
Taryn- new girl, individual, but does also try to fit in, a tad opportunistic.
All four main love interests- *fans self*
Liesel and Nora- oh god, these guys are hilarious. They just say the stupidest things like "totes" and "adorbs" (those are the mild ones)

In procrastinating for my upcoming exams, I decided to draw up a character flow chart for how the relationships stand pretty early on in the series (Books 1 and 2):

Yeah, sorry about the quality of the image not being that great, but I couldn't be screwed taking a better photo because I really should be studying right now...#guilt
Also, the "a certain someone" was my attempt to not have spoilers.

At the end of season one, I definitely like Evan the best, but to be honest, was shipping all of the relationships to the max. All the love interests were such great matches for the main characters! I really can't wait to see what the authors pull out for the next season!

Really liked it

Ratings
Overall: 9/10
Plot: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5





4 comments:

  1. Sounds great! I had never heard of these books, but I'll definitely pick them up now. :D

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    1. It's a great series! You should get the entire first season, because the individual books tend to end on cliffhangers :)

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  2. I LOVE these books. Just finished reading all of season one and I can't wait for the next installment. I joined tky can't wait for a tv show. I want to see the characters in person. Overall, great books.

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    1. I know right, they're so amazing! Is there going to be a TV show? Seriously? That would be kinda awesome haha

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