The List

Author: Siobhan Vivian

Publisher: Push

Year Published: 2012

Page: 333

THE LIST

Freshmen

Ugliest:

DANIELLE DEMARCO -- Also known as Dan the Man.

Prettiest:

ABBY WARNER -- Bonus points awarded for overcoming family genetics!

Sophomores

Ugliest:

CANDACE KINCAID -- Beauty isn't just skin deep, btw.

Prettiest:

LAUREN FINN -- Everyone's hot for the new girl.

Juniors

Ugliest:

SARAH SINGER -- It's like she's trying to be as ugly as possible!

Prettiest:

BRIDGET HONEYCUTT -- What a difference a summer can make.

Seniors

Ugliest:

JENNIFER BRIGGIS -- (Drumroll, please.) The only four-peat in Mount Washington history! Congrats, Jennifer!

Prettiest:

MARGO GABLE -- All hail this year's homecoming queen!

Every year, a list contains the name of the prettiest and the ugliest girls' in every grade is published at Mount Washington High. No one knows who made it and why. One thing for sure, the list affects 8 girls whose name has been stated in it.

*******

The List is a book that I instantly bought after reading the blurb. It seems so interesting, offering 8 different reactions and conflicts after getting people's judgment toward themselves. No matter how hard we shout "Be Yourself" or " you don't need people's permission to do what you love" or any things like that, people's judgment more or less will affect us. Because we are humans who have ears and hearts; we're not robots. I really, really wanted to know what would happen to the girls whose names are stated on the list. Would they be proud? Would they be cocky? Would they be broken? Would they change their personalities?

Sadly, after I half read the book, I found out that I've overestimated the book. Using 8 main characters who tell their stories alternately is proved as too much for a 333 pages book. No character got enough portion and was explored enough. And remembering each of them was very difficult to me because no one stood out enough. I remember that I had to reread the list so many times during my reading because I didn't remember which one is who and what problem she faced. And that what took me so long to finish the book.

The ending is another problem. It's just... unfinished. No conclusion. It's like the author was in the middle of her writing when she suddenly realized that she had already written too many pages but too lazy to edit it so she just decided to end the story right away. It's not that I despise stories with hanging ending; sometimes I love that kind of ending if I feel like it fits the story. It gives the readers room for their imagination, to create their own version of endings. But in this case, it left too large room for the readers to imagine the continuation of the stories.

However, among the 8 characters, I've managed to pick some of my favorites. Candace's and Lauren's stories are the most interesting stories. The mean girl and the innocent girl; who expects they can be real friends? And Abby's story is also interesting. In fact, I think Abby's story is the most complete among the others'. 

Overall, I'm very disappointed with what's going on in this book. If only the authors decided to use less main characters and focused on creating more complete plot... By the way, there won't be a sequel for this book, right? Or will it?