Review: New Girl by Paige Harbison

Title: New Girl
Author: Paige Harbison
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Contemporary Romance/ Mystery
Release date: January 31st, 2012
Pages: 304 (eGalley)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Source: NetGalley

They call me 'New Girl'...

Ever since I arrived at exclusive, prestigious Manderly Academy, that’s who I am. New girl. Unknown. But not unnoticed—because of her.

Becca Normandy—that’s the name on everyone’s lips. The girl whose picture I see everywhere. The girl I can’t compare to. I mean, her going missing is the only reason a spot opened up for me at the academy. And everyone stares at me like it’s my fault.

Except for Max Holloway—the boy whose name shouldn’t be spoken. At least, not by me. Everyone thinks of him as Becca’s boyfriend but she’s gone, and here I am, replacing her. I wish it were that easy. Sometimes, when I think of Max, I can imagine how Becca’s life was so much better than mine could ever be.

And maybe she’s still out there, waiting to take it back.

I found myself a bit disappointed that I only liked this book.  Don't get me wrong, the writing is nice and some of the characters are a little more relatable than others, but the story was just kind of bland.  I found myself bored with the fact that pretty much everyone gave the new girl (also nameless until the end of the book, but that didn't bother me, much) a hard time and that's what the entire book consisted of.  It wouldn't have been bad, but it felt like it was just repeating the same question over and over again, "why can't they see the new girl as an individual?"

The new girl replaces Rebecca Normandy after she went missing last school year, which stirs up a lot of drama within the halls of Manderly.  There's a part of me that felt bad for the new girl, but I don't understand why she just didn't tell her parents that she didn't want to go to Manderly in the first place.  Sure, maybe she did a few years back, but things change.  I suppose she didn't want to disappoint them, but I feel like they would be understanding.  Instead, she spent most of the year being tortured by her peers, wishing she could just go back home.

I enjoyed the two different point of views, as I always do.  Obviously Becca wasn't as perfect as she led everyone to believe, so I found that interesting to learn the more I read.  She was notorious for telling lies that everyone around her ate up, even after her disappearance.  When the new girl takes an interest in Becca's old boyfriend, they scorn her with narrowed eyes and tell her that Becca will be back, even if no one knows that for sure.  How could someone make such an impact on the entire school in the span of one year?

For me, the ending could have been much, much better.  Basically, it gave me something that I had a feeling would happen from the start.  I suppose I expected too much.  I didn't find myself reading because I was interested, but more because I just wanted to get it done with, which is never something I like to admit.  New Girl ended up being one of those books that are both a hit and miss.