A Match Made In High School Review

Title: A Match Made in High School
Author: Kristin  Walker
Publisher: Razorbill
Published Date: February 2010
Price: Amazon ($9.99)
Synopsis:

When the principal announces that every senior must participate in a mandatory year-long Marriage Education program, Fiona Sheehan believes that her life can’t get any worse. Then she marries her “husband”: Jerky jock Todd, whose cheerleader girlfriend, Amanda, has had it in for Fiona since day one of second grade. Even worse? Amanda is paired with Fiona’s long-term crush, Gabe. At least Fiona is doing better than her best friend, Marcie, who is paired up with the very quiet, very mysterious Johnny Mercer. Pranks, fights, misunderstandings, and reconciliations ensue in an almost Shakespearean comedy of errors about mistaken first impressions, convoluted coupling, and hidden crushes. 

Review:

After Some Girls Are’s emotional, heart-jerking journey on high school life, A Match Made in High School was tear-jerking…as I rolled around the floor laughing.

Fiona and the other seniors are shackled in their prison of high school to take a marriage education course, to deter the increasing number of (ahem) playboys and cheating husbands and messy love affairs. Fiona strikes up the funniest and most hilarious “marriage” relation with Todd Harding, a jock.

The hilarity and Fiona’s authentic, sarcastic tone and character really kept the ball moving. The premise was really unique and caught my attention…I mean seriously, a marriage course? How cool would that be (I actually would love it, better than solving math equations or analyzing characters). Fiona really is a fearless and outgoing girl with a humorous mind full of pranks and “insults”. In addition, her journals are hilarious, not only of the actual stories they tell (ah, I love her take on her uncle and Alan) but also the way she explains it. I also loved the fast-paced plot, the twist and turns, the shocking news. There was no time to breathe after laughing.

I have to give it to Walker in emulating the perfect, snarky teenage tone. There are some adult authors, I am sorry, who imitate teenagers into bratty kids (which sometimes we are) or emotionally disturbed and emo kids. Walker really does well in creating the hilarious banters high-schoolers and the sense of sexual humor and innuendos of the pranks and the innuendos. I also actually liked Fiona, even though she was very very selfish in the beginning, which you could tell right away. Even though I hated her a bit in the beginning, her development and the resolution really compensated all the “shaking her shoulders to get her in her right mind” I wanted to do. I actually liked Todd, from the beginning. Even though he was introduced as a jerk by Fiona, I actually grew to like him better than Fiona, because underneath all the insults and pranks, he seemed to actually care for Fiona.

In addition, the themes of looking beneath all the stereotypes of jocks, cheerleaders, dark and mysterious boys, was clearly portrayed well. And the theme of love…and marriage of course. How marriage is really another obstacle to face and is not full of love as they show in those soap operas. I actually felt bad for Principle Miller and got her purpose and her hurtful past.

I actually liked the ending. In the beginning, I was thinking something differently, maybe because I’ve been watching too many Asian dramas, in which you already know who’s going to end up with who. But I was satisfied with the ending and it really tied a nice bow at the end of this hilarious gift.

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Cover: 4.5/5

The cover is really cute and I think the little puzzle blocks get the sense of the matching in the marriage. Also, the different teenagers show the diversity of high school. However, I’m not sure which one is Fiona. I’m guessing the one on the far left, but she isn’t wearing glasses…so hmm.

Overall: 4/5

If you have a depressing life or just read a depressing book, read this because for sure you will be laughing out loud (please be cautious if you’re reading this book in a public place). Walker does an outstanding job as a debut author to create the snarky and hilarious tone of teenagers. I cannot wait to see what else Walker brings into the YA world.