Recent Reads - Shut Out

Shut Out, Kody Keplinger

 3.5 of 5 Stars

Buy It:  Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble

Genre:   Young Adult, Contemporary

Pages:   288

Publication:   9/5/2011, Poppy

Why I Chose It:   I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) through Goodreads First Reads.

Synopsis (from Good Reads):   Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part,Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...

My Review:  Well Cash Sterling is officially my Fictional Guy Crush of the Week. There should be an award for that. If there was, I'd vote for Cash. I adore him. I just wanna cover him in something sweet and lick it off.

That being said, I will tell you that he was the biggest highlight of a book that while cute, sweet, and oftentimes funny, is not one of my favorites. In fact, I finished this a few weeks ago and, aside from my deep love for Cash, I'm having trouble remembering what I felt about it.

Bear in mind that this is in no way a reflection on the writing ability of the author. I haven't read DUFF, Kody Keplinger's debut novel, but I can tell you from Shut Out that she is a phenomenal talent. I just don't know if I cared for Lissa. She was bossy, neurotic, and decided to use sex as a weapon.

I can't say I blame her. Her boyfriend was a jerk. I knew this despite the number of times she tried to convince me that he was a nice guy.

Her control issues were at times overwhelming and made me want to scream at her. But none of this deterred me from flipping through the pages at a rapid pace. I couldn't put it down. It's written that well.

So, I guess the bottom line is that while I failed to connect with Lissa, I still connected with the story line. I still laughed my way through and wanted to see her end up with Cash in the end. I would definitely recommend to those who enjoy a good romantic comedy for teens.


Fair warning--there is talk of sex and a few steamy scenes involving Cash, but you should know this from the synopsis. It's the basis for the whole plot.

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