Review: The Mean Girl Apologies by Stephanie Monahan

The Mean Girl Apologies

by Stephanie Monahan

Publication Date: June 2, 2014

Published by Entangled Embrace

Pages: 200

Source:Publisher

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You know that catchy song you keep hearing on the radio? It’s about you.

Natalie Jamison has spent five years trying to forget the girl she was in high school: popular, pretty…and, okay, mean. Now in her twenties and living once again in her small town, she’s right back where she was: following Queen Bee Amber and keeping secrets from her best friend, Sarah.

Secrets like Jack Moreland.

Everyone knows Jack Moreland—his new album, Good Enough, is everywhere. He’s famous. Impossibly handsome. Completely untouchable. But what none of Natalie’s old clique knows is that in high school, Natalie and Jack fell in love. And their secret relationship was incredible, painful—and earth-shattering enough to inspire an entire album.

Facing friends and enemies isn’t easy, but Natalie will go to great lengths to prove she is good enough—to her friends, to herself, and most of all, to the small-town boy turned worldwide heartthrob she never forgot.

My Thoughts

The title, The Mean Girl Apologies, grabbed my attention and as soon as the book made it on my Kindle, I devoured it. I admit this is a rare occurrence. Usually I will have a book for a few days or weeks before I start reading it, but I immediately had to know Natalie and Jack and their story. I had to know how their love fell apart and why Jack had to write a song about her. The story satisfied my curiosity and I loved it from start to finish.

The opening scene of Natalie and her high school friends in a bridal shop was a great way to begin the story. We get to see the dynamics of Natalie's friendships right off and how the girls interact with each other. Natalie is torn between who she is now and who she was when she was still friends with these girls. Time and distance made her become someone else. Does she want to go back?

One of my favorite parts of the book was the set up of chapters with lyrics from Jack Moreland's songs. Each song referred back to a memory of Natalie and Jack's hidden relationship. I loved finding out their story and how they ended up falling in and then out of love. Jack Moreland is a boy to fall in love with, there's no doubt about that.

I thought that there would be a lot more "mean-girl antics" between Natalie and her old high-school friends and it was a relief that those old tendencies weren't there. It proved that Natalie had grown beyond her high school days. Readers can take from this book is that an apology can be powerful. Being able to admit that you are wrong and asking for forgiveness isn't a weakness, and the ability to forgive yourself is just as important as being forgiven.

The Mean Girl Apologies really clicked with me. I loved the background love story, the friendship between Natalie and her fan-fiction writer/co-worker Gillian, and Natalie finding her voice as a reformed mean girl. This book gets a five-book (star) rating from me. A highly recommended fun read.

Disclaimer:  I received this e-ARC from Entangled Publisher in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the e-ARC provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.