Monday 29 July 2013

Review of GT book #4

Georgetown Academy: Book Four
By Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting


About:
When the vice president resigns and Ellie and Taryn’s parents emerge as the frontrunners, the girls find themselves back in the spotlight.

Ellie could not care less about becoming the Second Daughter, but she knows how much the opportunity to make history means to her mother – and women everywhere. With her family taking center stage, Ellie must decide whether she can put her feelings for Gabe on hold - again.

Taryn, so used to captivating the hearts and minds of everyone she meets, is unbothered by the increased media scrutiny. But an inopportune screw-up has her beholden to an unlikely – and unfriendly – source for help.

Overnight, Evan has skyrocketed from social pariah to Miss Popular. As she and her reluctant parents adjust to her new lifestyle, the last thing she needs is a front-page scandal.

Brinley can’t stop thinking about her Stowe-bound hook-up…until her father’s intern, Patrick, starts flirting. Is it time to abandon her fling now that she has a more appropriate suitor?

With the second highest office in the land up for grabs, everyone is picking sides. But where does the heart lie when duty, truth, and love collide?


My rating: 4.5/5

My Thoughts:
Once I finished reading book 3 of Georgetown Academy, I headed straight to Amazon for Book 4, which again did not disappoint. In this instalment, we see that the Vice President is about to resign and the two nominees for the upcoming vacancy are none other than Taryn’s father and Ellie’s mother! This of course puts immense pressure on both daughters to ensure that there are no disruptions to their parent’s run for vice presidency.
That would be easy in an ideal world, just try not to stir up the media, but if the media is like Big Brother, constantly watching and analysing every single move,  then the girls are bound to trip up at some point.
Ellie finds it difficult not to spur the media’s attention because she cannot help her feelings for Gabe, despite being just on ‘friendly’ terms. The last time the media caught whiff of their romance everything went spiralling out of control since the parents of both parties are enemies. It doesn’t help that Gabe’s father is constantly attacking Marilyn at every event possible, and Ellie’s mother retaliates by bringing Gabe’s mother into it; much to Gabe’s fury.. Ellie and Gabe have an understanding that they won’t let their parents’ political agendas affect their relationship, but it’s easier said than done.
To add fuel to the fire, Ellie’s BFF, Brinley Madison, has taken Taryn under her wing to improve her public image and make Taryn the better ‘second daughter,’ should her father win. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is out of the kindness of Brinley’s heart because it most certainly is not. Brinley’s father has been employed by Taryn’s father to help with the campaign and so the entire family are putting in their efforts to help the father’s client win.
Taryn, bless her soul, keeps tripping up, whether it is voicing her honest opinion to the media, or accidentally supplying Evan with marijuana! She just can’t help herself from causing a problem in her father’s campaign. To add to the stress, Brooks who was so charming on the ski trip in book three, has now become increasingly distant since the campaign has begun and Taryn has no clue what their relationship, if it can be called that, is.
I suspected dear (not!) Weston might return, and ruin things for Ellie’s mother but he actually didn’t. I wonder where he is and what drama he’s causing because I don’t think the GT girls have seen the last of him.
Favourite characters
Poor Evan. I think she was my favourite purely because I sympathised with her and I think she is too good to be a part of all the high-scale drama. I am happy that she and Hunter love each other and all that, but their social statuses are so different that I think some things will be too hard to overcome.
Now that she is dating Hunter her social life has completely changed and she’s not so sure she likes it. Being with Hunter is her dream come true, but Evan is constantly reminded by other GT characters how she is not good enough for someone of such high social class, and it doesn’t help that her family don’t approve of her relationship either. They think she’s changing for Hunter by partying more and studying less to fit in more, which isn’t too far from the truth. Plus, Evan’s insecurities are confusing her further.
I felt for her when she was the victim of the marijuana candies. Such an innocent mistake turns out to be a full blown catastrophe and even though she knows they were Taryn’s pills, she does not want to call her out on it and forbids Hunter to do so too.
Most annoying character
This time it was Brinley. She’s unhealthily competitive, the most hypocritical out of the lot, and way too self-centred for my liking. All she thinks about the entire way through is that her father’s client can’t lose otherwise she will lose her popularity and power so she won’t be able to go for an emergency facial with Kim Woo or whatever her name was.
I do feel for Shane, the poor soul, because I doubt Brinley could ever make their relationship public in fear of her own status being degraded. I would like to think she will choose Shane and maybe change for him, but I highly doubt that. Although, now that he has come fo rhte surprise visit, I wonder how long their secret meetings will be a secret.
Favourite couple
Probably Hunter and Evan, because despite what is going on and their social differences, Hunter sticks by Evan and supports her, never doubting that she’s not worthy of dating him. That's definitely worthy of the 'favourite couple' award.
Zed (:
Favourite Quotes:
It was horrible enough to cost her mother a Senate chairman's seat. But costing her the chance to be vice president was too unforgiveable. Her mother couldn't afford any negative press right now. Nothing that made her appear weak or out of control. Yet again, Ellie would have to put her own life on hold for her mother's.
Brooks shook his head, smiling from the left corner of his mouth. "Do birds sing to you when you walk down the street?"
She laughed. "I think I need to teach you how to not take everything so seriously all the time."
"You're pretty cute when you get embarassed," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "I might have to try to do that a little more often."
"Please don't," she said. She already felt like she was living in a permanent state of mortification.
Samantha had always told her D.C. was all about access to those in power, and now, thanks to her relationship with Hunter, Evan had a little.
It wasn't exactly the way Evan would have wanted to regain Samantha's respect- she would have preferred to earn it by breaking a news story or something with a little more journalistic integrity- but beggards couldn't be choosers. Maybe this was the beginning of a fresh start for them.
"Maybe because your father has fallen grossly behind in the span of twenty-four hours," Patrick replied quickly. "And if you all don't bring your A-game tomorrow night, you might just have to accept the fact that there's no beating Marilyn Walker.
His bluntness surprised Taryn, though it wasn't completely off-putting. She generally liked getting the truth from people and if that meant it coming in a not-so-pretty package, so be it. She could handle it.
Judging from the stumbling, slurring, and shouting going on around her, Evan was most likely one of the few people there who had never been drunk before. She didn't care if other people drank, but she had no interest in partaking. She did enough embarassing things on a daily basis that she didn't need to add alcohol-induced incidents to the list.
"Have fun tonight, Brin," he said before hanging up.
She stared at the blank box on the screen, feeling a little like she was living a double life.
"Brinley!" her mother shouted over the intercom. "The car is out front!"
On the bright side, at least it was a glamorous one.
"What are you talking about?" Brinley asked, wide-eyed.
"Come on...You're going to play it that way with me?" Ellie replied, boring her eyes into Brinley's trying to remind her that when you took the politics away, they were still supposed to be best friends who deserved to tell each other the truth.
That was what was hard about having friends across political lines. Your personal agendas never lined up and you had to decide how much of a friendship deal-breaker that was.
In another time, Taryn might've enjoyed Brinley Madison doting on her like a lady-in-waiting. But now, Tary was completely reliant on her, all while hating how reliant upon her she was, like some kind of weird Stockholm Syndrome.
"And your real problem isn't with us anyway."
"Really?" Brooks asked condescendingly. "And what is my problem?"
"The fath that, for reasons that entirely escape me, you've been pining for weeks after a girl whose natural inclination is to wear hair glitter. So get the stick out of your ass and stop raining on my parade."
"What's getting you down the most? According to the poster in the guidance counselor's office, it helps to pinpoint where your depression is coming from."
"When were you in Mr. Hudgin's office?"
"The other day I pretended to have OCD so I could get out of the Spanish test I forgot about. He was really proud of himself that he cured it in under two hours, so really I did us both a favour." He gave Evan a smile then looked at her more seriously. "So lay it on me, Evs."
There they were by the senior locker area, their faces glued to each other like one of them was a human oxygen tank. Her brother used to be a much bigger fan of classy hand holding in the hallway, but this must be what happens when you date someone who wears nail art. Was Brinley really going to have to get used to traces of Taylor Swift perfume clinging to her brother from now on? The thought incited her gag reflexes, but judging by today, this was her fate. Until she figured out a way to break them up, of course.

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