High School Hangover by Stephanie Hale

High School Hangover
by Stephanie Hale

Reviewed by Angela McLaurin

3.5 Stars

Young Adult/ Teen

Buy your copy here!

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Laney Wentworth survived four years of high school unscathed. How hard can one party be?

Laney Wentworth’s graduation should be the best day of her life, but between a classmate mooning the crowd during her valedictorian speech, and her mother forcing her to attend the craziest graduation party ever, it’s a disaster.

To hide her awkwardness at the party, Laney drowns herself in punch. The punch makes her brave and she starts having fun. The guy she’s been crushing on for two years wants her by his side the whole night. Everything seems great until she realizes that the punch she’s been gulping all night is really an energy drink and it starts making her feel weird.

She wakes up twelve hours later dressed in strange clothes, two states away from home, with the boy responsible for the only B of her high school career, and absolutely no memory of how she got there.

With no money, the only way back home is to hitch a ride with a busload of rowdy senior citizens. On the crazy ride home, Laney learns that sometimes the most important things in life can’t be learned from a book.


My thoughts......

This was a cute and fast read for mainly a teen audience.  The premise of the story was good, but I felt the execution could have been handled more creatively.  The first part of the story took us through graduation and the after-party.  This part was a bit slow for me.  It wasn't until later in the book when Laney and Jack found themselves waking up two states away that the story picked up.  I laughed and laughed when they hooked up with the characters from the senior center, and to me this was the redeeming element of the book.  The banter and interactions with these older people had me howling aloud with laughter. 

Laney was an unlikeable character....to be the valedictorian of her high school class, she was not very bright at all in the ways of the world.  I did feel sorry for her over the heartaches with her dad and in the end she did seem to see the light and live up to her intelligence.  Jack was a sweetheart from the beginning and I loved him more and more throughout the story.  I am glad that they ended up at the senior center and only hope that I will be as spunky and fun as these men and women when I am older!  They saved the story and kept me reading!

Overall, this would be a good read for teens.  Adults going into this need to know in advance that complex plot elements are not present and that things end a bit too neatly to satisfy more mature readers.  If you are looking for a light and fun read with some laughter to go along with it or if you are looking for books to recommend to young adult readers check this one out!

 

Check out Stephanie Hale's Website