Inspect Finding Cassie Crazy (Ashbury/Brookfield, #2) Articulated By Jaclyn Moriarty Formatted As Kindle
came across the name of this Australian writer on E, Lockhart's website. If I remember it right, she named Jaclyn Moriarty as an inspiration for the format of her own Ruby books.
Of course, being as huge of E, Lockhart's as I am, I simply had to eventually check out Moriarty,
"The Year of Secret Assignments" is a book written entirely in the form of letters, notes, email messages, etc.
I love this format and it definitely makes the book one easy, quick and entertaining read, The story itself is pretty good too three best girl friends are forced into correspondence with boys from a rival school.
Misunderstandings, romance, fights, and adventures follow,
The book is marketed as a humorous story, but I honestly didn't find it as funny as, for instance, hilarious Georgia Nicolson books by Louise Rennison.
In fact, whatever was supposed to be funny, seemed a bit weird to me, especially in the beginning of the book.
Maybe I simply don't get Australian humor However, as the book progressed and serious themes of friendship, trust, and loss came into play, I started enjoying the book much more and couldn't put it down until the big "mystery" was finally solved.
Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a bit, It was a nice combination of silly teenage romance, mystery, and drama, It certainly didn't change my world, but it was a nice departure from angsty paranormal YA romances I've been reading too much of lately.
I will definitely give the author another try,
Reading challenge:Y, What's not to love about The Year of Secret Assignments! Jacyln Moriarty's writing style occasionally put me in the mind of Lemony Snicket minus the dark undertones.
I enjoy stories presented in format that strays from the traditional chapter flow, and Moriarty does a good job
of revealing the various characters' personalities through their letters and emails to one another.
I know that a book has me under its spell when I am willing to sacrifice sleep on a school night to read "just a few more pages" which inevitably will lead to reading much more than that, and thanks to Moriarty's original characters and compelling story, I did just that.
Fantastic, hilarious, and too happinessinducing for words, I will forever reread this, This and other reviews can be found on sitelinkThe Psychotic Nerd
This was such a cute, fun book!
I hardly every laughoutloud while reading a book and this was one of those book that you could hear me laughing constantly!
If you want to read a book that's unique, funny, and just a cute contemporary I highly recommend this book! It will put a smile on your face and you won't want to stop reading!
And, by the way, you don't have to read the first book before this one.
This book is technically a sequel, but it's a companion book and you won't be confused, I didn't read the first book and I was perfectly fine! I used to read this book on a yearly basis growing up and rereading it after a few years I remember why.
What a delightful book. I am a sucker for a book that doesn't tell the story in the typical novel fashion so I absolutely loved the letter/notebook/diary theme going on here.
Jaclyn Moriarty did a fantastic job with that, And this book is just pure fun! I actually laughed out loud quite a few times reading this, This is a quick read too, Overall just a really enjoyable book, If you have not yet read the brilliant Finding Cassie Crazy by Jacyln Moriarty, please do yourself a favour, stop reading this pitiful attempt at a review, and go track down a copy.
Okay Seriously, do it.
If youve decided not to immediately take my advice and youre still hanging around this page, alright, Ill try to make it worth your while.
So, here goes,
Five Reasons to Read Finding Cassie Crazy you really dont need all five, any one of these will do, but whatever, Im feeling verbose and generous right now.
. :
. Its Jacyln Moriarty! One of my all time favourite writers, I cant even begin to do justice to Moriartys way with words.
Sure, I believe that writing is a skill that can be honed and taught, but Im also positive that there are people out there who simply have a talent for bringing stories to life and a gift for expression.
Jaclyn Moriarty is just such a writer, She writes laugh out loud dialogue, tight, surprising plots, characters that live and breathe on the pages, Her novels blend the realistic with the whimsical Id say quirky, but I really dislike the word quirky and come out completely compelling, funny and moving.
This is the sort of writing that grabs hold of you and doesnt let go, and I can honestly say I have never met a Jacyln Moriarty book I didnt love.
. Epistolary Awesomeness This is a multiviewpoint novel, largely narrated through correspondence as part of an inter high school letter writing project round two of the tieforging experiment implemented by Mr Botherit in Feeling Sorry For Celia.
The hilarious letters of the main characters are interspersed with notice board announcements, journal entries, emails, transcripts, statutory declarations and summonses Moriartys background as a lawyer is used to hysterical effect.
Im not always a fan of epistolary style books, but Finding Cassie Crazy nails it, to the point where I could not imagine this story being told any other way.
It also makes this book somewhat difficult to put down, Every time I read it, I find myself saying, “just one more letter, then Ill stop” and then I keep doing this until I find myself reading the entire book in one compulsive gulp.
. High School High Jinks Two Sydney high schools, One letter writing project. Six students. Pranks. Revenge schemes. Secret assignments. Shenanigans. Fistpump moments. Swoons. I dont recall my Year Ten experience which was definitely more Brookfield than Ashbury being this awesome, so I relive it vicariously through this novel.
. The Characters I love them all, Okay, not . Moriarty writes pitchperfect, realistic and unique characters that each have a distinct voice, With varied backgrounds, layers and motivations, each member of the cast travels their own subtle arc throughout the plot, bringing something different to the culmination of the book where their individual journeys weave together.
Im a big fan of the way Moriarty writes the friendship between the girls, Its real and heartfelt and lacks the angst and competitiveness that comes across in some YA novel friendships, You can tell that these girls just genuinely like each other, and I love that they fiercely defend each other in face of tragedy, change, jerkish boys.
.
. Seb Mantegna!
Enough said, Are you still reading this Go get this book, You can thank me / other Goodreads recommenders / your librarian / bookseller later,
/fangirling.
Australian Title: Finding Cassie Crazy
For their gradeEnglish class at posh Ashbury High, their teacher Mr.
Botherit ! has best friends Emily, Lydia and Cassy writing penpal letters to the English students at the rival public therefore dodgy school nearby, Brookfield.
This is, in part, to help forge a bond between the hostile schools, Emily and Lydia, after a rocky start, form friendships of sorts with Charlie and Sebastian, while Cassie gets single line threats from the boy, Matthew, to whom she writes pages.
Lydia and Seb give each other secret assignments, something Lydia's been doing with her two best friends for years, and Emily tries to help Charlie with his technique at asking girls out.
Cassie finally breaks Matthew's silence and finds someone she can really talk to, only to be betrayed by him in the worst way possible.
Lydia and Emily are out for revenge, and Charlie and Seb are happy to help,
The Year of Secret Assignments is absolutely hilarious I laughed out loud forpages while reading this this afternoon it's a quick read because it's so bloody enjoyable yet it has depth and poignancy.
It's about friendship, loss, loyalty and being a teenager, but it never moralises, Some of the humour is subtle and ironic and may be lost on a younger audience, but perhaps not,
It's written entirely in the form of letters, diary entries, school noticeboard posters, a few emails, the hilarious lists and statutory declarations and subpeonas Emily's dad presents her with when any other parent would simply yell out "Tea's ready!", and the absolutely ridiculous and patronising Notebook TM Lydia's dad gave her for her birthday.
It reminded me a bit of John Marsden, as he had a couple of books written in the form of letters, but as I remember it they were much more serious.
This is serious too seriously funny, It's also extremely well written and paced, with so much revealed and counterrevealed from other perspectives, and in more subtle ways as well, so that you get the full story or can read between the lines, and through which the personalities of the main characters are revealed.
I also liked that, as this is the US edition of an Australian book, they pretty much only changed the spelling of words like "favourite", and switched to Fahrenheit which doesn't fit at all, since no one in Australia uses anything but Celcius, and I have no idea how hotdegrees F is, but I'm sure American readers will, so that one's ok.
They left alone a lot of other words, like mobile phone, and even the spelling of "arse" and that reminds me, I love the maturity of this book.
The characters seem shallow at first, but they're not, Oh, and I love Emily's vocab problems! She's hilarious without even meaning to be, Wow, though, I could never have been friends with someone like her, I'm too pedantic, I'd be forever correcting her until she shot me, .