SUMMARY
Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is used to getting what she wants, and when her boyfriend Jason breaks up with her for no reason, what she wants is to win him back before the start of their senior year. Lainey and her friend Bianca check the interwebz for tips and tricks, but the online dating advice is all pretty lame.
Then the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. Didn’t someone once say that love is a battlefield? Jason isn’t going to stand a chance once Lainey and Bee go all Zhou Dynasty on him…
Old school strategy and subterfuge meet modern-day dramarama in the story of a girl who sets out to win at all costs and ends up discovering what’s really worth fighting for.
ABOUT PAULA
Paula Stokes is half writer, half RN, and totally thrilled to be part of the world of YA literature. She started out writing historical fiction under a pen name and is now branching out into other YA genres.
When she’s not working (rare), she’s kayaking, hiking, reading, or seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. She’s petted tigers, snuggled snakes, snorkeled with stingrays, and once enjoyed the suction-cuppy feel of a baby elephant’s trunk as it ate peanuts from her palm. Her future goals include diving with Great White sharks, learning Krav Maga, and writing a whole slew of novels, not necessarily in that order.
Jaime’s Thoughts
The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Lainey Mitchell has it all… She’s a star on the high school soccer team, she has an amazing and popular boyfriend, she has an equally amazing and popular best friend and she’s got her whole senior year planned out. Soccer games and dances and class VP… but all that changes when that amazing boyfriend of 2 ½ years shows up at her job and dumps her in front of everyone. With no reasons.
Lainey refuses to sit around and take it though. She’s determined to win Jason back and with the help of her second best friend Bee she uses the Art of War by Sun Tzu as a guide for getting him to realize his mistake.
As with books like this (ones that have to do with needing to be the popular girl), I struggled to identify with Lainey and at the beginning I found myself really disliking her. A lot. I suppose that is the point though… she’s flawed and superficial and a bit insecure with who she is and who she should be. But then I got to know her… and she grew on me in a good way. For so long her identity was wrapped around the person she was to everyone else. The best girlfriend, the best best friend, the best soccer player… the popular girl. But her actions make her realize that she has to start figuring things out for herself. The things she always thought she wanted, maybe aren’t the things she needs. I really enjoyed the evolution of her character and by the end I think Lainey and I could have been friends.
The secondary characters in this book were so wonderfully done. Lainey’s parents weren’t some faint idea in the background, they were involved in her life and supportive… Bianca… Bee, is the best friend every girl needs in their life. She’s a rock for Lainey and wonderful and she’s just who she needs in her life.
Now Micah… I have a total crush on him. Piercings, tattoos and a mohawk… all things that Lainey has judged him for over the years make him unique and interesting. Add in the fact that he wants to go to culinary school and my crush was solidified. He’s also determined to win his ex back and so two people who don’t quite make sense to an onlooker, start becoming friends with a goal to make their exes see how much they miss them. Only that isn’t exactly what happens of course.
What I enjoyed most about this book was that we get to see Lainey become someone new and discover some very important things about herself. It’s a totally well done coming of age story and the addition of elements of The Art of War was a unique and clever way of making the story stand out among a sea of contemporary YA.
If you’re looking for a fun, sweet and refreshing contemporary YA romance… a book that has drama, friendship and romance but does it in a funny and lighthearted way then you need to pick up The Art of Lainey when it arrives in May.
Thank you to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
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