Two exes. One election. All the drama. For fans of Becky Albertalli and Morgan Matson comes a funny, hearfelt novel about fueding exes running for class president and the scandal that makes the previously boring school election the newest trending hashtag.
At Acedia High School outside of Boston, student council has always been nothing more than a popularity contest. Nobody pays attention. Nobody cares.
But all that changes when the Frankengirls show up. During the very first week of school, someone plasters the halls with Photoshopped images of three “perfect tens”–images of scantily clad girls made from real photos of girls at school. The student body is livid. And the two presidential candidates, Angeline Quinn and Leo Torres, jump on the opportunity to propose their solutions and secure votes. After their messy break up, Leo and Angie are fighting tooth and nail to win this thing and their constituents are mesmerized as they duke it out.
As if things couldn’t be more dramatic, the school’s two newspapers get involved. The Red & Blue is run by Angie’s sister Cat and she prides herself on only reporting the facts. But her morals are tested when The Shrieking Violet–written by an anonymous source and based less on facts and more on fiction–blatantly endorses Leo. Rumors fly, secrets are leaked, and the previously mundane student election becomes anything but boring. (taken from goodreads.com)
*Before I jump into my review, I want to thank Netgalley and Penguin Teen for providing me with an eARC in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own and are not impacted by anything.*
Angeline and Leo were the perfect couple, until everything came crumbling down around them. For the first time in their school’s history, the student council election is something people are paying attention to. But when the two are going head to head, the whole school stops what its doing to pay attention to the two of them.
I loved Lori’s novel, Screen Queens so much. I loved the characters and the strong bonds. So when I saw that I had been approved for an eARC of Sources Say I was SO excited!
The characters in this novel are complex, their relationships are intense and their feelings and motives are rooted in so many different things.
Angeline and her twin sister, Kat are as different as sisters could be. They used to be very close when they were children, and then their dad left and it felt as if he took their relationship with them when he left. Neither of the girls feel as if she can relate or get along with the other. Kat is dedicated to telling people the truth and wants nothing more than to be one of the most successful journalists, while Angeline is a lifestyle influencer who sometimes has to stretch the truth to keep her platform going.
Then we have Leo, Angeline’s ex-boyfriend and son of a political candidate. Leo wants nothing to do with politics, he wants to get as far as possible from It. But when things go wrong, the only way to save himself is to run against Angeline.
What started as a way to get their parents off of their backs, ends up erupting into a full fledged war of the students at their school. Fake news, accusations of sexual assault and so much more start flying out of the mouths of the students when Angeline and Leo take the election to social media.
When reading, I found that this story had so much depth. The writing was mature and the thoughts that the students were dealing with were deeper, the impact of a media presence, being a member of a minority community, class difference and misogyny are some of the topics that the book touched upon.
As we currently in an election year, please remember to do your research about the candidate of your choice and make sure to vote!
This book is fun, heartfelt, though provoking and a great read! I highly recommend picking it up!