Review: Waitlisted

It's a tour day at Turning the Pages.


Today, I am participating in a CLP Blog Tour for the novel Waitlisted by Laurel Gans



Waitlisted by Laurel Gans

Format: ebook
Pages/Size: 203/841KB
Published: October 4, 2011
Publisher: Etopia Press
Genre: Fiction, Chick Lit

My Rating: 4.5/5

Summary (from amazon.com):

Kacey Barlow had no idea it would be this hard to get into grad school. Her well-to-do family has been attending UI for generations, and admissions had been recruiting her since high school! She was a shoo-in—that is, until they gave her the boot.

She can’t tell her parents, and can’t stand the thought of her friends going off to grad school without her. Her grades are slipping. Her professors can’t remember her name, and her tutor, Taylor, won’t stop hitting on her when they’re supposed to be studying.

Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so bad. But it’s not going to help get her a seat in another school...and applications are due in two weeks...

Review:

**Note: A copy of this book was provided by the author. However, no compensation was provided and this review reflects my honest thoughts and feelings.**

The road to your future is set in stone and you just have to make it to the summer... that is, until the head of admissions deems you as redundant and your life becomes like a tornado in a trailer park.

I loved this novel. Finding out that Laurel Gans is actually a dental student herself, added a completely different aspect to the story. Things that you would deem impossible or 'wouldn't happen', were suddenly taken at face-value. I imagined the character of Kacey as being Laurel. Although she is a twin, so maybe she sees herself as Cara or Tara, in which case... I'm not loving her as much.

The writing style of Waitlisted was wonderful. I found the story easy to follow and the dialogue between the characters very age appropriate - knowing that I wasn't the only student with a bag full of colourful gel pens to keep me entertained during lectures, made me smile. Being a student and taking many of the same programs in real life, as Kacey does in the novel, really seemed to help with the overall flow of the story. Details that may have been missed in other stories, were perfectly placed here.

As for the characters, well... I loved them all. Sure there were certain ones that I would turn away from in a hallway or those that I would cringe when they sat beside me, but that's just real life. The main character of Kacey had some flaws. She lived in a world where things are just handed to you and seemed to be self-centered, but again, very real! I really did feel that every character was developed well and added to the story.

Overall, a fantastic debut chick lit novel. I hope that Laurel becomes a successful dentist but chooses to continue writing in her spare time. I'm a BIG fan!!