Tuesday, December 16, 2014

ARC Review: The Kidney Hypothetical or How to Ruin Your Life in Seven Days by Lisa Yee

Samantha M.'s Review
Higgs Boson Bing is the "golden­boy" of Sally Ride High School. Great grades, destined for Harvard, head of the Debate Team, Prom King, and has a gorgeous girlfriend  With only seven days left until graduation, what could possibly wrong? How about, everything! 

It all starts tumbling downhill at the annual pre­-graduation picnic on a boat, the Senior Sail, where Roo, Higgs' girlfriend, asks him a seemingly simple hypothetical question: if I needed a kidney, would you help me and donate one? He hesitates, his enemies provoke Roo and thus she breaks up with him.  Roo then gathers a clique, and sets off to ruin everything about him.  Add to fact that he can't get off the ship, and word will travel fast about Higgs breaking Roo's heart. How can this get any worse? Great question! Right before Roo leaves, Higgs, feeling seasick and flustered, throws up on Roo and sentences his week to one of misery and woe. 

The school week begins with a bang: explicit posters about him, his Debate Team leader status is questioned, and he is accused of cheating on his Harvard application! But not everything about his week is bad. Monarch, a mysterious girl who
lives in the woods, suddenly appears in Higgs' life as a sort of anti­-rolemodel. From stealing
things to breaking out pet shop mice, Monarch and her surprises are the only things that keep
Higgs from totally freaking out. But who really is Monarch? Can she be trusted? Is he falling in
love with her in less than seven days? Will Higgs' life ever get back on track? Who is the one
bent on destroying Higgs' life, anyway? All these questions and more will be answered in The
Kidney Hypothetical On How To Ruin Your Life In Seven Days by Lisa Yee!

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Recommended For: Those who like a lot of humor, a bunch of romance, and a dash of
mystery!
Age Recommendation: 12 ­+ for crude/explicit humor and some language.
Release Date: March 31, 2015

Kaila's Review
Good grades? Yes. Top of your graduating high school class? Yup.  Continuing your family’s legacy of attending Harvard? Definitely. Well forget all of that. In The Kidney Hypothetical by Lisa Yee, a graduating high school student named Higgs Boson Bing’s life is turned upside down in the matter of just seven days! 
Being popular and successful as a senior in high school is great, but according to Higgs Boson Bing’s life, that can all be taken away in a very short period of time. Imagine losing your girlfriend, risking your invitation to Harvard and much more all happening to you in the last week of your senior year! Well, in this novel, many awful things happen to Higgs, and his life is practically ruined.  Having his prima donna girlfriend break up with him was more than enough weight on his shoulders, but everything else that was holding him and his reputation up, slowly begins to crumble. 
The building blocks to Higgs’s future plans are taken away one by one as the story goes on, but he just gets stronger with every blow that hits him. Having vandalized pictures of his face spread across school, having his family fall apart and awful things of that nature, are all burdens for Higgs as the week progresses. All of these things continue the story and lead up to a big shock in the end. (Not to give anything away!) And yes, there are some clichĂ© aspects to the story such as “meeting a new girl” and all, but don’t most dramas have those?!

The Kidney Hypothetical is a fun, unique, and action-packed novel that I think is a great read for any teenager. This story consists of a mix of comedy, drama, romance, and a hint of mystery. I definitely got a few laughs while reading this! It is a simple, yet charming story that I think most teens and young adults would enjoy. I also think that it is a staple for every 8th grade library and reading list. Over all, I really enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it to everyone in my grade.

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