Review : Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Life by Committee
Author : Corey Ann Haydu
Publication Date : May 13th 2014
Publisher : Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Some secrets are too good to keep.

Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.

Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.

Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe.

Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.

But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?

Personal Thoughts

Having not read Corey Ann Haydu's debut novel, I was looking forward to reading Life by Committee because my friend Siiri @ Little Pieces of Imaginations enjoyed the author's OCD Love Story. I'm sad to say that Life by Committee was a disappointment for me. I tried hard to get over my dislike for the story line and finish the book, but then I realized that I'd rather be reading a book I know I'll enjoy instead of wasting my time on a book that I probably would not like anyways. So, sadly Life by Committee was a DNF for me.

I struggled with the characters in Life by Committee, including Tabitha, the main character. She was going through a lot in the book with her friends basically having abandoned her and her crushing over a guy who already has a girlfriend, but I did not understand her at all. I wanted Tabitha to stand up on her two feet and fight back the shitty people in her life. Instead, she just stands there and listens to her ex-friends basically slam her for her clothing style and allows the guy she's "in love" with to mess with her while he's still with his girlfriend. See, I need to be able to root for a character in YA contemporary book to be able to enjoy a book, but Tabitha was not very head-strong and I just did not connect with her in any way. Speaking of this so-called romance in this book, it quite frankly was extremely frustrating. Joe was a complete jerk. I don't even understand what Tabitha saw in him. He plays with her, then runs back to his girlfriend because she "needs" him and then runs back to Tabitha again claiming he loves her. I read about 40% of the book and he constantly did that in that 40% of the book. I also don't get why Tabitha was so convinced that Joe and her were meant to be. Nothing about Joe was appealing.

And then there her ex-friends. Gosh. I did not understand their obsession with Tabitha's clothing. So what if she wears short skirts and tight shirts? So what if she likes to flirt with boys? What does that have to do with friendship? Quite honestly, if I had people in my life who would drop me because I change my clothing style then I'd be glad to get rid of them. Tabitha's guidance counselor was also a joke of a counselor because she basically slut shames Tabitha for wearing provocative clothing. I was initially really intrigued by the Life by Committee, but then the assignments they started to give Tabitha became a little ridiculous and I just couldn't find it in myself to continue the book. What really sealed the deal for me though was the possibility of a love triangle. After going through all those rough patches in the book, I didn't want to go through more.

In the end, Life by Committee just wasn't the book for me. I'm sure that there are readers out there who would undoubtedly enjoy the concept, but my advice to you if you're going to read this book is to go in with lower expectations. Perhaps then you'll enjoy it better than I did.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 1/5
Writing : 2/5


Thank you to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for the e-ARC of Life by Committee.

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