The Art of Lainey by Paula StokesPublished by: HarperTeen on May 20, 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Edelweiss
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
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.
The Art of Lainey was adooorable!
I enjoyed The Art of Lainey from the very beginning. There were a few times when I wondered if the book was too young for me, just because of how much Lainey still had to learn. She cared SO much about what other people thought and couldn’t see how superficial her relationship with Jason was. At those times, I felt like I couldn’t relate to her very well. She seemed extremely immature. But it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book, and it only got better as Lainey learned her lessons and matured a little.
So in her attempt to win back Jason, Lainey starts pretend dating Micah. I adored Micah and he only continued to grow on me as the book progressed. Although I liked him, I actually thought there were a few times at the beginning when he took the teasing too far. He was obviously just messing, but there were a few times where he said things that I personally would have taken light offense to if they were directed at me. It was mainly just the mass quantity of teasing.
He punches me lightly in the side of the arm. “You ramble all the time. No wonder you got dumped.”
Micah
But as the book went on, my heart really opened to Micah! He was such a sweetheart and so down to earth. I loved how he wasn’t afraid to be honest with Lainey, even if it was a bit brutal at times. Sometimes I loved Micah so much that I just wanted to slap Lainey for continuing to go after Jason instead of seeing what was right in front of her! View Spoiler »
“All the ladies love the mohawk.” Turning to me, he lowers his chin so the top of his head is in my face. “You can touch it, now that I’m prepared.”
“Seriously? Like a pity grope? No thanks,” I say dryly, trying to ignore the fluttering in my chest.
“Touch it,” he whispers. “You know you want to.”
“Shut up.”
One of my favourite things about the book was Lainey’s friendship with Bianca. I honestly didn’t appreciate it at first, but towards the end of the book I was so jealous of their friendship! I loved how loyal and supportive they were of each other, it was kind of amazing! Even though Lainey could be kind of annoying, Bianca always stood by her and helped her. And then when Bianca suddenly needed support, Lainey was immediately there for her. It was just such a beautiful friendship! I wish I had a BFF like that.
Overall, The Art of Lainey was just so much fun. I loved the different aspects: the dating, the friendship, the sports, the uncertainty, and the life lessons. It was such a great book to pull me out of a reading slump, because it was just pure enjoyment, but not necessarily fluffy. It had a strange combination of deep life lessons and fun, flirty high school romance, but it totally worked. And the book ended on such a happy, upbeat note; it left me feeling super satisfied!
The Verdict
Aww, I LOVE the sound of this book, it sounds cute. It’s going on my reading list for my 10 hour flight later this month. Thanks for the rec, Ashley.
Speaking of flying and BEA – how are your plans coming along? I fly out on the 27th – eek! – it’s only 3 weeks away now!
I really hope you like it! 😀 It’s so much fun!
I’m arriving the 27th too! I feel a lot less prepared this year than I did last year. I feel like last year I already had my whole colour-coded schedule by now.. But right now I only have a couple of author signings listed on it, and practically no galley drops (because I have such little info about those right now).
Oooh, now I’m intrigued – where are you flying from? I’m flying Manchester to Heathrow and then Heathrow to JFK. My flight from Heathrow is at 9am. It would be cool if we were on the same one!
Ha! I have not made a single spreadsheet or list for BEA! Does that make me disorganised or a winging it kind of girl?!
I’m flying from Heathrow to JFK. My Heathrow flight departs at 14:35.
It makes you a winging it kind of girl. 😉 Everyone likes to approach it differently. I like to have a schedule to ensure that I don’t miss any books that I’m DYING to have. But some people just like to wander.
Aww, man, looks like I’m flying solo after all! I definitely want to try and find you once we’re there though.
Absolutely! I assume you’re going to the Blogger Conference? I find it’s easier to meet people there than at the actual convention because it’s less crowded!
Yep, I’ll be at the blogger conference on Weds. That’s probably the only thing I’ve looked in to so far so that I know the itinerary for that day. I’m at one of the author breakfasts too but I can’t remember which day it is – it’s the one that Jason Segel is the MC for.
Ah, I won’t be at any of the breakfasts. But hopefully I’ll see you at the Blogger Conference! It’s super easy to sit and chat with other bloggers during the breakfast and “blogger celebration”. 🙂
Awww this book! I really want to read this one sometime soon! I heard so many positive things about this one and I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy yet 🙁 I’m glad you enjoyed this one! This will definitely be on my reading list!
Aww! Well it’s very close to release date! Definitely pick it up when you can. 🙂
Hi Sandra– Just popping in to say there are a bunch of current Int’l giveaways right now. You can find them in a discussion thread on LAINEY’s goodreads page. There are also a couple US giveaways making rounds via twitter RTs.
Happy reading and traveling, Ashley. Thanks for the review 🙂
I am tired of the ‘young’ books right now. But this one does sound pretty adorable. Even if Micah was a little bit of an ass in the beginning.
Yeah this one was great! I think I was getting a bit tired of those books too, but this one was just so much fun!
Huh? Pretend dating? That’s a new one to me. Think I’ll give this book a go. Nice review.
I agree, I feel like Lainey was extremely superficial in the beginning and it made it really hard for me to connect to her, because people kept telling her how bad he was for her, and she wouldn’t listen and it was so frustrating! But it was super cute as it went on and the romance with her and Micah developed 🙂
This sounds like such a cute read! Might be a bit young for me too but sometimes that can be refreshing!
Loved this one too! It was really cute & I thought Lainey and Micah were adorable.