Book Review: “The Way to Game the Walk of Shame” by Jenn P. Nguyen

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P. Nguyen

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction

Page Length: 306 pages (paperback edition)

Synopsis:

Taylor Simmons is screwed.

Things were hard enough when her single-minded dedication to her studies earned her the reputation of being an Ice Queen, but after getting drunk at a party and waking up next to bad boy surfer Evan McKinley, the entire school seems intent on tearing Taylor down with mockery and gossip.

Desperate to salvage her reputation, Taylor persuades Evan to pretend they’re in a serious romantic relationship. After all, it’s better to be the girl who tames the wild surfer than just another notch on his surfboard. (description from Goodreads)

Review:

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame is a YA novel that follows a girl name Taylor who is at the top of her school game. She has excellent grades, is involved with the honor society, and is working hard on trying to get into the best college. Taylor gets into a compromising situation with one of the schools well-known party boys, Evan, and vicious rumors start to spread even though nothing happened between the two. They both agree upon “fake dating” in order to squash the rumors. Will their plan succeed or fail?

Taylor and Evan are complete opposites. Taylor is solely focused on all things academic and Evan is a bad-boy who has a reputation with girls, plus he just seems to coast by at school. The two will have to put their differences aside in order to work with one another. Once they start their fake relationship they fall into a new friendship and are able to slowly lower their defenses. The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” comes into play in this story as they learn the initial view they pegged on one another is wrong. They find they have a lot in common including the absence of their biological dad. Both of their dads left for different reasons and they work together to cope with the issues of feeling left-behind, plus dealing with their step-dads.

As predicted the two start to have feelings for one another even though they try to deny it. Through the course of the story I liked that they “rubbed off” on one another. Taylor becomes less high-strung and Evan starts to take his academics more seriously while focusing on his future. The gives a realistic view of high school life. our main characters tackle: peer pressure, college applications, drugs/alcohol, and life after high school.

Though it was sometimes predictable I thought that this novel was enjoyable and fun. I liked seeing the development of the main characters over the course of the story and how they dealt with obstacles used to test their relationship as well as personal challenges. The characters felt well-rounded and the overall writing was smooth, but I felt the plot was lacking and it needed something more. I recommend this book if you’re looking for a light YA read.

Final Verdict: