Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Title/Author: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Publication Date: September 5, 2011

Publisher: Poppy

Source: Public library

Rating: 4/5 footballs


I have heard so many good things about this book! I've heard about how hilarious it is, how clever it is, how everybody needs to read it, etc. I'll be honest, I have to agree. Overall, the book reminded me of Mean Girls, in the way that everybody was so clique-y and like cats with their claws out. This book also had a great message!

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling... (from Goodreads)

That's right. Today we're going to talk about sex. GOTCHA! I'm just kidding but come on, a sex strike! So good! I don't know about you guys, but I've never read any book similar to this. The idea, even though it is a retelling of a classic Greek play, is so original and just priceless. I love it! And the best part about this whole thing was that it wasn't actually mainly about sex, even though sex was the thing that the book rotated around.

One thing I really loved about this book is that it wasn't predictable for me. There were some parts that I already knew what was going to happen, but the rest were a surprise, which is rare. Not to sound braggy, but I can usually guess the endings to books. In this case, I guessed the ending, but not a whole lot of the in between.

I finished this book in a day. I literally finished it so quickly I didn't have time to update anything saying that I was reading it. I barely have time to breath recently, so that is a huge feat for me! And it should also be very telling of how fabulous this book was.

The messages were so sweet, and certainly ones that everybody, especially girls, need to read about. There are lots of funny bits, and most of them were caused by the character of Chloe. I even liked Lissa, the main character (although I kept picturing Lissa from the Vampire Academy series). There were some ridiculous bits at the very beginning, and it had a slightly rough start, but once you got into it, you couldn't stop.

All in all, this was a wonderful book! Read it, review it, suggest it to your friends. It's already a big hit, but spread the word and it might get bigger!

Happy Reading,
Liz!