A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker - Review

Synopsis via goodreads:

When the principal announces that every senior must participate in a mandatory year-long Marriage Education program, Fiona Sheehan believes that her life can’t get any worse. Then she marries her “husband”: Jerky jock Todd, whose cheerleader girlfriend, Amanda, has had it in for Fiona since day one of second grade. Even worse? Amanda is paired with Fiona’s long-term crush, Gabe. At least Fiona is doing better than her best friend, Marcie, who is paired up with the very quiet, very mysterious Johnny Mercer. Pranks, fights, misunderstandings, and reconciliations ensue in an almost Shakespearean comedy of errors about mistaken first impressions, convoluted coupling, and hidden crushes.

First off, I have to say my sister is a high school biology teacher, as such, the premise for this novel was a bit of a stretch for me – with that being said though, it's a very unique take on high school life, and I love unique story lines! So, falling into the groove of A Match Made in High School was pretty easy, the premise drew me and captured my attention right from the start.

Fiona a self proclaimed, unlucky girl is getting ready to start her Senior year – and she's determined that this will be there year that she makes “the” connection with her long time crush, Gabe. This will be the year her bad luck turns itself around! That is until, on the first day of school, there principal announces that all Senors will participate in a new program, The Marriage Education program. WHAT! How can this be? But, with graduation looming over there head, the students have little choice but to comply.

Fiona is sure things can't get much worse, and actually allows herself to day dream about the possibility of being teamed up with Gabe, only to find out that her unlucky streak continues, instead of Gabe, she is paired with Todd, long time boyfriend of her nemesis, Amanda. Her luck only gets worse when she finds out Amanda got selected to “wed” Gabe! Though at least she's not as unlucky as her BFF, Marcie whom is paired up with Johnny Mercer whom no one “gets!”

As the story progresses, Fiona and Todd fall into a rhythm all there own, in order to get though – as does everyone else. But when Marcie blows up at her, for no apparent reason and things start unraveling, can Fiona save her finial year of high school enough even to graduate? Can she find herself, learn from her friends and learn to look past the “outside,” to find friends in seemingly unusual places?

A Match Made in High School is quirky, funny and smart – it's got everything going for it! I laughed out loud several times, and got so worked up I wanted to crawl into the book and punch Fiona in the jaw several times. I loved each of the unique characters though, at times Fiona was a bit much!

I am probably in the minority here, but honestly for me Fiona was annoying! Though 90% of the book, I found her self absorbed and rude – though I think that's exactly the way Kristin Walker wanted me to feel – I found it extremely hard to like her, and as a matter of fact, most of the book I did not. I was almost at the breaking point, ready to put the book down, sick to death of her and her attitude when finally, she started turning things around.

Though Fiona annoyed me to no end, one thing I loved about her, is she's willing to put it out there 100% of the time. Fiona does not censor herself at all, which I found refreshing – I wish I could be more like her, she says what she means and means what she says (at least most of the time). She has a strong sense of self, and tries, albeit in all the wrong ways, to go after what she thinks she wants! I loved that side to her!

One character that stole the show for me was, Sam, a little girl that Fiona babysits. She's got some personality for someone so young (11), she's another character you could tell had a head on her shoulders and went after what she wanted. Her “view” of the world blew my mind, I loved her advice and her quirky behavior!

Bottom Line – I will defiantly be keeping Kristin Walker on my radar, she's got an amazing talent and knows how to create a unique story that draws you in. Her characters ring true, even if they do annoy, and her setting was right on. I give A Match Made In High School a 4 mushrooms.

A Match Made In High School
By: Kristin Walker
277 Pages
Published: February 2, 2010
Publisher: Razorbill

I bought A Match Made in High School at Borders to read in connection with the book battle!