Undiscovered Gyrl - Allison Burnett

I laughed, I cried, I felt disturbed. This is the kind of book I read and I get hooked, though I get the feeling that I shouldn't be. Since the book is written in the format of a blog, it made me feel voyeuristic. In a good way.

Undiscovered Gyrl, by Allison Burnett, is about a 17-year-old girl who decides to defer college for a year because she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. Katie gets a job at a bookstore but for reasons I won't spoil for you, she has to quit. She then gets a job working as a nanny for a couple named Paul and Margaret. The book is written in the style of Katie's (not her real name) blog in which she tells the reader just about everything going on in her life. Some of the things she does will make you squirm, some will make you laugh, and some will make you feel bad.

This book is the most addictive book I've read so far this year. I couldn't put it down once I got past the first 50 pages. Katie is a really interesting and unique character. The format of the book really lets the reader into her world. There was one point where I knew what was going to happen in terms of Katie's love life and I thought I was going to hate it. The way it was written, however, made me feel like I could judge Katie's actions but still understand her. I think there is actually a perfect quote in the book that Katie uses to describe who she is versus her actions but I regret not writing it down.

I felt most bad for Katie's relationship with her father. One of my favorite quotes comes from their relationship - "Your dad is your big hero and then one day he is a freezing puppet lying in a box" (159). I was quite impressed by the way Allison Burnett was able to get into Katie's head and use her voice. I felt like Katie's voice was very real and not just an extension of the author.

I'm going to try not to spoil anything for people who haven't read the book yet but plan to (and I recommend it). At the end of the book I felt a lot of things. Mostly I was shocked and disturbed. I felt like I needed more, but then again the ending is kind of realistic in a lot of ways. I felt like if I were actually reading about this girl's life on a blog, the end is not so far out of reach. The end challenged my perceptions about Katie and basically everything she says, but at the same time I knew not to accept everything as truth from the start. I still have a lot of unanswered questions about the end, but I like it. I don't always want the ending wrapped up in a nice package.

I finish this book feeling inspired, not only by Allison Burnett's writing style, but also by Katie. I can see myself rereading this book a lot (sort of like my collection of VC Andrews books I revisit once a year shamelessly).