He’s So Not Worth It
Author: Kieran Scott
Release Date: June 7, 2011
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*Note* Spoilers ahead if you haven’t read the first book in this series, SHE’S SO DEAD TO US.

HE’S SO NOT WORTH IT picks up right where SHE’S SO DEAD TO US left off. Ally is completely devastated after being humiliated at Chloe’s party. As her mom and her new boyfriend Gray pack up to head to the Jersey Shore for the summer, Ally decides she wants to stay home with her dad, who has recently moved back into town. But when Ally finds out that Jake has gotten a job working for her dad at the coffee shop, Ally’s had enough, and decides that spending the summer down the shore is better than spending it in Orchard Hill.

Down the shore, Ally tries to reinvent herself. Avoiding her old friends, she gets a job at an ice cream shop and befriends a group of locals; including a boy named Cooper. Ally is determined to spend the summer forgetting and her dad, Jake and her old friends. No matter what it takes.

I absolutely devoured this book. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and I loved this sequel too. It’s so simple to get completely lost in Ally’s world. The gossip, deceit, backstabbing and sexual tension kept me turning the pages long into the night. Kieran Scott is an expert at writing young adult novels. She totally sucks me into her stories. She really does the teenage voice perfectly.

While I loved Ally as a main character in the first book, I was disappointed that Ally really annoyed me in this second book. In the first book, I respected Ally; she held her head high after her fall from grace. In this sequel, all Ally did was complain and whine about how crappy her life was. Granted, she was going through an extremely rough time, but for some reason, instead of sympathizing with Ally, she grated on my nerves.

However, while I didn’t love Ally in this book, I did have a change of heart about our main character Jake. In SHE’S SO DEAD TO US, I thought Jake was a complete jerk. I didn’t feel any kind of attraction or pull towards him. In this book, Jake definitely grew up and matured a little and I was able to root for him and Ally. Though I still couldn’t get behind all of his decisions. Tsk tsk.

I keep going back and forth in my head about how realistic this novel is. In one scene, Ally is completely drunk, vomits on Cooper and passes out. While this certainly isn’t typical, all of the events in this book led up to Ally going completely off the edge and doing anything she could to numb herself to forget the pain. In that same vein, at times I questioned Ally’s choice in hooking up with Cooper, but was able to put aside my dislike for him to understand that in Ally’s situation, this would be the guy that she would choose to consume herself with. The complete opposite of Jake.

I loved Annie’s field journals at the start of each new chapter. This definitely added a new and interesting layer to the story. It was fun to hear things from Annie’s outsider view. Even though she was an outside, she had so much information and juicy gossip and I looked forward to putting together the mini mysteries as she collected clues.

Of course, besides the main Ally and Jake story, we also get to peek into the lives of some of Ally’s old friends. My favorite part of getting to hear these stories were that they were still told through the lenses of Ally and Jake (since the book is told in their alternating points of view). It’s definitely a unique way to tell these smaller side stories. We also get a glimpse into Chloe, Faith, Shannen and Hammond’s lives through Annie’s field journal.

The fact that this book took place both in Ally’s hometown AND down the shore definitely kept my attention. I’m a sucker for stories about summer, and as someone who heads to the Jersey Shore every single summer, I was able to relate to much of the lovely setting. It was fun to hear about the beautiful beach homes, especially in contrast to Ally’s new local friends and the beach shack they often partied at.

Um, holy cliffhanger! If I thought the ending of the first book was intense, nothing compares to this crazy ending. My mouth seriously dropped open and I kept swiping my iPad hoping and praying for just one more chapter. I haven’t been able to find a title or release date for a third book, but I can’t imagine that Kieran Scott would end the series like this. Hopefully we’ll find out soon!

4/5

Review copy provided by GalleyGrab.