Plan B Paperback – 1 May 2006

Although I sometimes get irritated by the label of "chick lit" as a book genre, I'm going to be my own oxymoron and say that PLAN B by Jenny O'Connell is, indeed, teen chick lit. And that I also really liked the book, thoroughly enjoyed it, in fact, and can now no longer say "chick lit" with my previous snobbish sneer.Vanessa has her life all planned out. All she has to do is survive the next nine months of senior year at the prestigious and private Cabot Academy, ace her SATs, and then spend a year touring Europe with her best friend, Taylor. After that, she'll be more than ready to enroll at the same college in Connecticut that her boyfriend, Patrick, attends, and life will be perfect.Except life isn't perfect, and it's the definite fault of Reed Vaughn, Hollywood "It" guy, the most good-looking hottie to have graced the planet with his existence in the last several years. Taylor is already ga-ga over him, and although Vanessa can appreciate his good looks, she's not entirely sure about his appeal. Appeal is the last thing on her mind, though, when she finds out that there's more to Reed Vaughn than meets the eye--he's actually her half-brother, the son her father never knew he had.As if a previously unknown sibling wasn't bad enough, Reed is coming to stay with her family in Chicago. Even that wouldn't have been so bad, if not for the fact that Reed is also a senior, will also be attending Cabot Academy, and will, without a doubt, ruin her life as she knows it. Now school is going to be as messed up as her home life, where tensions are running high between her parents and the lack of regular phone calls from boyfriend Patrick is driving Vanessa insane. How can she possibly survive this last year of high school with a celebrity brother, a maybe-cheating boyfriend, a disgruntled mother, and a shell-shocked father? All the plans she's worked so hard on getting perfectly arranged might just have to go out the window--and it will be time to put PLAN B into action.This is a fun story about friendship, family, love, and loss that will have you remembering the ups and downs of having a sibling, and the trials and tribulations of getting ready for college. PLAN B is a engaging, entertaining read from a talented new author, and you won't go wrong by picking up a copy.Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Vanessa may be the super smart high school student but she learns a thing or two from her half-brother Reed and so did I.I reccommend this book I enjoyed reading it and read it within a day. I gave it a 4 however because I disliked the way it ended I didn't feel it was appropriate I was still curious about certain things I won't say what don't wanna ruin it, when you read it maybe you'll see what I mean though.

Plan B is an unexpectedly charming, funny read. It was refreshing to read a novel focused on family instead of romance (though Vanessa does have a boyfriend, so romance factors in a little).Both Vanessa and Reed are fun characters with realistic, believable problems. I really liked how each of their expectations of each other are based on stereotypes, and yet both are wrong and end up helping each other grow as people. I found Jenny O'Connell's portrayal of Vanessa completely accurate for a teenage girl: entirely irrational. She constantly goes off on these flights of fancy about boys, college, etc. She makes mistakes and has to deal with the consequences, even if it takes her a while to admit she was wrong. I thought her growth as a character was extremely well done.One thing that did bother me a little: Vanessa's relationship with Patrick. I knew what was going to happen between Vanessa and Patrick from almost the first sentence that mentioned him. It was entirely predictable and almost a little cliche. However, since the romantic relationship was not the focus of the novel, it did not detract from my overall enjoyment.If you are searching for a fun, light read, you'll find it here!

I don't want to give too much away cause I know people check reviews before buying, but I really like the humor in this book! Not a huge fan of how it ends, but the rest is pretty close to perfect. It's not very predictable, which is great.I definitely recommend this for ages 16+ (there's sex in it).

Vanessa Carlisle is a teen who likes to plan out her life down to the last detail. Her organized world is disrupted when she learns that she has a half brother, and that he is a famous celebrity.I didn't find the Vanessa character at all likeable. She was bratty, opinionated, and rude to her brother, her best friend, her parents, pretty much everyone. Her obsession with her SAT scores and attending Yale ( to be with her boyfriend) weren't at all interesting. In fact, I found myself getting irritated by her neurotic behavior.Reed, her half brother, had the potential to be an interesting character, but the book is completely centered around Vanessa. Except for a brief scene when they return to Hollywood, Reed's life and the reasons why he made the choices he made are left to the reader's imagination. The writer never fleshes his character out, so the reader has no clue as to who Reed is except as how Vanessa relates to him.None of the other characters are fleshed out either. We have a celebrity obsessed best friend, but that is all we know about her. The parents are artistic types, but that is all we know about them. The boyfriend is hardly ever described at all, so when he does something very mean to Vanessa, you're left wondering why, especially since Vanessa feels secure enough in the relationship to follow him to Yale.The relationship between Reed and Vanessa remains strained until the very end. I suppose that is realistic, but you get the impression that Reed WANTS to try and form a bond with Vanessa, but she is too self absorbed and opinionated to give him a chance.The pace of the book is slow. Nothing exciting ever really happens. I'm not sure what the climax of the story was supposed to be. Was it when Vanessa went to to Yale to visit her boyfriend? The incident that happens at Yale is resolved fairly quickly for that to have been it. Was it when Vanessa missed her second SAT exam? The writer explains that she'd already taken them before, so that couldn't have been it. Was it when she goes to Hollywood and meets Reed's friends? That was pretty dull, too.I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It is written well, but it's dull, slow and the main character is annoying. I'm sticking to Elizabeth Scott for well written and entertaining teen reads.

I loved this book so much I plan to donate it to my daughter's school which is a private school.

loved the book, being a male, I was interested inthe female reaction to lifes problems. get the bookit will hold your interest.