Fiction Fare

The Guys are Props Club has an interesting plot, and it starts out well enough. Maddie Burch was devastated by her last real boyfriend and she went into college bound and determined not to let it happen again. Two years later, she's been successful with the help of her equally jaded roommate and best friend Jessica. They initially started The Guys Are Props club as a way to vent their frustration and hurt, but what started as a simple get together for girls has evolved into something more. Jessica still holds a grudge and not just against the guy who broke her heart. She lumps all guys together. If they're attractive, they're players and they deserve anything these girls can dish out. Then the 'contest' happens or making a play. All the girls who are in the club have to play a minimum of one guy. Only Maddie isn't quite on board with this. The last one she did had her feeling guilty about it. Enter Sebastian. He seems different, but Maddie can't trust him, because he's gorgeous and confident and that means he'a player... plus Jessica wants him for herself. So that's all I'm going to say about the plot on this one. I struggled with this book from the start. For me the writing felt really elementary,it just didn't work for me. Additionally, I felt that there were things that really rubbed me the wrong way. First, if you're going to write a New Adult book, where sex and sexual things are going to be talked about, I think you also have a bit of a responsibility to include precautionary information. When Sebastian and Maddie finally succumb to their passion (lol do you like that?) there is never once a mention of a condom or birth control or anything. I was a bit surprised by this to be honest. I just feel that if you're aiming for the 17+ crowd on a book you need to include things like that. (totally my hangup I guess) I know, it's a mood killer sometimes, but when I stop to jot a note "NO CONDOM" on my review copy, you better believe I'm going to comment on it.Second, I felt that there were times that Sebastian 'said' things for me that I was all "Your hair looks so long. I love your loose curls, but this style is also great on you."I think my actual comment on my copy was "Nuh uh". Plus there was this paragraph:To my dismay, Sebastian still preferred Italian food to sushi. He said it was his heritage and pointed out that Capello was an Italian name - not a Hispanic one. I told him I didn't care, as long as he still exuded all the Latin hotness.So being Hispanic is not the same as being Latin - I know this because I have a friend who likes to remind people of this. Two completely different cultures. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure why it was even mentioned because they were comparing Italian to sushi. Finally, I hated almost everyone in this book. When I read books like this, I want to be able to picture these girls as my friend... people I'd like to get to know and hang out with. I absolutely never felt this way about Maddie and Jessica. Maddie was spineless and let Jessica walk all over her, and Jessica.... that is all. To say I was disappointed in this book would be a bit of an understatement. I was definitely expecting a bit more. Unfortunately I didn't find it here. If you're looking for something like this, I can think of a handful of books that do this type of story much better. Just check out my New Adult shelf! The author provided this ARC in exchange for an honest review.