Book Review: Oh My Goth

Well, the first time I saw the book, I was slightly interested, but a bit put off by the idea.

Oh My Goth, written by Gena Showalter, is about a girl named Jade Leigh whose a nonconformist goth with some attitude issues. The setting of the book is in a rather stereotypical high school where the preps (dubbed Barbies) and the jocks rule and anyone different, the goths in particular, are treated as outcasts and hated. One day, Jade and the Barbie Queen get busted, and the principal pulls out this experimental punishment method in hopes it'll teach them a lesson.

The girls' punishment turns into a nightmare when their worlds are flipped: Goths rule the school (and Jade's the queen of them), Preps are the losers and Jade and the Barbie Queen's friends hate them. The only person who seems to not be affected is the mysterious new kid. So the two girls are forced to work together to find a way out of this new reality they've been thrust into and back into familiar territory.

I thought it was a nice book, even if the idea of preps and goths bugs me. The main characters, by the end of the book, each walked away with a new, better outlook on life. Their experiences helped them push past stupid social barriers and preconceptions, and look at people for who they are, not what they are. It also helped them appreciate the lives they lived, down to every small detail they may have under appreciated beforehand. The end, while unbelievably happy, predictable and cheesy, is a nice, optimistic break from reality. I managed to read this all in one sitting, and I think it was worth putting off my homework until the next night.