Rereading for the Trick-or-Treatathon Reading Challenge! Less happens in this book that I remember but it's short and I am eager to reread the whole series! ( )

Private by Kate Brian is a dramatic, teenage angst drama perfect for the Young Adult audience.

This novel is a great turn in the Young Adult genre. Why? Because it's not supernatural. I love that this book is not part of the supernatural trend, and it is all about teenagers and their petty drama.

We follow 15 year old Reid Brennan in Easton Academy where she is a scholarship student among many rich kids. It is full of the typical teenage drama - popular cliches, boys, silly drama, high school angst and gossip.

It is entirely what you expect it to be - dramatic and fun! An outside girl is trying to fit in with the popular girls, and of course she will do whatever she wants to be apart of them! And of course you throw a hot, bad boy into the mix and the drama and gossip gets juicier.

I absolutely loved this book. It moves at a fast pace - something is always happening! Sometimes it's romance, sometimes it's drama, sometimes it's both! But it doesn't leave you feeling bored!!

I find it hard to pick up a Young Adult novel that doesn't go on and on about plot lines we don't actually need. Private gets to the point, pulling every piece of drama out of Kate Brian's magical dramatic bag.

It does have it's low points - our main character does not have a back bone like many teens to do today. She is pushed around easily and her emotions get the best of her. School work isn't mentioned that much, but in a soap opera type book who cares about the grades and studying parts of Reid's "real life"?

It's a great read for someone who wants a teenage soap opera. It is for sure, very entertaining!

I would suggest it to anyone who likes novels such as Pretty Little Liars, but with less murder. If you are not interested in petty drama, silly high school drama and soap opera like plot lines, it is not the book for you. It is a book that requires little thought to read, and I find it great only for the amusement - I don't have to follow any crazy plot lines or insane theories. It's just a soap opera! So do not expect Gone Girl with plot twists and awesome endings. It is definitely your cookie cutter drama. Our main character is going to complain about being a teenage girl and she's not going to try to change. Our cast of characters are all very cookie cutter as well, we don't have any awesome background stories - this book isn't going to be made into an Oscar-worthy movie, that's for sure.

This book would sit well with young readers - it's the type of book they need at aged 13ish. It's relatable to that age group, but if you are an older teen or an adult it will seem pretty lame. It's not realistic to the adult mind, but to a pre-teen reader who deals with this type of drama at school, it'll hit a home run right to home base.

It's quick. It's scandalous. And it's mindless for the adult reader.

Four out of five stars! I would love to pick up the next book soon! ( )

There wasn't enough substance in this book for me. It was a quick read, and for the most part enjoyable, but the main character was too two-dimensional. I had no idea just WHY, for a girl who was supposed to be so smart, Reed was determined to get in with the Billings girls. The reader also gets no indication of why the Billings girls would bother with a lowly sophomore, who also happened to be the new girl. This book could easily have been at least fifty pages longer and been better for it. ( )

This was the last time I read a book by Kate Brian. Reed was an idiot. I understand that she is going to change as a character later on the series (I hope) but she annoyed me so much in this book. She needed to fit in so badly. She needed to get a grip. So frustrating!
And her and Thomas? I felt nothing for them together. Reed makes no sense to me. She needed at least some character development but she kept on going back to the mean girls. ( )

I fell in love with this book (and all those that followed) right from the start! The plot was very original and being a Connecticut native, I loved that it took place in Easton, CT. There was never a dull moment while reading, I always kept wanting to turn the page to see what would happen next. I would even read an entire one in a day if I had the time! The characters (good and bad) all found a way into my heart and I grew attached to all of them. This book series has definitely been one of my favorites! I would definitely recommend this series to any book lover! ( )