Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Summary:
Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend attention.

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...(from GoodReads)

Review:
I was really excited to read Shut Out because I love the concept! I wanted to see how this hook-up strike would go and I think it's super cool how Kody Keplinger incorporated her inspiration into the book (it's a slight retelling of the Greek play Lysistrata).

I think Kody Keplinger is a wonderful writer, which is especially impressive given how young she is! I think she's around my age which is crazy. But pretty awesome, too! The dialogue was realistic, which is always important in YA. I liked how the girls banded together in order to stop the feud (which is pretty ridiculous, if you ask me). Lissa becomes the leader and I really enjoyed her character. She just felt so real and  multi-dimensional: she has anxiety and OCD tendencies, but she's also super smart and sweet.

The romance with Cash Sterling (ok, what kind of name is that?) was very hot and steamy and obviously everyone was rooting for them to be together. Randy didn't seem too bad in the beginning, but than you realize that Cash is the much better choice.

My favorite part of Shut Out was the girl power and feminism. I liked the message that girls shouldn't be defined by their sexuality and that these double standards between men and women are ridiculous. Seeing that in YA was awesome and I hope the readers get a lot out of this theme.

Overall, I enjoyed Shut Out and loved the concept! I'm actually considering reading Lysistrata now!

Rating: 8 out of 10.
FTC: Christmas gift

2011/Poppy/273 pages.