Runaway by Meg Cabot

Summary:
Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from work, from her family, from her friends, from herself.

With everyone she loves furious with her for something she can't explain, and nothing but the live Stark Angel fashion show on New Year's Eve to look forward to, Em's reached the end of her rope... what's the point of even going on?

But when she discovers the truth about Nikki's secret, she knows there's only one person she can turn to.

Will Christopher be able to put aside his personal feelings and help her expose her employer to the world? Is it even fair to get Christopher involved—since if he agrees, there's every chance that Stark Enterprises will try to have them both killed—this time, permanently?

Maybe it would be better for Em to just keep on running. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I really love the Airhead trilogy, especially the first two books: Airhead and Being Nikki. Unfortunately, Runaway felt a little superfluous. I still enjoyed it, but the events probably could have been added to the previous novel.

Runaway was a quick read, in terms of page number and plot points. I feel like this book wasn't even needed, since not much happens. We finally figure out what Nikki knew that got her "killed" and learn about Robert Stark's secret agenda. I was actually surprised by that and thought it was a pretty clever twist.

Runaway is the last book, so we want all loose ends tied up. The last few pages did just that, but it pretty much just listed the fates of all the characters. Which is pretty lame, if you ask me. Pretty much everyone gets a happy ending that is quickly summarized in bullet points.

I feel like Meg Cabot (does she use ghost writers?) kind of gave up on this novel. Everything that occurs could have easily been condensed into the first two books. If you've started the trilogy, I would recommend finishing it, but just be aware that this isn't the best conclusion ever.

Rating: 6 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from library.

2010/Scholastic/310 pages.

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot

Summary:
Things aren't pretty for Emerson Watts.

Em was sure there couldn't be anything worse than being a brainiac the body of a teenaged supermodel.

But it turned out she was wrong. Because that supermodel could turn out to have a mother who's gone mysteriously missing, a brother who's shown up on her doorstep demanding answers, a former best friend who's intent on destroying Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his lost love, and a British heartthrob who's written a song about her that's topping the charts.

How can Em balance all that with school, runway shows, and weekend jaunts to St. Johns — especially when she's got ex-boyfriends crawling out of the woodwork who want more than just a photo op; a sister who is headed to the high school cheerleading championships; a company she represents that seems to be turning to the dark side...

Not to mention trying to convince the love of her life that models aren't really airheads after all...especially one model in particular.

But then, nobody said it was going to be easy being Nikki. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I have had Being Nikki on my shelf for the longest time, but just got around to reading it now. I was afraid that I wouldn't remember anything about the firs book, Airhead, but as soon as I started reading it all came back to me. Being Nikki reminded me how much I love Meg Cabot because this was a great sequel.

The concept of this series is very original. A normal girl, Em Watts, has had her brain transplanted into the body of supermodel Nikki Howard. So now Em has to get used to being rich and famous. Unfortunately for her, Nikki works for an evil corporation and discovering all the secrets of Stark is the crux of this novel.

Stark really is one evil entity, but I loved seeing Em get to the bottom of how evil they really are. I really want to see Stark taken down and I think we're on our way to that, which is awesome. I'm really hoping that's what happens in the next book Runaway. Being Nikki also is full of twists and turns which make me even more excited to read the next book.

This review is pretty short because I'm getting ready to go home for Spring Break (whoo!) but I really did enjoy Being Nikki and thought it was just as good as its predecessor (which almost never happens). I'm really looking forward to reading Runaway and seeing how this series is concluded.

Rating: 9 out of 10.
FTC: Christmas gift.

2010/Point/336 pages.

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Summary:
Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one. (from GoodReads)

Review:
Even though it took me awhile to read Insatiable (it's over 400 pages, so it's pretty long), I still enjoyed it. I love Meg Cabot and this is the first time I've read a fantasy book by her. It was also an "adult" book, but it read just like YA, which I liked.

There are so many vampire books out there, but I still enjoyed Insatiable. I like how Meena hates them and she thinks they're fake until she finds out the truth. I also liked how Meena could tell how people were going to die; I thought that was a very interesting ability. I enjoyed some of the minor characters, as well, such as Meena's brother Jon, vampire hunter Alaric Wulf, and Meena's neighbors Emil and Mary Lou.

(Side note: two characters in Insatiable also share the names of characters in The Vampire Diaries (Alaric and Stefan). Coincidence?)

What I didn't like about Insatiable was the relationship/romance between Lucien and Meena. I understood why Meena was feeling the way she was, especially since early on we learn that when a vampire bites a human, that human falls in love with the vamp. But I honestly didn't know why Lucien was in love with Meena. She's a great character and mysterious to Lucien, but he starts spouting off Romeo and Juliet nonsense like how he can't live without her and she's the reason for his whole existence. That's not really my thing.

I am curious to read the sequel, Overbite, only because I want to see more of Meena, her brother, and Alaric (whom I really liked!). But I'm not dying to get my hands on the next book. So we'll see what happens.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: received book from publisher

2010/William Morrow/451 pages.

Airhead by Meg Cabot

Emerson Watts is not like other girls. She's not at all interested in clothes, make-up or fashion. Instead, she likes playing video games with her best friend, Chris. So going to the grand opening of Stark Megastores with her younger sister to see famous model Nikki Howard and teen pop idol Gabriel Luna is not on the top of Em's Fun List. But Em's life is about to change drastically, and it's not just her sister trying out for the hated cheerleading team. After a freak accident, she is transported into Nikki Howard's body, and now has to live life as a famous novel. Forget about photo shoots, a spying sponsor, and the paparazzil; Em has bigger things to worry about: such as getting her best friend and crush Chris to notice her.

As a fan of Meg Cabot's work, I can't say that I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed reading Airhead. Meg has this great talent of being able to write smart and funny novels that all bring something new to the table. What I really liked about this one was the science fiction aspect of it, which I was not expecting. Em gets a full body transplant, which means her brain was transplanted into another person's body. Obviously this type of surgery is impossible now, but it was really interesting when put into such a light-hearted and comedic book. It's the perfect antithesis: everyone would love to be change places with a famous and beautiful supermodel. Everyone except Em. It was hilarious seeing Em struggle with things most girls are good at, like clothing, make-up, etc. I also liked that although Em was not a girly-girl, she still appreciated Nikki's work (Em admits that modeling is actually hard) and even begins to like Nikki's seemingly shallow and bubble-headed best friend Lulu. Overall, Airhead was an enjoyable read, and I can't wait to see what happens next in Being Nikki.

8.5 out of 10.

Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot

Nicola Sparks, sixteen and an orphan, has just finished up her schooling and is ready to begin her London season. Residing with the Bartholomew's, she's hoping to catch the eye of the "god" Lord Sebastian Bartholomew, complete with good looks and a love of poetry. Although, it would be nice if her best friend's brother Nathaniel Sheridan would mind his own business and stop spreading rumors about Sebastian. But when Nicola finds out that Nathaniel's insinuations are true, she realizes she might have had the wrong viscount all along.

This book was so cute. I've never read a historical romance by Meg Cabot but she did a great job. Everything seemed well-researched and well-written, as always. Now that I've read a lot of Meg Cabot's work, I'm starting to see some recurring themes. The protagonist always falls in love, it seems, with her best friend's older brother. And she always denies that fact until the end of the book. I remember this happening in The Princess Diaries. But besides that, I thought the romance was nice and there was even a bit of action at the end that I was not expecting.

7 out of 10.

How To Be Popular by Meg Cabot

Steph Landry has been the least popular girl in school since she spilled a red Super Big Gulp on popular girl Lauren Moffat's skirt a few years back. Ever since, everyone has always used the expression "Don't pull a Steph" when someone does something stupid. But Steph wants to change that. She has a secret weapon - an old book called How To Be Popular that she's going to use to become popular, much to the confusion and annoyance of her best friends Becca and Jason.


I love Meg Cabot and this book did not disappoint. Everyone at one point wants to know what it's like to be popular, so everyone will be able to relate to Steph. And this book is funny. At some points I was actually laughing out loud. The characters were cute and endearing, and even the mean popular girls didn't turn out to be as bad as everyone thought. Even though this story has the classic girl-likes-unattainable-guy, girl-finds-out-that-guy-isn't-so-great and realizes-she-likes-best-friend storyline, the plot was still interesting and kept me wanting to read more. The only things I didn't like were the characters of Jason and Becca because at times they were really annoying. It seemed like Steph only tolerated Becca because they had been friends for so long, which doesn't seem very nice, but whatever. It was still a good book.

8 out of 10.