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Cracked Up to Be: A Novel Paperback – February 4, 2020

by Courtney Summers (Author)

4.1 334 ratings

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Available now: I'M THE GIRL, the new "brutally captivating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) queer thriller from Courtney Summers, based loosely on The Epstein case and "not for the faint of heart" (The New York Times)

A reissue of New York Times bestselling author Courtney Summers's award-winning debut!

The high price of perfection is one 'Perfect' Parker Fadley always believed she was willing to pay until the devastating events at a party during junior year fractures the lives of her family and friends. A terrible thing has happened and only Parker knows it's her fault. If being a perfect daughter, student, friend and girlfriend couldn't keep her from making an unforgivable mistake, Parker hopes becoming a perfect mess will at least keep her loved ones from discovering the truth--until the arrival of a curious new student and the unexpected return of an old enemy threaten her tenuous grip on control. Parker will do anything to keep her secret from surfacing . . . but this time the cost might be more than she can afford.

The book featuring the unforgettable character that started it all, now with a new foreword from the author.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The propulsive, riveting novel that started it all." - Karen M. McManus, New York Times bestselling author of One of Us is Lying and Two Can Keep a Secret

"Cracked Up to Be was my first introduction to the vicious brilliance that is Courtney Summers. Right from the opening lines, that breathless hammering of beats that illustrate the terrifying and true experience of high school, I knew I was in the hands of a writer who would be honest with her readers, who would even be brutal. This book changed me as a reader and as a writer. I could never go back again. After being gutted by a Summers novel, why would anyone want to?" ―Nova Ren Suma, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Walls Around Us

"Cracked Up to Be is a blisteringly realistic exploration of high school and the trauma that can occur during adolescence. Its brutally honest portrayal of Parker Fadley and her world is unforgettable. A modern classic." ―Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of The Revolution of Birdie Randolph and Little & Lion

“This book is a raw, exposed nerve: all the mess we shouldn’t see, shouldn’t be, wrapped up in the story of one unforgettable girl. Courtney Summers and CRACKED UP TO BE rewrote the rules and for that I am forever grateful.” ― Rebecca Barrow, author of This Is What It Feels Like

“Parker Fadley is THE seminal unlikable female character of modern young adult literature. One of my favorite books of all time, CRACKED UP TO BE is absolutely riveting from first page to last.” - Laurie Devore, author of How to Break a Boy and Winner Take All

About the Author

Courtney Summers is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of several novels for young adults, including Cracked Up to Be, All the Rage and Sadie. Her work has been released to multiple starred reviews, received numerous awards and honors--including the Edgar Award, John Spray Mystery Award, Cybils Award, Odyssey Award, and International Thriller Award--and has been recognized by many library, 'Best Of' and Readers' Choice lists. She lives and writes in Canada.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wednesday Books (February 4, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250256976
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250256973
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 - 18 years
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 9
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 0.85 x 8.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,231,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 334 ratings

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Courtney Summers is a New York Times bestselling author of several novels including SADIE, ALL THE RAGE, CRACKED UP TO BE and THE PROJECT. Her work has been released to critical acclaim and multiple starred reviews, receiving numerous awards and honors and has enjoyed recognition on many library, state, 'Best Of' and Readers' Choice lists. She lives and writes in Canada.

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Loved, Loved, Loved This!

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2011

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Now if you're like me and read a lot of book blogs, you've probably seen this one up about...oh everywhere. All the reviews for it are amazing. It got me thinking, can it really be that good? Because sometimes when everyone else finds something so great, I get horrible disappointed with all the hype.

When taking on how to write a story there are authors that show you the characters and those that tell you about them. This book definitely shows you, which made it all more real in a sense. I could picture this book like a movie playing in my head. See the characters for who they were, hear their voices, and all those other great things we as readers love. Out of the all the characters in the book I warm up to Parker easily...who really isn't exactly a warming character at first. Might be the sarcastic wit she holds that sucked me in. But she's got a secret and a major problem - only if everyone would just leave her the hell alone, she might finally be okay...or so she thinks.

The fact is that no matter how much Parker tries to shove everyone away, they're still there. Even though Parker is...ahem sometimes....they all still care, which made me care. Immediately I had to know why and what happened to make her like this.

The mystery behind this story is fantastic. There are little hints here and there, but not enough for me to really guess what it was. You will be hooked from the first chapter and unable to put it down. Unless you realize you have to be at work in four hours and have no clue what you just read in the last five pages because you're so tired. Then after you get off of work, you go straight home, hyped up on caffeine, and pick this book back up to finish it. Only to get to the end and realize how much it was worth it.

I love reading debut novels and Courtney Summers has swept me away. I cannot wait to read more from her! Oh and my only complaint is that the story ended. So to answer my own question in the first part of this review: Yes, it's THAT good!

3 people found this helpful

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Ana

Perfect Parker

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2014

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Perfect Parker Fadley is cracking. She comes to school with tangled hair and muddy shoes, her teachers and friends all worry about her, but the truth is, she just doesn't care. Or, she seems not to care. All she wants to do is disappear or be ignored and forgotten, but everyone else around her is carefully watching over her. And then there's this new guy, who seems to want to know Parker despite her insistence in him away. What's worse is she seems to be falling for him, too. Parker Fadley is starting to crack, and she's not sure if she can keep it together longer before anyone else finds out exactly why she's pushing them all away.

My first Courtney Summers warned me enough to expect that her books aren't the happy, shiny contemporary YA novels that bring warm fuzzies to the heart. Oh sure, there are some nice, romantic enough scenes to give the warm fuzzies, but the rest of the novel? They're usually intense scenes that makes you wonder just how exactly these kids got into these situations. Cracked Up To Be had the same kind of popular mean girls that Courtney Summers seem to know so much about, and it's an interesting journey to see just how their lives can be just as messed up as anyone else's.

Parker feels like such an unreliable narrator that sometimes I have no idea if what she's saying is true, or even relevant to the story. But perhaps that's how it was really built up -- her unreliability reeled me in and made me wonder just what exactly happened, just what made her change from perfect Miss Popular to someone who wouldn't want to exist. I didn't like her at first, until she started growing on me. Her attempts at normalcy were nice even if it seemed futile, and for a moment there, I felt I was one of her friends, who wanted to help her even if she kept on resisting. My favorite part is when she got a dog...but also, that is my least favorite part because...well, if you've read enough books with pets that play a big part in it, you probably know what might happen to them. :(

I remember being a bit exhausted after I finished reading my first Summers, Some Girls Are , because of the intensity of the power struggle between the popular girls in the book. However, for Cracked Up To Be ., I was just a bit sad at how Parker beat herself up so much for that secret that she kept that made her crack. I liked how everything wrapped up in the end, leaving me with a bit more hope for Parker than I had at the start.

Cracked Up To Be is not a feel-good contemporary YA book, but it's a good book that contemporary YA fans will definitely enjoy. It doesn't have much of the warm fuzzies, but it has just the right punch that tells its readers, "Hey, this thing? In this book? It happens. It's real. And being popular is not all it's cracked up to be."

4 people found this helpful

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Suad

Heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

Did I love this book as much as I did Sadie? No.
But did I love this book? Yes!

After purchasing it and having read the introduction of the book, I found out that this was actually Courtney Summers' debut novel, which she decided to re-release following the success of Sadie.

Being her debut novel, you could immediately tell that she has improved immensely in her writing and storytelling style. That being said, it was still such a fantastic story, with the most unexpected twists and turns that break your heart and take you by surprise and hitch your breath, all at once.

Parker was the perfect girl in every way. Perfect grades, perfect life, perfect relationship, perfect record, perfect daughter, until one day, she decides to stop being perfect. This day came after the sudden disappearance of her best friend. We know from the get-go that Parker knows something that no one else does. That she is hiding something that made her hit rock bottom and become the person she is today. She is on suicide watch after having attempted to commit suicide and has become an alcoholic and an almost failing student at school. She has lost all her friends, her ex-boyfriend and doesn't even care. Her only goal now is to make it through her senior year so she can get the hell out of school and be free of its constraints.

But then Jake shows up. Sweet Jake, who immediately pushes her buttons and she finds every chance to bully him. Yet, he just can't stay away. She finds herself slowly softening up to him, even though she tries to resist. As their relationship begins to flourish, so do her secrets start to come out of hiding.

As we reach the climax and find out what actually happened, we realize that there is still so much more breaking that a heart can experience.

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Top reviews from other countries

Dima

Great Protagonist - No Story

Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2022

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What can I say about the first novel from my favorite writer? Well, it certainly is something. Courtney Summers‘ intentions behind the character of Parker Fadley are one of many reasons why we all love her and I do believe that she’s one oft he best protagonists I ever got the pleasure to meet. As always, Courtney Summers masters the art of writing a character flawlessly without losing her amazing writing style, bringing Parker to life as a very real and breathing girl that you could easily meet out on the streets. The remnants of Parker Fadley are found in every other character she ever wrote, but just as the rest oft hem she’s very unique.

One of my favorite things about Courtney Summers’ writing is that she never ceases to disappoint me when it comes to her girls. Unlike other writers each of her protagonists feels so different from the other but there’s always something we all can relate to. It’s no different with Parker, despite her very troubled character and bad decisions. I often sat there and shook my head, not necessarily condoning her actions but I understood why she was doing it and how her brain worked. I think Parker is a masterpiece of a protagonist who made the book amazing.

However, I have to admit that the novel isn’t my favorite Courtney Summers work. As I said, Parker is amazing. But the story doesn’t really go anywhere. Now, I know that you can always find an reason for artistic choices and argue. You could say that the red thread doesn’t lead us to a climax and is supposed to represent the horrible everyday state Parker is caught in. The boredom, the guilt, the grey and mundane school days that don’t mean anything. But unlike This Is Not A Test I think Parker’s story really calls for a drive. In This Is Not A Test it made sense why so little was happening. Students trapped in a school during a zombie apocalypse and it was such a haunting contrast to how abruptly and violently the book ended.

Summers drops many hints for the reader to put the bigger picture together. It’s not that hard and stirrs the interest, the curiousity to find out what the hell happened. But the pace seemed so off. In combination with nothing happening at all, even if there’s a tiny build-up when Evan finally re-surfaces – what’s also a big thing I didn’t like as it happened way too late in my opinion. The short summary oft he book let me believe this was going to be a big thing, an old enemy returning, you know. It also led me to anticipate the big reveal. The way the whole thing was set up made me come up with several theories of how Evan and Parker could be tied to each other and what the big secret may be that they were hiding. Like, what on earth could they have done that Parker doesn’t want anyone to know? What makes her wish that Evan never came back? But in the end… I was disappointed. I expected something… I don’t know, probably just more than I got. I liked my own ideas better what left me very unsatisfied. It also made me feel like Parker let me down in her resentment for Evan bc the way he turned out to be involved was nothing at all like what I was hoping for. It fell totally flat for me. There was no big, condemning thing.

Nonetheless, I read the book in almost a whole day and only took a break bc at some point we all need to go to sleep. It was gripping, but for me it’s my least favorite Courtney Summers book so far. But it still had a flawlessly flawed and amazing protagonist.

MD

A stunning YA novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2020

Verified Purchase

So, last year I read my first book by Courtney Summers. It was SADIE, and I loved it sooooo much. Instantly, I knew I had to read more of Summers’s books—but you know what? I was apprehensive. I thought that no other book could possibly live up to the expectations I now had. Because SADIE was phenomenal.

But with the ten-year anniversary of Summers’s debut novel, CRACKED UP TO BE, coming up, and it being reissued with a gorgeous new cover, I persuaded myself to buy a copy. I’m ashamed to say it still took me a while to get around to reading it. That is until yesterday arrived.

I started CRACKED UP TO BE at 2pm, and by 8pm I’d finished it. It’s amazing. Simply amazing. I might even love it more than Sadie.

It’s unusual for me to read a whole book in one sitting, and this just proves how good this book is.

The tenth-anniversary addition includes a new introduction written by Summers, and I loved the insight she gives us to her characters. Although, when reading it, I hadn’t yet started the novel, I already knew I’d adore the protagonist, Parker, as Summer tells us she’s considered to be “unlikeable”—precisely because she has the qualities and characteristics that are celebrated in male characters.

And, wow, I was not wrong about liking her. Parker is quite possibly the best protagonist I’ve read. Ever.

Let’s just let that sink in for a moment.

The best protagonist ever.

Yep, that’s how good this book is.

Parker is a troublemaker. She’s constantly in trouble at school. She’s dark and mysterious, she’s got a drink problem, and she’s harbouring a dark, dark secret that haunts her. Her behaviour is reckless and wild—but she’s also got a soft, vulnerable side. She cares deeply about others.

She feels so real. So, so real. Her actions are totally understandable. She’s afraid to let others close to her, so she pushes them away. She’s not just a reckless character for the sake of being reckless.

Just, wow. And even her narrative voice is amazing. It’s so unique.

And the plot. It is soooo good. We’ve got a missing girl and a murder, and a girl struggling with what she’s seen, as well as many other characters who are all struggling as well—but in different ways.

The other main characters—Jake, Chris, and Becky—are equally well written. So believable. Ah, I really can’t say enough good things about this book.

It’s told in a dual timeline. We’ve got the present day action interspersed with flashbacks all pertaining to one night. The night that a girl went missing. The night that was the catalyst for everything bad that happened. The night that turned Parker from a high-achieving student into a girl who’s broken and haunted and trying to pretend she isn’t.

Okay—spoilers ahead now, so skip this paragraph if you don’t want to know. When it was revealed that the missing girl Jessie was Parker’s best friend everything made so much sense. That’s when it all started to come together. And I couldn’t read quickly enough.

*Content warning for rape, sexual assault, attempted suicide.*

karlie

loved it

Reviewed in Australia on December 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

Great book that had me wanting to read more after every turn of the page.. Parker is such a great character that is truly suffering after a traumatic experience in her all to "have to be perfect life" .. No one understands why the captain of the cheerleading squad and straight A student suddenly drinks until she is blotto , even at school and has alienated herself from her boyfriend and what friends she has, even her parents are on her hit list..
I love the piece by piece flashbacks of the night her life is turned upside down and how everything finally is pieced together ..

Amazon Customer

Beautifully Broken

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

It takes a lot to write this kind of novel. I found myself crying over the main character as at one point in my life I felt the nothing she felt. Some won't understand the pain or heartache a person has to go through to make themselves feel nothing however this book is just it. The emotions, the characters and how it will make you feel when you read it is undoubtedly special. It takes a lot for a book to get the emotions bang on but this book has it. Beautifully written to the point you feel the hollow pain and guilt that Parker is feeling. I think it needs to be said that this book isn't about recovery it's about acceptance and the ugly parts that come before that. Most importantly it's about the real life and how ugly it can get - but how beautiful recovery and acceptance can be when we start to let people in.

Ellie Jane

mehh....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

'Cracked up to be' was not as great as I expected it to be. I found the main character to be a selfish b***h who I couldn't relate to at all. However there are some funny scenes and the other characters (as stereotypical as they are) make up for the main characters personality. I also felt like something was lacking throughout the whole story and I was finding it hard to keep reading at some points. But not a bad story overall :P

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