Stalker Girl by Rosemary Graham Review

Title: Stalker Girl

Author: Rosemary Graham

Genre: YA

Page Count: 296

Book Type: Library Hardcover

Publisher: Viking: An Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-670-06303-1

Picture from Amazon

Summary from Goodreads: How do you know when you’ve crossed the line between curiosity and obsession? 

Carly never meant to become a stalker. She just wanted to find out who Brian started dating after he dumped her. But a little harmless online research turns into a quick glance, and that turns into an afternoon of watching. Soon Carly is putting all of her energy into following Brian’s new girlfriend — all of the sadness she feels about her mom’s recent breakup, all of the anger she feels over being pushed aside by her dad while he prepares for his new wife’s new baby. When Carly’s stalking is discovered in the worst possible way by the worst possible person, she is forced to acknowledge her problem and the underlying issues that led to it.

My Review: The cover is what drew me into this book. I’m sort of obsessed with photography, so this seemed perfect. I love how the couple is caught in the lens of the camera and how the title and author are circled around the lens. It’s so different and interesting.

When I first started reading, all I could think about was how Carly seemed crazy. She is following her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend all around New York City. I couldn’t imagine any way someone could become weirdly obsessed like this. Part two of the book takes the readers back in time to look at Carly and Brian’s relationship. Even though I knew the outcome, I found myself rooting for them and almost forgetting that they wouldn’t make it. It takes you back in time to show you how Carly’s actions escalated from curiosity to obsession and I was able to understand where she was coming from a bit more. 

The third part of the book lets us, as the readers, look at the repercussions of her actions. I think this book sends a good message because, with the internet, it is so easy to find out things about people. My friends and I always joke about “Facebook creeping” and I never imagined people would go further than that. I can now easily see how some girl’s insecurities could feed into this obsession. I’m wondering if this is happening more and more with teenagers. 

Have you ever done a bit of internet stalking (who hasn’t, really)? What about it growing a bit more intense? Have you ever stopped yourself in the middle of doing something and think, “What on Earth am I doing?!?!” Let me know in the comments! 

Versatile Blogger Award!

The lovely Meg at From My Nightstand gave me the Versatile Blogger award today (it's my first, isn't she sweet?). Her blog is so cute and I love the way it is set up. She may have inspired me to add a few things to my own. So, if you haven't already, check her out!

So here's how it works. If you received this award, you have to write seven things about yourself, and then pass on the award to 15 other blogs for any reason of your choice.

Seven things about myself... hmmm.

1) I am a state champion softball player. That's right, in high school my team won the state championship one year and we came in second another year. It was extremely fun and we may or may not have a video of ourselves singing 'We Are the Champions' around a campfire a la The Mighty Ducks 2. Okay, we totally do.

2) I'm sort of obsessed with the Twitter. You can follow me if you want (@KaitorTot). I tweet nonsense all of the time and get a kick out of it. 

3) I am terrified of deer and ants. I have a sob story of being stalked by a deer when I was little, but I will spare you that. Ants, on the other hand, are about a centimeter long, but I scuttle away from them like no other.

4) My movie collection is probably as big as my book collection--obsessed.

5) I was in a sorority in college (woo Alpha Sigma Tau) and I met some of my best friends there. My pledge class is perfect for each other (with an adopted member, Backy). I highly recommend joining a sorority if you are in college or entering college!

Spring 07: Me, Jamie, Emily, Ashley, Nicci (not pictured are Sam and adopted Becky)

6) I have had the same best friend since I was four. We lived together all through college and everything. We never fight, fist pumps for us.

7) I love the movie Fear with Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon. I could quote that whole movie with my friends. Please watch it with a group of people and laugh hysterically at the ridiculousness of the lines. 

Now on to the bloggers I am going to pass this to... we may not reach 15, we shall see. In no particular order... PS. If you have already gotten this, don't feel pressured to do it again. I just couldn't be arsed to go through everyone's previous awards :)

1) Liz @ Cleverly Inked: She is so, so sweet and really an excellent blogger. Her 'Treasure Trove Tuesday' is my absolute favorite and I get so excited to see what sweet stuff in the book world she finds. 

2) Shannon @ Tropical Eats: Do these need to be book bloggers? Well, I'm making up my own rules because Shannon is not, but she totally needs to be recognized. Shannon and I were fellow interns at College Lifestyles and we need to meet in real life. Go to her blog if you want to go into an instant food coma and be jealous for life of all the yummy things she eats. 

3) Sandy @ Sandy Eggo: Sandy has a mish mash of all things and she is sort of revamping her blog, but it is still awesome and I love the new header!

4) Lesley @ YA Books Reviewed: I feel like we have pretty similar opinions on books, so I creep on her to get new recommendations.

5) Briana @ Twenty-Something: Briana is also a CL blogger. She is extremely well spoken and she always brings relevance to the table. She analyzes movies and books as well as brings real life issues into the foreground.

6) Read It or See It: Amazing comparisons of books and movies. Enough said.

7) Alex @ Tales of a Teenage Book Lover: It is nice to see opinions from a male's point of view for a lot of the YA books I like to read. I do feel a little creeptastic since he is a teenager and I am not, but I do like to read his opinions on things. Also, he has a pretty cool feature where he compares the US and UK covers of books.

8) Emily @ Emily's Reading Room: I love her 'Ask HTMiLy' feature--so clever! 

9) Dree @ Defining Dree: Deirdre is also another CL intern and she lives in Ireland! She is precious and loves Diet Coke and Veronica Mars as much as I do. 

10) Elie @ Ellz Readz: Elie has a really great 'Cover LOVE' feature that I, well, love. I am a person that does judge a book by its cover (don't hate me) so I obviously adore this segment. 

Well, I think we will leave it at a solid 10. Thanks so much to Meg for recognizing me!