As the “oracle of dating,” Kayla is supposed to have all the answers about love and relationships. She’s supposed to have the perfect relationship. But now that Jared is “taking a step back,” Kayla feels like a total fraud.So the expert on dating starts taking her own rebound advice—and some from her friends—and stops moping around. Yeah, there are other possibilities out there—including the beyond-cute French foreign exchange student she’s showing around town. But when controversy erupts about the Oracle’s advice, Kayla is sent reeling once again. Will anything work out for her this year? Yet when her friends start seriously needing the Oracle, Kayla begins to focus on what really matters: Viv, Sharese, Amy and Ryan, her trueblue buds. And suddenly, everything starts making sense again…
I thought The Oracle of Dating was a fun and original read and was more than excited to get started on the sequel. To my surprise, I enjoyed The Oracle Rebounds even more! With fresh plot developments, intriguing new characters, and more, The Oracle Rebounds was the perfect summer read that I had been hoping for.
Allison van Diepen has created such a fabulous cast of characters in the Oracle series. Kayla is a fantastic main character, because she is just so real. She is someone any teenager could relate to and her experiences are believable and made me like her even more. For starters, when her boyfriend, Jared, breaks up with her she is beyond surprised and hurt (as anyone would be!)! As the Oracle of Dating she felt she should have been able to detect that things weren’t going well, but alas, Jared wants to focus more on his art college portfolio, and Kayla is left to decide what to do next. Laughs and adventure ensues when Kayla goes on the rebound! Benoit, the French exchange student, was an interesting character, and he provided Kayla with a much needed distraction. Kayla learns a lot about herself and what a relationship truly means once she and Jared are broken up. She has some funny, but, at times, heartbreaking experiences, but continues to be strong and keep her head firmly on her shoulders. Luckily, she also has her besties to help her through the rough patches.
Ryan, Sharese, Viv, and Amy are each incredibly developed and unique characters. They each have something special about them and we also get to learn more about their own relationships and how they are handling them in The Oracle Rebounds. These four are always there for each other and Kayla and I really enjoyed reading about all their different adventures together. Tracey, Kayla’s sister, also has a bigger role in this story, as Kayla helps her out with her own dating escapades. Family and friendships are all very important parts of this series and I love that Allison made them all have such a big role in Kayla’s life.
There are quite a few new plot developments in this novel. From Kayla’s dating life to her friends conflicts to her website getting under fire. Since I also have a blog, I could relate to Kayla’s reaction when she saw people taking her words out of context and worrying that all she had worked for was going to collapse. She stayed strong, though, and proved that nobody could take down the Oracle.
Another aspect of this series that I just have to talk about is the advice. Kayla gives such great advice on her blog and it’s always interesting to read her different blog posts, plus to read about the tips she gives her friends and sister. Kayla’s own experiences are a lesson all in themselves and any teenager will get something out of reading this book.
In the end, I have to recommend this to everyone. It is a sweet, easy read, but with important lessons contained in it’s pages. If you’ve read the prequel, I can assure you that this one will not disappoint. I hope that Allison van Diepen will be writing a third book about Kayla!
Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
November 1, 2010/Harlequin Teen/208 Pages/Young Adult/Book Two
Source: Teens Read Too
Other books in this series: The Oracle of Dating
Great review. I really liked this book and the advice.
ReplyDeleteI loved the advice in this book. I wasn't blogging when I read it, but I'm glad I read about her debacle with her blog before I stared. Now I'll be prepared if I ever encounter something like that (which I hope NEVER happens) :)
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