Title: The Lonely Hearts Club
by Elizabeth EulbergPublishing Info: June 1st, 2010 by Scholastic Inc.
Source: Audible
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: June 14, 2017
Related Posts: Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality, Better Off Friends
Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.
Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .
This book was very cute! I’ve really enjoyed all of Elizabeth Eulberg’s books, some more than others, so I knew I would enjoy THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB pretty much no matter what! It turned out not to be my favorite of Elizabeth Eulberg’s, since I think she’s had some deeper stories and cuter romances, but she just has such a fun voice that makes her books so easy to read!
I loved the Girl Power in this book and the encouragement of female friendships instead of witnessing so many cat fights or frenemies. It was girls standing up for their friends, sticking together, and being okay with not being in a relationship, which is a nice change of pace! I do adore romances in books but I kind of loved that this was about not being in a relationship. The focus on being single allowed the girls to really get to know themselves and not try to be who they thought a crush wanted them to be and really helped foster beautiful friendships in the absence of the boy-crazy talk. I also liked how crushes and relationships still came about in this book because everyone swearing a vow of single-dom is also not really realistic. The plot adjusted based on what was best for each individual girl and I loved that it didn’t stick to the rules simply for the sake of sticking to them!
Some of the characters were a little over-the-top BUT we are reading about high school characters so teenagers are allowed to be a little over-the-top. I always feel like I wasn’t super melodramatic when I was a teenager… buuuut I’m pretty sure I actually was. (Bad teenage poetry and sappy love songs? Oh, yeah. I was so there.) I think it’s harder reading some of that drama because I’m an adult now and so far removed from those more volatile and new emotions that it can be a little much but I also don’t think it was unrealistic!
I really liked that what I thought would turn into a Mean Girl situation actually went directly in the opposite direction and turned into a wonderful friendship. There was a Mean Girl or two in the book but they were quickly squashed as unsupportive and the characters didn’t allow them to take over or run their emotions. This book was all about bonding and finding your true self and I thought the message was really lovely!
Overall, this was fun, quick, and delightful! Elizabeth Eulberg’s books continue to be quick and fun contemporary reads for me and I love the levity while still conveying a great message.
Kept Me Hooked On: Female Friendships. I’m not really a fan of mean girls in books and I loved how the more bully-like characters were not at all tolerated and the strong female friendships won!
Left Me Wanting More: Maturity. Okay, that’s a silly thing to ask. These are teens and I know that. I just felt like things were a little dramatic at times and I could have enjoyed that more if it was less dramatic, but that’s life!
Addiction Rating
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Elizabeth Eulberg is an absolute will-read author for me! I pick up pretty much anything she writes and this book was no exception. Very cute and a lot of fun!
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1 thought on “The Lonely Hearts Club – Elizabeth Eulberg”
Hmmm…I could use another feel-good, easy to read author. I might have to try Elizabeth Eulberg out! Thanks for the review. 🙂