Series: The Keatyn Chronicles
Release Date: January 7th, 2014
Keatyn has everything she ever dreamed. Her life is following the script she wrote for the perfect high school experience. She’s popular, goes to the best parties, dates the hottest guy, and sits at the most-coveted lunch table.
She’s just not sure she wants it anymore. Because, really, things aren’t all that perfect. Her best friend is threatening to tell everyone her perfect relationship is a scam. Her perfect boyfriend gets drunk at every party they go to. It’s exhausting always trying to look and act perfect. And, deep down, she isn’t sure if she has any true friends.
To add to the drama, her movie star mom has a creepy stalker. A hot, older man flirts with her and tells her they should make a movie together.
And she’s crushing on an adorable surfer. Dating him would mean committing social suicide.
So she writes a new script. One where all the pieces of her life will come together in perfect harmony.
But little does she know, there’s someone who will do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Stalker of the Heroine is in his late 20s, early 30s – he flirts with her. The Heroine doesn’t realize how creepy he is.
• Underage drinking
• Severe lack of parental supervision–teenagers vacation without their parents
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Stalk Me was pure fun. It didn’t really have an underlying theme or message… just depicted what a high school experience would be like if you and all your friends were famous and millionaires (or their parents are). This element of the “rich and famous” made it is so that Keatyn could act with some autonomy, even though she’s only 16 (almost 17).
Keatyn was a complex mix of both mature and naive: she was much more worldly than her peers, having grown up travelling the world with her famous movie actress mother (moving from set-to-set). But, she was also sheltered; she had no clue when it came to boys… like even common sense seemed to escape her.
I guess Dodd’s plan with Stalk Me was to really capitalize on the ultimate high school experience: hot boys galore, mean girls and identity struggles. While I really enjoyed reading Stalk Me, sometimes Keatyn’s reactions were so freaking juvenile. It made me actually agree with Brooklyn when he would say she has to grow up a bit more (he’s a jerk, but sadly I agree with him). She wouldn’t give herself any time to just think and analyze her own feelings, simply reacting much like a… well, a teenager. Also, Keatyn’s personality has a weird dichotomy of knowing precisely what she wants and then when she gets it, she completely overanalyzes the situation. The second-guessing then leads Keatyn to sabotage herself (slight spoiler), an example being the circumstances that lead her to have sex for the first time.
In the beginning, you think Keatyn is a girl who knows what she wants but is too sucked into the need to be popular to go after it. But, this story honestly just underlines that Keatyn doesn’t really know jack shit… and surprisingly enough, I actually find that OK. She’s a 16-year-old girl… she’s still figuring out what she wants in life and what’s important to her.
Dodd does something exciting with Stalk Me. It’s the first book in a 7 book series, so you know you’ll be following Keatyn on her journey as she grows and learns (like learning you can’t claim you’re in love with someone after knowing them for only a day). And, just like in real life, there are many paths that a person’s life can go. To me, Dodd is smart with her book boyfriends–almost to the point of evil genius–because they are all (or most) so sweet and hot! Albeit they are boys in high school, so they’ll act lame and do/say stupid shit, but it still makes it hard to watch when these relationships end. In Stalk Me, there are 3 potential love interests for Keatyn:
- Sander, the Golden Boy
- Brooklyn, the sweet, sexy, surfer boy and
- Cush, the player.
It makes for a good story but also a drama and angst-filled one.
Stalk Me to me–as previously stated–was pure fun. I loved how detailed Dodd was with Keatyn’s clothes and how her narrative sounded like an actual teenage girl. I will continue reading this series … as the ending of Stalk Me just made the story a whole lot more exciting and less superficial.
Other Books I’ve Reviewed by Jillian Dodd
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