Parker Collins is a whiz with a camera. She's able to capture the moment perfectly, especially when it comes to her high school's football games. While a bit of a loner, Parker has constant run-ins with Casey; the same girl who stole QB Trent from Parker's older sister. Animosity runs deep between the two, so when Trent and the other football players begin to pay attention to Parker, Casey and her followers work to make Parker's life a living hell. Soon Parker has to pick between a number of vying boys and fight off Casey's antics.As a side, Parker is dealing with issues after her father's death, a despondent mother and two distant sisters. What I Thought: There was potential here but I felt it was poorly executed. For instance, in the beginning Parker makes a point of saying she and her sister's don't get along at all. But they seem pretty chummy and agreeable through most of the book. Or Parker talks about hating the football players but she still spends pretty much all her free time with them, not acting like she hates them at all. The other characters really aren't developed at all. I wanted to know more about them personally, instead of just the superfluous basics. Parker's personality is supposed to be caustic and aggressive. People mention it several times in the book, but her actions (for the most part) aren't really proof to that. I like books that both show and tell what a character is like. The dead father and grieving daughter could have been played up more. It was just an excuse for Parker to be a jerk - blame it on the absent parent. The title has nothing to do with the book, other than the fact that she photographs the football games. I decided to go with GoodReads two-star rating of “it was ok”. I guess Parker just rubbed me the wrong way. One character in the book described it well by saying she had an “ugly personality”. The reason I kept reading was because it seemed like she genuinely didn’t know how she was coming off and really did want to make some changes and become a nicer person. She lost her dad and had put up some pretty big walls, but I thought she came across as just as mean, if not meaner, than the “mean girls” that she so desperately despised. But, at the same time there was something likable about her, maybe it was the fact that she was trying to change and does make progress. The ending wrapped up too quickly (and she ended up with someone I didn’t expect), and one of the girls she hated throughout the book becomes a good friend. I wouldn’t mind that storyline, but it seemed to come out of nowhere.I don’t know why YA authors write leading characters that don’t match up with the story. In this book for example, Parker starts off a loner with only one friend. Claims she isn’t pretty and dresses like a tomboy. By the end of the book she’s the prettiest girl on campus (and every guy has always thought so), wins homecoming queen and scores a super hot boyfriend. I guess it’s to show that maybe we see ourselves differently than the people around us. I just don’t see why we can’t have a normal lead for once. Someone who has normal amount of friends, is nice, has a good personality, isn’t afraid to admit their cute and ends up with someone who fits well with them. Can anyone recommend a book like that? Anyway, if you like story's with a high school setting than you might enjoy this. Content: Lots of swearing (I would have given it another star if it wasn't for the language), but otherwise clean.
