Review: The Queen of Kentucky

The Queen of Kentucky

by Alecia Whitaker

Quote: " Sometimes things feel that way. You know, you just think there must've been-must be- something you can do. but in the end, you just gotta do the best you can when you can."~ Luke pg. 198

Started: November 28, 2012

Finished: December 8, 2012

375 pages, hardcover

From the cover:

Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Erika, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer's daughter roots and fit in with the popular crowd at her small-town high school. She trades her Bible for Seventeen  magazine, buys new "sophisticated" clothes, and strikes up an unlikely flirtation with the freshman class's resident bad boy. She's on top of the world, even though her best friend and neighbor, Luke, says he misses " plain old Ricki Jo."

  Caught between being a country girl and wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn't care what people think and who wouldn't let a good-looking guy walk all over her.

  After a serious incident on Luke's farm, Ricki Jo realizes that being a true friend is more important than being popular...and that one boy who matters most has been next door all along.

My Review:

My initial reaction to the end of this book was just.."duh". Honestly, I think you would have to either be fourteen or have the mentality of that to truly enjoy this book. It was well written, again if you actually were fourteen.

This book was way under the YA level it is classified. Other than a drunken-make-out session and the strip- truth or dare at a sleepover, I didn't see any red flags to letting my fourteen year old read it.

I will say, I pray my daughter is a lot more mature than Miss Erika Jo. In more ways than one. Her character was almost unbelievable. I just kept thinking, " Wow, are all/most fourteen- year -old girls THAT immature and naive????"

I pray not! Seriously, she seemed so superficial after seeming to have a strong start in life. Although it doesn't give much insight into her upbringing. It does seem she came from a "good" family with values and at the least a sense of worth and "what really matters."

Maybe I'm being to hard on dear Alecia Whitaker. Maybe I just didn't get it.

I gave this book 3 stars and hope it will be a better read for younger audiences.