All new girl Raye Archer wants is a way into the in crowd, so when ice-queen Ella Parker picks her to get back at her ex, the gorgeous Julian Kilgarry, Raye is more than game. Even if it means creating a fake Facebook identity so she can learn enough about Julian to sabotage him. It’s a fun and dangerous thrill at first, but Raye hadn’t counted on falling for Julian herself and igniting Ella’s rage. As Raye works to reconcile the temptress Elizabeth with her real-life self, Ella serves up her own revenge, creating an online smear campaign of nasty rumors and trashy photographs. Suddenly notorious, Raye has to find a way out of the web of deceit that she’s helped to build, and back to the relationships that matter. Adele Griffin’s riveting novel explores the issues of generation Facebook: the desire to be someone else, real versus online friends, and the pitfalls and fallouts of posting your personal life online for all the world to judge.

The Julian Game starts off a little slow but let me tell you this; it packs quite a punch.  I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did but once I got into it I couldn’t stop reading.

Raye Archer is just like every other girl in one way:  she is in love with Julian Kilgarry.  Too bad she has never even spoken to him.  She’s even too afraid to add him on Facebook.  Elizabeth, on the other hand, is not.  Raye’s creation seems like a brilliant plan until a popular girl with a grudge wants to use it to get back at Julian.  Will Ella get revenge or will things get out of hand?

I am going to go right out and state that I didn’t like Raye.  In fact, there is only one character in the book that I did like and that was Henry Henry.  He was the only honest character in the book.  Ella was mean, Julian was selfish, Natalya was confusing, and Raye was spineless.  Raye was the only one who seemed to grow too.  She was still spineless but she was easier to like at the end.

The rest of the book was great.  I thought it would be predictable at first but I was wrong.  I didn’t have a clue what Ella had in mind for any of her revenge schemes.  Julian also added some surprises to the book.  It was definitely not a boring story.  I found myself reading nonstop to find out how it would end.  And the ending was good!  =]

Overall, The Julian Game’s striking cover will draw readers in but the fabulous story is what will keep them reading.  I can’t wait to see what Adele Griffin has in store for us next.

First line:  “This is the craziest idea you ever had,” said Natalya.

Writing:  5

Characters:  3

Plot:  4

Ending:  4

Originality:  5

Overall:  21=B

Cover:  5=A++