The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg [Review]

3 out of 5 Robots!

  

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release: January 1, 2010
Hardcover: 290 Pages
Publisher: Point
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Summary:

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. . . .

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

I give The Lonely Hearts Club full marks for the concept.  I love the idea of Penny wanting to focus on herself and not be preoccupied with guys.  I love that she wants to focus on friends first and not ditch them for her boyfriend.  I love that wants her friends to experience the same freedom she does.  I love that her friends find strength in themselves and create a great support group for each other.  But the execution of it is where is starts to break down for me.  I find Penny pretty insufferable through most of the book.  She has a couple bad experiences and suddenly she thinks all men are the Devil and spends a lot of time convincing her friends the same.  I really really really hate this black and white thinking.  And I hate that apparently there are only two decent guys at Penny's school and she SHOCKED to discover there are even that many.  I don't like the anti-male message here at all.  I'm all for grrl-power, but this was over the top for me.  I think there is a good message here about staying true to yourself and sticking by your friends.  I think we've all met people who give up everything when they are dating someone and that is never healthy.  But I just wish I wasn't beat over the head with Penny's rants on the evils of males.