Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty

Before I begin my review, I have a few confessions of my own. 1. I don’t drink coffee, but I love the smell of it (YAY to scratch and sniff cover on this book). 2. I love Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing (because Robert Sean Leonard was in the 1993 movie version and I love him on House and especially in Dead Poets Society) so I was super excited that Jody used the play as an inspiration for the book. 3. I won this book in a contest and Jody sent me a signed copy AND a personalized bookmark with jewels on it. Now how cool is that?!

A while back, I had the pleasure of hearing author Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) do a reading and talk about writing. He said that when he writes, he aims to put at least one jewel on each page – show more whether it’s a clever turn of phrase, a hard-hitting character insight, or perhaps a fun literary reference. Well, before I say anything else about “Confessions”, I have to say that it is fitting that Jody uses jewels to personalize her book signings, because the novel has so many “jewel” moments and the prose is so polished, it positively sparkles.

So anyway, the basic plot is this: Geena has high hopes for her summer – she’ll work at Triple Shot Betty coffee shack with her best friend Amber and her cousin Hero (who haven’t yet met, but Geena’s sure they’ll love each other) and they’ll all have tons of girl fun all summer long. But Geena’s hopes are dashed when Hero (chaste and conservative like her namesake in “Much ado”) and Amber (brash and bawdy like Margaret in “Much ado”) hate each other at first sight and a few cute guys are thrown into the mix, not all of them with the best intensions.

If you know anything about “Much ado” you’ll recognize Geena as the Beatrice character, feisty, cynical, witty and sharp. She’s a skater chick gunning to be valedictorian, and she won’t let anyone get in her way, especially not Ben (the Benedick character), a whip smart, competitive but sweet (and HOT) cyclist classmate. She has a reputation as a guy hater, so when Hero falls in love with Italian import Claudio, who is doing an internship at a winery (it’s set in Sonoma, CA so everyone, even the under-aged, likes to dabble in the “vino”), her overprotective father says she can’t date unless Geena goes with her (shades of “Taming of the Shrew” perhaps?).

The plot continues along, similar to that of “Much ado” with plenty of intrigue and high jinks, but with a fun feminist revenge element as a climax. The message here is clear – stand up for yourself, stand up for your friends and don’t let scummy guys ruin your reputation.

Read this for the modern spin on “Much ado”, read this for its character driven narrative, read this for the swoon-worthy Claudio (I love foreign guys) and Ben and the sweetest romance scenes I’ve encountered in awhile, read this for the authentic dialogue and friendships, read this for all the “jewels” you’ll find sprinkled generously throughout, and most of all read this as soon as you can get your hands on it. show less

This is Geena’s sixteenth summer and what better way to spend it then with her favorite cousin Hero and her best friend Amber. Her plans go awry when Hero and Amber don’t exactly get along, okay, they pretty much hate each other.Just when Geena thinks her summer is ruined, mysteriously Hero and Amber start getting along. But it seems they only collaborate to get Geena and get her out of her "boy-hostile" attitude. Geena is happy to seem them getting along, but she couldn’t possibly ever be interested in Ben, could she?Hero’s perfect girl image is tarnished when she snubs golden boy, John. When the girls find evidence of his crime, they concoct a plan to spotlight his true nature once and for all!Confessions of a Triple Shot show more Betty is reminiscent of Shakespear’s Much Ado About Nothing, those that are familiar with the play will see the subtle similarities. I devoured this book in one sitting! I started reading and I just couldn’t put it down. The dialogue is hilarious. This is one of the funniest book’s I’ve read in a while! The characters are well developed especially Geena, she comes into her own throughout the novel. The character dynamics were displayed wonderfully as well! I enjoyed Gehrman’s writing style and I will definitely be picking up more of her books. If you are looking for a fun summer read that is well written and beyond funny, pick up Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty! (Btw, the cover is scratch-n-sniff, how cool is that!) show less

I had the pleasure of listening to Jody Gehrman talk about how to write a scene at the 2009 Redwood Writer's Conference this year. I picked up her young adult novel, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, but not quick enough to get her to sign it!

For those fans of Gingerbread, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and Stealing Heaven, this one will be sure to please. Geena, aka Skater Girl, hopes her best friend, Amber aka Blowjob Beezie, and her cousin, Hero, aka Virgin, will get along once they meet. But Amber and Hero hiss like territorial cats in an alley fight once they step inside Triple Shot Betty, the closet-sized drive-through coffee shop where they will all work during the summer.

Geena's attempts to get the two girls to become show more friends becomes entangled in a web of scheming, lies, and boy antics that escalate at Hero's 16th Birthday party.

Will the three girls ever become friends? You'll have to read the novel to find out. show less

As a YA book I was abundantly aware that the characters would be somewhat two-dimensional as they were more like archetypes than actual characters, especially as the story is adapted from Much Ado About Nothing and so I was willing to accept lapses in the writing in order to read the book. Overall, the book is well written though the main characters are somewhat shallow, although I have yet to determine if this was intentional of the author, and the read itself was easy. The protagonist Geena's two best friends have never met, but imagining a perfect summer Geena has arranged for the three of them to work at Triple Shot Betty's for the summer. However, fireworks arise upon meeting and Geena's dream summer is almost certainly ruined. show more With constant fighting amongst Amber and Hero and a sprinkling of romantic intrigue the two come together only to unite Geena romantically with her antagonist. As I said I wasn't expecting round characters, but found the characters more flat than I imagined despite the author's prowess in plot development.

What is great about this book is that it feels like one of the series we knew as a pre-teen like Sweet Valley High so it is familiar and comforting and likely to appeal to the YA demographic and doesn't rely too heavily on it's Much Ado About Nothing foundation. While there are references in the form of character names, quotations, and vague plot symmetry there isn't a dependence on Shakespeare's classic that might make the work feel stilted. show less

I have yet to find a cozy, coffee book that measures up to my expectations. This was an okay read, but I'm not hugely impressed.

I have to give this book credit where it's due: although this is categorized as a young adult novel, it doesn't fulfill the cliche of turning every little event into a life-or-death matter. Some mundane things happened and were treated mundanely, and some kind of crazy, gut-wrenching things happened and were in turn addressed as such. That being said, the end was a little cliche. I can deal with a happily-ever-after ending (if I must), but it was all a little too cleanly wrapped up, and in kind of an unbelievable way.

I can't say I'll pick the sequel up.

This was a fun and fast read. The story centered around Hero, Geena, and Amber. Geena is determined to have a great summer with her cousin Hero and her best friend Amber. Too bad Amber and Geena can't stand each other. The summer was filled with pots, evil guys, and romance. There could have been more to wow me but otherwise I took this for what it was. - a fun summer read with a slice of revenge.

Based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty is the story of three girls working at a drive-through coffee shop for the summer. Geena, our main Betty of the story, is determined to have a fabulous summer. But things don’t go according to plan – her best friend, Amber, and her cousin, Hero, hate each other at first meeting. When they do start getting along, it seems that it’s only to trick Geena into believing the boy she has always had a rivalry with actually likes her. Then, someone posts nude photos of Hero on MySpace – except, Hero didn’t actually pose for any nude photos. This of course causes the boy that Hero loves to ditch her because she is, as he says, a “hoochie.” Now, show more it’s up to the Geena to get to the bottom of this, and try to put everything to rights before the summer is over.

Teen girls would love this. It’s a good summer book – thoughtless, entertaining and fun. As for me… it was cute, but I didn’t find it phenomenal. It was amusing, but it wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny. It had good parts – Geena’s numerous names for her dad’s girlfriend, for one. It was a very fast read, and kept me entertained, but it doesn’t strike me as one of those books that is particularly memorable. show less