"Grade A Stupid" A Read That Has Both Humor and Brains

Grade A StupidTitle:  Grade A Stupid
Author:  A. J. Lape
Length:  424 pages
Format:  E-galley
Publisher:  A. J. Lape
Rating:  5 stars
Fifteen years ago, Darcy Walker's parents thought it was a good idea to give her a unique name: Darcy, meaning "dark walker." Whether that was a stroke of genius or stroke of stupid, they definitely nailed the irony. She lacks direction, her grades stink despite a high IQ, she's boringly average--although flirting admirers claim otherwise--and God help her, she's infatuated with a bad-boy.

A bad-boy that her hottie best friend, Dylan, wishes would get acquainted with his fist.

And, oh yeah, there's that tattoo that was a royally stupid idea.

With her life spiraling out of control, everything changes when she skips class and finds a dead body...in fact, it gets worse. It jump starts Darcy's inner-verb, and her brain hard-wired for action gets caught up in a situation she can’t let go.

Set in the fictional Cincinnati town of Valley, Ohio, Darcy falls into a world of threats, violence, and gangland exploits chasing down every clue to finger the murderer. When a fellow misfit is fingered for the crime, Darcy goes from zero-to-sixty trying to clear his name--constructing aliases, breaking the law, everything that makes perfect sense to her but reeks of Grade A Stupid to everyone else.

Trouble is...will she live to see 16?
-Goodreads

My Thoughts
If Darcy Walker was a dog, she'd definitely be a Beagle.  Never to be trusted outside without  a leash, and prone to follow her nose wherever the next adventure beckons.
As life would have it however, Darcy is not a Beagle,she is a 15-yer old busy body, but that in no way means that the afore mentioned attributes don't apply. 

When Darcy's uber-hot best friend Dylan goes on vacation, Darcy literally follows her nose right into a mystery involving a dead man, a fight to clear the name of a friend, gangs, bullets, and oh yeah...staying alive might help.

Darcy is the perfect heroine.  She doesn't mean to get into trouble, it just seems to find her the way that money finds Forest Gump.  She is a very smart girl, who like most teenagers doesn't always make the smartest of choices.  She is however very loyal to those she loves, and willing to do whatever she deems necessary to right wrongs and see justice done.

Murphy, a.k.a. Darcy's dad is a parent to love.  He is doing his best to love her without losing his mind in the process.  He could very easily be overbearing in his quest to shelter Darcy.  Instead he chooses the harder road of allowing her to live her life and being there for her through it all.

This book is filled to the brim with an imperfect quirkiness that will remind the reader of what it means to be a teen.  Boasting a host of characters so interesting  and varied and a plot so full of twists and nail-biting action that you'll forget that it's YA.

This is definitely not 
your mother's 
Nancy Drew!  

3 comments:

  1. Love the new look of your blog and this book sounds fun! Thanks for sharing Frishawn!

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  2. I want to read this. I put in a for a giveaway for it! LOL!

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  3. My friend has recommended this to me and I've bought but haven't read it yet. Thanks for the review! It made me can't wait to read it soon.

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