From the New York Times bestselling author who created the famous Clique series, Lisi Harrison gives readers a look into the lives of a group of teenagers better known as the Phoenix Five in her book, Pretenders. This book, in my opinion, is something fresh and very different from other novels that Lisi has written. Because of its changing dialogue throughout each chapter and the sense of each character as the year progresses, I couldn’t stop reading. In this amazing novel, Noble High is rewarding five freshman for outstanding performance during the school year and they will be recognized in their yearbook, the Phoenix, for what they have done. Those freshman include Vanessa Riley, Andrew Duffy, Sheridan Spencer, Jagger, and Lily Bader-Huffman and, in reality, they aren’t really outstanding and they don’t think they really deserved what they won. So, in secret, one of the five took all their private journals- that were assigned in class at the beginning of the year- and emailed the whole school what they all have been saying;proof that they aren’t outstanding and they are pretenders.
I loved this book because of the originality that Lisi produced in the plot and how this isn’t a cliche high school story. The different emotions and attitudes of each teen is very inviting, and I feel like I’m actually a student at Noble High looking into these freshmens’ lives. This book has drama, humor, and a very well thought out plot to which makes this book unique. Book two is coming soon.