One Night That Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt

One Night That Changes Everything
By Lauren Barnholdt
Publisher: Simon Pulse, 2010
242 pages, hardcover
Date Finished: 21/3/2011
Genres: Some Adventure, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Young Adult

Two years ago, when Eliza Sellman was in ninth grade, her dad found out he was being transfered and the family was going to move. Having always been shy and not so confident about her body, Eliza took that opportunity to start a list in her private notebook of all the things she planned on doing when she moved but had always been afraid to—like wearing a miniskirt and asking guys to dance; singing karaoke in front of strangers; posting a photo of herself on her Facebook wall in a bikini...you get the idea. New town, new Eliza, right? Well, she'll never know because the transfer fell through and they didn't move. But Eliza kept adding her goals and secret fears to the list in the notebook. Now it's two years later, and in that time Eliza has had and lost her first boyfriend. But this was more than your average breakup...turns out the sweet and cute Cooper was only dating her as a hazing stunt by a secret society. Eliza got her revenge by posting some pretty nasty (and only sort-of true) stuff about Cooper online. That posting has had major consequences and now Cooper and his buddies have stolen her private notebook and won't give it back until she performs all the things on her list in one night. It's torture...until Eliza steals something from the boys she knows they'll want to trade her notebook for. What starts out as a night of humiliation turns into a night of revelations as Eliza learns what Cooper was really thinking when they dated, the real reason he's stolen her notebook, and how freeing—and life-changing—it can be to do the things you fear the most.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "I lose everything."
~Last Line: "And finally, when my notebook's nothing but ashes, I put the fire out and head up to bed."

Review: I first learned of this novel when Leanne let me read the sample of it she'd gotten on her iPod. I instantly fell in love with it and wanted to read it. After I gave it to her as a birthday present and she read it, she let me borrow it.

One Night That Changes Everything was a little adventurous; the characters were only traveling around their hometown, but they were going all over the place. The characters were awesome. They were developed really weel; I think my favorite would have to be Cooper. He's Eliza's (the main charrie) ex, and he still has feelings for her, of couirse. I think what made me love him so much was that he was a really good actor. His friends didn't know he was helping Eliza until the end. Obvioiusly, Eliza wasn't oh-so-grateful for his help. At first.

Eliza's character was just sort of iffy to me. I liked her, but at times I didn't like her. She was so stuck up on why she and Cooper broke up that she wouldn't let herself believe she still had feelings for him. Or that she should accept his aid. The secondary characters, which in my opinion were Eliza's best friends, Clarice and Marissa, were likable. They weren't the best, but I really enjoyed how they added to the story; in the beginning they couldn't stand each other, but after that one terrible night, they were super-close.

Yes, you read that right: All 242 pages take place in one night. That's another part I liked. Lots of action in a small amount of time :).

I definitely recommend this book. It's a great book to read in between a ton of paranormal reads!



Quotes from the Book:

" 'That's what you put in your notebook? That you're afraid to ask some guys to dance?' She looks at me skeptically, like I've just announced I'm afraid to go to school or something. Which, actually, now that I think about it, it isn't that weird of a thing to be afraid of."

"So, the thing is, I don't really know how to dance. Like,my experience with dancing is kind of . . . limited. And when I say limited, I mean, you know, nonexistent."

" 'Don't you think that's a little dangerous?' I ask delicately. I know Clarice is from the South and all and she gets totally shocked when people actually (gasp) lock their car doors, but this is taking it alittle too far."