Head Over Heels: an SAT Vocabulary Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)I had read some positive reviews about Sparknotes novels, so I thought that this novel would both help my vocabulary and entertain me. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the cliched and predictable plot and characters. Not only did it feel like the writer had just taken a standard chick lit formula, changed some names, added a dash of SAT vocabulary, and forgot to add the vital cup of creativity. What disappointed me the most about the book was that it missed the common element in good chick lit- a protagonist the reader really cares about. The heroine, Francesca Castarelli,had little charcater development except the same tired teenage angst involving boys without the wit that usually accompanies it.
You may be asking why I'm so critical of an SAT novel. After all, it's just supposed to enhance vocabulary, right? It's not going to be a bestseller. Yet, the paltry definitions of the SAT words listed at the bottom attest to its uselessness. In some cases, the defintions are even wrong. For example, the word eclectic is defined in the book as meaning selective, when it means to selective or draw from a wide range of sources. The word suggest well- roundedness, not being picky, as the Head Over Heels defintion suggests. Many other defintions are misleading because the author has decided to cut defintions down to one to three words. The novel was also disappointed because, unlike the Marino Mission, another vocabulary enrichment novel, it had no exercises in the back to test your knowledge of the words so you could know whether you were actually absorbing any of the vocabulary.
So if you're desparate to learn vocabulary in less than two weeks and aren't picky when it comes to what you read, then I'd suggest buying it. It does have some moments of humor, but they are few and overshadowed by its thin and unoriginal plot.

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Smart Novelsare compelling, full-length novels with edgy and mature themes that will appeal to teens. Each book showcases more than 1,000 vocabulary words frequently included on the SAT. Brief definitions appear on the same page so that readers can quickly access and digest the meanings as they read along.

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