Sweet 16
Kate Brian

Reviewed by Amy Ryder

Teagan’s the kind of girl who won’t talk to the shampoo girl at the salon and loves to get waiters fired, who will ditch her loyal childhood friend on her birthday to spend a day at the mall with the school’s most popular size-two social climbers. She’s been given everything and she’s never grateful.  Feel free to hate her.  She’s a bitch, and she’s only 15.

If you’ve ever watched MTV’s ridiculous (and kind of addictive) TV show My Super Sweet 16, you’re familiar with the initial premise of this book. Teagan is turning 16, and she’s having a blowout worthy of Paris Hilton: partying at Daddy’s country club in a custom-made Vera Wang gown and Jimmy Choo shoes, snacking on filet mignon and gourmet hors d’ouvres passed by waiters in Gucci sunglasses, surrounded by her popular friends and super-hot boyfriend.   

The party doesn’t go exactly according to plan: in a search for alcohol, Teagan falls down a set of basement stars and hits her head.  She is visited by a spirit, a la Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life, and travels to her past, present and future.  While this gimmick has been done with every archetype in literature, not since Scrooge himself has a character needed it more.  

With the huge success of Gossip Girl, The A-List, and all the clones has come a backlash to the materialism and excess portrayed by that type of book. Enter Sweet 16, the perfect compromise.  The GG audience will read for the sex, drugs, and name-dropping; their mothers will love the positive message. Kate Brian is a giant in the teen chick lit market, and she’s going to have another hit with Sweet 16.