The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks

Some people might say that Denver had a death wish. Why else would she have dared to sneak into a Malibu beach party where she’d be surrounded by enemies, namely including her ex-BFF Abigail?

Oh yeah. Croix. Denver never thought in a million years he’d ask her out, but who was she to question this miracle of fate? Well, that wasn’t the only surprise fate had in store.

During the party a tsunami hit the coast of California, wiping out everything in its path. Denver and a handful of others escaped death by holding onto the roof of the house and were swept out to sea. Of course, one of her fellow castaways was none other than Abigail, who could barely stand the sight of her.

Now that she’s floating in the ocean, stuck on a small boat with the most popular kids in school and waiting to be rescued, Denver wonders what might kill her first-dehydration, sunstroke, or the girl she used to think of as a sister?

A hilariously dark and twisted story that sparkles with a remarkably fresh voice, The Lifeboat Clique is Kathy Park’s irreverent yet insightful novel about how to survive in the most unthinkable circumstances.

Source: Goodreads

My thoughts:

So a few weeks ago I discovered Epic Reads on Youtube and ever since I’ve been adding books to my Goodreads to be read list. The Lifeboat Clique was pretty high on my list and I really wanted to read this book because it sounded funny, despite its somehow morbid theme. I mean – we’re talking about a tsunami hitting the coast of California and causing devastation resulting in many deaths. It’s a tragic thing to happen of course, but the author still managed to tell a funny story revolving around mean girls, survival and friendship.

The main protagonist, Denver, is a teenager who isn’t really popular in school (okay, who am I kidding – she’s actually an outcast). She once was best friends with Abigail (who is now one of the cool kids), but something happened between them a while ago, thus causing their friendship to rupture.

Since Denver has a crush on a popular boy named Croix, she decides to sneak into a beach house party hosted by her now enemy and former BFF Abigail because she hopes to spend some time with Croix. However, Denver doesn’t really get to spend that much time with her crush because a tsunami hits the beach house, washing away everything. Most of Denver’s schoolmates lose their lives, but Denver, along with some popular kids, luckily manage to rescue themselves. Well, Denver doesn’t really think she was lucky, after all she’s stuck with some mean girls and a jock who constantly like to point out that she’s an outcast. Now these survivors need to learn to work together if they want to live and they need to stop judging each other.

As I mentioned before, The Lifeboat Clique was still a funny book, despite the tragedy that occurred at the beginning of the novel. There were so many anecdotes and hilarious moments that I just had to laugh out loud a couple of times. The author has perfectly managed to capture the voices of teenagers and the conversations between the protagonists felt very real and authentic. The writing style was entertaining and the story was very easy to follow. That’s why I read The Lifeboat Clique in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down and wanted to know how the story would end and who would really survive.

Denver was a clever, funny and relatable character and I could totally identify with her. I felt sad for her because I can imagine what it must have felt like to be abandoned like that by her former best friend. The story alternated between past and present and that way, we could find out how Denver and Abigail’s friendship has changed over time and what ultimately caused its downfall.

I loved how the story evolved, I loved how at some point the mean kids understood how important it is to work together and that they realized how clever Denver was and that they needed her in order to survive.

All in all The Lifeboat Clique was a fresh story about high school outcasts, mean girls and high school hierarchy. It was an entertaining story featuring a witty heroine and an addictive narrative full of dark humor. I really recommend this novel if you like funny books revolving around high school drama!

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 stars

Andreea