Oh My Goth

By: Gena Showalter

Narrated by: Katie Koster

A note from Jade Leighton’s journal

Years ago, a tragic accident robbed me of my mother and emotions. Because I find beauty in darkness and thrive outside social norms, I’ve been labeled a “freak” at school. I know my continued apathy hurts my loved ones, but I’m not about to change. Nothing will ever hurt me again.

Then I wake up in an alternate reality...and everything else has changed. Goth is in. I’m considered cool, and my archenemy - the formerly popular Mercedes - is the freak. But my real friends won’t talk to me...and the new boy is getting under my skin. As my world spins out of control, I’m desperate to return to normal. But the more time that passes, the less I’m sure what “normal” really is.

©2018 Gena Showalter (P)2018 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

book

This was my favorite book as a teenager! nice to hear it like this!

It was okay, entertaining at least.

It wasn’t an earth shattering read or anything, but it was enjoyable enough. I think the other review was a little unfair. Just because it’s a remake doesn’t mean it sucks. I never read the original, but I read several other reviews about it, and it sounds to me like the changes were actually a good thing.

It’s clear that the author has no idea what it actually means to be goth, but again, it doesn’t really detract from the story itself. It’s a fun read that’s a little bit cheesy, but it flows well and easily kept my attention. If you don’t have anything else to listen to, it’s a decent choice.

The narrator was really good. Not annoying at all, which is probably the real reason I enjoyed it so much.

Scary emotional

At first I was hesitant because I don’t usually read or enjoy books about high schoolers but this is a wonderful Freaky Friday-esque book that I can’t wait to read again. I love the character development and the lessons around self love, kindness to others, and how to turn even the hardest of situations around. Highly recommend

This Is Why I Hate Remakes

(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)

Gena Showalter did indeed once write a book called "Oh My Goth". It was back in 2006, making this book a remake (one of the worst things out there, in my opinion).

I guess some of the fault lies with me. I maybe should have been tipped off by the mentions of Youtube and the selfie phenomenon, but it had been a while since I'd read the original.

The story also has had a massive sledgehammer taken to it.

In the original, Jade and Mercedes were actually trapped inside a computer virtual reality thing, forced into it by the school administration in a radical attempt to get them to stop fighting with each other. Here, the whole thing was...sigh...a dying dream on the part of Jade, who was hit by a car while trying to protect Mercedes. A dying dream that somehow also leaked into the dreams of rival Mercedes and love interest Clarek.

I remembered a thing or two from the original, like Clarek having to flirt with the attractive school secretary so that Jade and Mercedes could sneak into the school files, or Jade ending the simulation by giving her popularity crown to the unpopular Mercedes inside the fake universe. I liked those parts, but they did not happen here.

If you had any love for the original 2006 version, I would strongly advise against not buying this. The production's only saving grace was the narrator. Katie Koster provides a pitch-perfect amount of angry and depressed and bored and feisty to the troubled protagonist Jade.

That's all I can really say about "Oh My Goth 2018". Now, if you'll excuse me, off to eBay to find a copy of the original, better version...