Title: Shut Out
Author: Kody Keplinger
Release Date: September 5, 2011 (hardcover)
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 288
Source: Bought

Overall: 4 Stars

Summary:

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.  

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Kody Keplinger's debut novel The DUFF last year and when I heard about her second novel, I knew I just had to read it as well! With lots of entertainment and drama, plus teenage hormones completely raging, Shut Out completely captured my attention the entire time I was reading it.

I really have no idea why Lissa was dating Randy in the first place when those two were polar opposites. Besides Randy being kind to Lissa's family, there really wasn't too much charming about him. However, as soon as we met Cash Sterling, the chemistry between him and Lissa became ever so apparent with their flirty bantering! I think waiting for them to finally be together in the book was half the fun! And with the ongoing hookup strike, Kody Keplinger was able to once again tackle the topic of sex in Shut Out in ways that might open your eyes wider to the sometimes uncomfortable questions teens have about it. There was also something very empowering about Lissa leading the group of girls to bring them all together!

For some reason, a small part of me did feel a little let down when I finished the book. The ending and the way Lissa resolves her problems felt eerily similar to The DUFF, and I wanted to see some more originality in the approach. Once again, the main character has a revelation about her actions and thinks more rationally about the situation instead of instantly drawing to conclusions. And I think it would have been sweet to see some more results of the rivalry and the pranks between the football and soccer players, instead of so much talk about sex. I was just hoping for a little something more, I guess, in that regard... but overall, I'm happily satisfied enough with what we got. 

Kody Keplinger's Shut Out is a fun novel if you're looking for some high school drama and romance in a contemporary setting! It's a fast-paced, quick read... and with a mix of light and serious moments, I'm sure you'll be finished the novel in no time at all. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Kody Keplinger has in store for her readers next!