Book Review: "Brilliant" by Rachel Vail

Quinn Avery can handle change. It's just paint, right? Bright, blinding white paint covering her once dazzling red bedroom walls. Quinn knows she shouldn't be angry at her mom—she's doing what she must to sell the house—but still, Quinn is beyond mad, and she doesn't know what to do about it. Until now, Quinn was doing a pretty good job at pretending to be her old self—calm and brilliant Avery daughter, responsible big sister to Allison and Phoebe, piano virtuoso, girl who makes everyone proud—but without the sanctuary of her room, a new, wild Quinn is emerging. Lying, sneaking out, partying, Quinn is practically asking to get caught. When Quinn adds kissing the wrong boys—including her sister's boyfriend and her own piano teacher—to her list of crimes, has she gone too far to save herself?

Due to being part of a three girl family, I always look forward to reading books that focus on families involving three sisters. I have been especially looking to this story as it focuses on the eldest daughter, which being one myself I always can relate too. This book was a nice step back into realism as the second book in the series, which focused on Allison, involved some situations that could be as fantasy.

While I enjoyed the book, I was a bit disappointed at how Quinn was portrayed in this book. I guess after reading the first two books in the series that were from the younger sisters' POVs, I just assumed that Quinn was more mature and older than what she really was. I'm not sure if it's because that's how her sisters viewed her and that's just how she came across because it was through their eyes. It wasn't anything that was traumatic but I just thought that she would have handled things differently. I was glad to finally find out what exactly the girls' mother had done to the company. The other books kept giving hints but we never knew what it was until now. I can't say that I agreed with everything that the family did but it was obvious that they do love each other and a close family.

I really have loved the covers of the books of this series and Brilliant is another beautiful one. I don't even like the shoes but they look absolutely lovely on the cover. The colors just pop out at you and the simplicity of the cover really makes a statement. As I stated, this is the third book in the series about the Avery sisters. While this book could be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the first two books in the series to get a better understanding of the entire Avery family. Knowing what happened before is crucial to understanding why Quinn acts the way she does in this book. Overall, I enjoyed her story and I'm sad that the series is ending. This isn't fluffy teen chick lit yet it's not hard core intense stuff. It's a great blend that YA readers will enjoy.

Brilliant by Rachel Vail is published by HarperTeen (2010)

This ARC was provided by the publisher