Fool’s Gold Book 2
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I read this when it came out, several months ago, and I didn’t have much to say about it. It continues the story from Book 1 in expected fashion.

Hannah, the previous queen bee, isn’t coping well with Penny usurping her place as Miss Popularity, so she’s scheming and manipulating. The boys identified as pyrites (the false gold of the title), who are now without girlfriends, are beginning to get suspicious. Keeping up with her ever-growing girl support club is taking a toll on Penny’s other responsibilities, like schoolwork and her own burgeoning relationship with a needy boy.

In short, everything gets more complicated in the expected ways. It’s a typical “part two of three”, adding more twists to kill time until we can start getting resolutions.

This volume shifts the focus to Hannah, a choice I didn’t care for. She’s a much more predictable character, without the depth of Penny. She’s a teen model, with pushy absent parents, and she puts too much importance on how many people like her. We’ve seen this type in just about every teen-focused piece of entertainment, and the portrayal here adds nothing new.

So why write this up? I’m talking about it now because the author asked me to. Apparently the book hasn’t gotten much publicity or coverage, and with another year or so until the conclusion appears, she was concerned about it being forgotten. The best I can say is that if you enjoyed the first book, you’ll find this a richer version of the same. It’s not compelling enough to urge people to jump on now, but I will be sticking around for the conclusion.