Guyaholic, by Carolyn Mackler, is a pseudo-sequel to Mackler's Vegan Virgin Valentine. But instead of following her main character, Mara, from Vegan Virgin Valentine, she actually follows the protagonist's neice (who is only two years younger than Mara). The reader does not need to have read VVV, but it helps to understand the family dynamics better.
Virginia, or V as she's known by friends and family, is a classic 'bad girl.' She likes sleeping around, smoking pot, and she has a strained relationship with her mother. By the time Guyaholic begins the story, V has actually started to get her life together and she's preparing to go to college the following year- most likely on a scholarship for her singing and acting skills. V, gets hit in the head with a hockey puck at a game and she wakes up bleeding on a cute boy's lap. This cute boy, Sam, becomes her latest infatuation. Sam is a good guy and V's family- at least the grandparents she lives with- loves him.
But of course, this it just the beginning of the book.
Things are all fine and dandy until Sam starts to ask V about her mom and Sam starts to expect V to show up to his family functions. V, not wanting to be 'attached' to someone, or even be perceived as being attached to some one, decides to do what she does best-- screw up. She starts a fight with him and then proceeds to get caught by Sam's little sister making out with a previous fling.
V, regrets her actions, only in that she still wants Sam. About this same time, V and her mom seem to be on decent terms, even though V's mom managed to flake out again and she didn't/ "couldn't" show up for V's graduation. For some crazy reason, V decides to take up Amy (her mom) on visiting her in Texas. As a reader, I cringed knowing that something would manage to show Amy as unreliable yet again.
V runs into Sam's little sister at the grocery store and finds out that Sam is in California already for college, even though it doesn't start for another month or so.
V, with her mom's help, convinces her grandparents that she has enough money and is responsible enough to travel across the country (V lives in New York) to visit Amy, her mom.
Along the way, V gets lost on the first leg of the trip, sleeps with a friend's friend's son (V is staying at the friend's friend's house), meets up with old family friends and babysits for a few days, and then finally makes it to Texas with only a few hours until possibly seeing her mom.
Of course, things don't exactly go as planned. V has some major realizations and a random salsa-making bartender helps her come to her senses.
Overall, this was the perfect read for the summertime and it might have been even better if I'd been on a road trip. It didn't seem to show V in as edgy as VVV did (but VVV was also from a different perspective), but it was good for showing that boredom breeds drama.
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