Book Review: The Avery Shaw Experiment

When Avery Shaw’s heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how—scientifically. 

The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She’s going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can’t do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who broke her heart.

Avery finds the solution to her troubles in the form of Aiden’s older brother Grayson. The gorgeous womanizer is about to be kicked off the school basketball team for failing physics. He’s in need of a good tutor and some serious extra credit. But when Avery recruits the lovable Grayson to be her “objective outside observer,” she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for, because Grayson has a theory of his own: Avery doesn’t need to grieve. She needs to live. And if there’s one thing Grayson Kennedy is good at, it’s living life to the fullest.

If you're looking for something fun to read, then you should definitely add this to your list. Just like her V is for Virgin book, Kelly Oram's character oozes with charm that'll appeal to the younger crowd, though I don't think I don't belong to the teenage category anymore. 

The concept is quite unique but the personality of the characters are not sice I've read so many books with these type of personalities. 

Avery Shaw is obviously the star of this book. She's a geek who have a social anxiety issues that she can't seem to overcome. She claims that her heart was broken because of Aiden, who was her bestfriend, until she confessed that she was in love with him. And because she still doesn't have any idea what to present as an entry to the Utah State Science Fair, she decided to test the theory that to overcome the devastating effects of heartbreak, the person should undergo the 7 stages of grief - shock/disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance/hope. She used herself as the sample and enlisted the help of Grayson Kennedy as the outside observer in exchange for an extra credit and tutorial sessions for Physics. 

Grayson Kennedy - I cannot help but be charmed by this guy. He's funny and caring. He knows how to love a girl and make her feel beautiful. He's the older brother of Alden. He's pictured as the dumb jock but I really like him. I guess he sells himself short. He may be seen with different girls each week but deep inside, he has a big heart. He just didn't realize that the person he should be with is within arm's reach. During the course of the experiment, he unexpectedly fell in love with Avery and he will not stop until he proved to her that she's as inlove with him as he is with her. So he accompanied her to dates, parties; he pushed her outside of her comfort zone; he introduced her to a new crowd and he uplifted her social status in their school. 

Alden Kennedy - Avery's jerk bestfriend who seemed to need a space from her. I really hate this guy. But he learned his lesson in the end. It's just too late because by then Avery had already fallen for his brother. 

Libby and Owen - yeah. This pair rocks. I hope the author writes a story for them. I love Libby. They're hilarious together especially with Libby's antics and too daring dialogues to Owen. 

I like the alternating point of views but I favor Grayson's more. I think the double prologue and epilogue is cute. And also Gray's gift to Avery. I had a good laugh with that one. 

Here's another banter between Avery and Grayson:

"What is this?" I complained when she came back and handed me a Sprite. My voice conveyed all the confusion, disappointment, and horror I felt.

"My journal?" she asked, confused.

"This is not a journal. This is ... it's a freaking textbook. Where's all the good stuff?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, all the girl stuff." I kicked my voice into my best falsetto. "OMG I got my first kiss tonight! It was AH-MAZING! Grayson Kennedy is so hot!" Bringing my voice to normal, I flipped the open book so she could see it. "There's not one single exclamation point, smiley face, or heart scribbled in this thing."

Avery burt into the biggest laugh I'd ever heard from her. She went into full hysterics.

"What?" I demanded.

"It's not a diary, Grayson!" She had to wipe tears from her eyes. "it's a scientific study!"

Overall, it was quite good. It was fun and is a very quick read. You can finish it in one-sitting.

Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.

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