Cum Laude by Cecily von Ziegesar

Synopsis from Goodreads: They're here for a higher education . . . and you won't believe how far they'll go.

Dexter College is a small liberal arts college in the quiet town of Home, Maine. But it won't stay quiet for long with this group of freshmen. There's Shipley--blonde and beautiful, the object of envy and more than a little lust. Determined to assert herself and to shed her good-girl image, she buys cigarettes and condoms, because that's what every self-respecting college girl does. Her edgy roommate, Eliza, came to Dexter to get noticed, and she has the attitude and the mouth to prove it. Then there's Tom. Handsome, privileged, used to getting his own way, he's a jock-turned-artist who thinks his paintings will change the world. Sensitive Nick, Tom's wake-and-bake pot-smoking roommate, wants to follow in the footsteps of his boarding-school hero. And then there are brother and sister Adam and Tragedy Gatz. The freckle-faced farm boy lives at home with his parents and his little sister, who does all she can to stop him from being a wuss.

As Shipley, Eliza, Tom, Nick, and Adam find out, that first year of college is more than credits and cramming. Between the lust and the love, the secrecy and the scandal, they'll all receive an unexpected education. It's a time of shifting alliances, unrequited crushes, and coming of age. Find Yourself is Dexter's motto. And they are determined to do just that.

Number of pages: 259
My review: I love the Gossip Girl novels but I seriously hated this book.
I'm supposed to write about what was going on? Well I have no idea what was going on because it was just a bunch of word vomit throughout the book.
I hated the switching character viewpoints and how there was so many characters that I just didn't care about. They had no backstory, weren't interesting, and overall just annoyed me and seemed so fake.
I thought I'd like this because it's set in a small liberal arts college (which is the type of school I'll be attending in the fall) but come on. I didn't get why it was set in the 90's so I didn't understand half the references. Plus, it was all about sex and drugs which not only make me uncomfortable, but it's just set such a bad example for teens.
Let me show you a couple of lines from the book I just thought were laughable.
Page 103: "Drugs were his last and only hope."
Literally when I read this I said "What the hell!?" So I skipped ahead a few pages and landed here...
Page 174: "Meanwhile, Tom was getting ready for the play in the only way he knew how: drugs."
What the serious *%@$!
Half the time I was reading this I was having a succession of thoughts that sort of sounded like this:
"When is this going to be over?"
"Is this going to get interesting anytime soon?"
"How many pages do I have left?"
"Can I skip ahead 50 pages and still understand what's going on?"
"Screw it I'll just read the last couple chapters."
"Well, no idea what happened inbetween but now I have a little closure."
"What's for breakfast?"
I just didn't care! There was no point to the whole story! Give me something to latch onto and care about. Don't just spew random paragraphs! There was literally whole, big, chunks of paragraphs where there was a list of all the financial aid job options there were, or how the weather was for the whole month of November. I literally do not give a crap at all about the damn weather.
Also, what the hell kind of name is "Shipley"?? No.
Just skip this it's not worth your time or money. Unfortunately I wasted my time and $7.95 on it.
See you soon,