The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life

Written by Tara Altebrando

Narrated by Ali Ahn

Tara Altebrando won glowing praise for her novel Dreamland Social Club, including a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life follows high school senior Mary and her friends as they compete for eternal glory in their small town's scavenger hunt. Mary is determined to win-especially after losing her spot at Georgetown to ''it'' guy Jake Barbone. But when alliances shift and all manner of drama breaks loose, Mary's team must come up with a new strategy to stay in the game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781464049064

Tara Altebrando

Tara Altebrando is the author of several middle grade and teen novels, including The Leaving and Roomies, an ALA 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, co-written with Sara Zarr. She lives in New York City with her family. www.taraaltebrando.com @TaraAltebrando

Reviews for The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life

[magiccapslock · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5/5

Confession: I've never played in a scavenger hunt before. Never had the opportunity, since they aren't popular here. (But that's why we read, don't we? To experience.)

By the time I was reading the rules of the competition, I knew it was going to be fun and I wouldn't be able to put it down. It was crazy fun and crazy exciting and with all the point counting and strategizing (not to mention the drama), just plain crazy! There were times I couldn't wait to finish the page and turn to the next, to see what happened in the competition. But I had calmed down my pacing at the second part of the scav hunt.

If the first half of the scav hunt drove me crazy, the second half made me reminisce about high school.

(I'm becoming a fan of the It Happened in One Night (or 24 Hours) trope.)

[thebooklife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love scavenger hunts. SO much. The reason I initially added this book to my TBR is because it reminded me of high school. Ours weren't quite to the scale of the scavenger hunt in this book, but my friends and I used to do them when we were in high school. While reading about Mary and her friends, on their adventure, I could totally picture myself right there with them. This book was a ton of fun and I really loved hanging out with Mary and her friends. I especially loved Patrick and his suspenders! Most of the story was the kids riding around town, following clues, and finding things on their lists, but it was also the end of high school for these kids so we also got some serious, what am I going to do about my future stuff. It had a good balance of fun high school antics and serious coming of age moments. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a fun read for the summer! It's got a little bit of everything and it's such a fun adventure. I don't think there is going to be a sequel, or companion novel, but I would love to read about next year's scavenger hunt!

[superducky · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book just... Oh this book. I didn't like anyone. Seriously, I hated them all. Mary is crazy and obsessed with Carson, who's in love with Winter, who's also in love with Carson, while Patrick is in love with Mary, who isn't in love with Patrick, and Dez is just kind of in love with himself. That's what this book was about. It wasn't about an epic scavenger hunt that changed them forever, it was about some stupid fucked up love square with a little bit of scavenger thrown in to keep things interesting. Mary is crazy, Carson is a cheater, Winter is a cheater, Patrick is just kind of odd, and Dez is just.. Dez. I think the only person I could even consider liking is Dez. Why? Because he's not fucking batshit like Mary. Mary was seriously the worst YA character ever. I'm not kidding when I said that she was obsessed with Carson. She kept talking about how he was hers, and about how she knew that he secretly loved her, and how Carson's girlfriend, Jill, was getting in the way of their love. Then when she found out that Carson was in love with Winter, she was just like "THAT BITCH STOLE MY MAN! HE IS MINE AND HE WILL LOVE ME!" and she just got so much crazier. She's just so so so crazy. The only real distinguishable character in the book was Mary, and that's because she's lost ALL of her fucking marbles. Oh, and at the end when they stole their Principal's car? No. Just no. This book gets no happy faces from me.

[ilikethesebooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tara Altebrando's previous novel, Dreamland Social Club (see review), is a bit of a hidden gem - a book I really enjoyed but not a lot of people know about. Because of my that, my hopes for this new novel were very high. The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life read differently from her first, but there was the same rich voice of a main character, and quirky action that I loved from Altebrando's writing. This novel is a very quick read, and I would definitely recommend it.Whenever I think of "scavenger hunt", usually an image of the movie "Sleepover" comes to mind. If you haven't seen the movie, you should, but if you have - and loved it - you should jump at the opportunity to get yourself this novel. Best Night is basically one big scavenger hunt, rules and lists included. The tasks/items range from the ordinary, the difficult, the silly, and the down-right ridiculous, making for a really entertaining read.As I was reading, I really connected with the characters and the hunt. I felt the anxiety and excitement of the hunt, the importance of it, right along with them. I was actually surprised by how much life was fit into the story. It is largely about a scavenger hunt, yes, but there was so much more going on for the rest of the characters: A new romance, a scandal, gay bashing, hospital visits, and an overwhelming desire to have the "good guys" win just once. This hunt means so much the the characters than it seems at first, an unexpected, but welcomed, depth.Overall, if you're looking for a fun read, (possibly even a transition between two crazy worlds) I say you pick up The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life. It could very easily be read in one sitting.