Brilliant

By Rachel Vail

Everything is going to be fine . . . .

Quinn Avery can handle change. It's just paint, right? Bright, blinding white paint covering her once dazzling red bedroom walls. Quinn knows she shouldn't be angry at her mom—she's doing what she must to sell the house—but still, Quinn is beyond mad, and she doesn't know what to do about it.

Until now, Quinn was doing a pretty good job at pretending to be her old self—calm and brilliant Avery daughter, responsible big sister to Allison and Phoebe, piano virtuoso, girl who makes everyone proud—but without the sanctuary of her room, a new, wild Quinn is emerging. Lying, sneaking out, partying, Quinn is practically asking to get caught. When Quinn adds kissing the wrong boys—including her sister's boyfriend and her own piano teacher—to her list of crimes, has she gone too far to save herself?

Brilliant, the final book in Rachel Vail's critically acclaimed sisterhood series, which includes Lucky and Gorgeous, follows Quinn through a summer of change as she discovers that while letting go is never easy, hanging on can be even harder. Witty and poignant, Brilliant is the perfect ending to this addictive trilogy of interconnected sister stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Release date: May 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9780061995842

Rachel Vail

Rachel Vail is the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed novels If We Kiss and Lucky, Gorgeous, and Brilliant (the Avery sisters trilogy) and more than a dozen other novels for young teens, including the Friendship Ring series. Rachel has also written many beloved picture books, including Piggy Bunny and Sometimes I'm Bombaloo, and two hit novels for elementary school kids, Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters; and Justin Case: Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom. Rachel lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

Reviews for Brilliant

[jadestar31 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was my least favourite of the three novels in the Avery Sisters trilogy. From the beginning, I had a hard time relating to Quinn. In fact, she came out sounding like a very selfish, small person and I was surprised that Rachel Vail decided to paint her that way. Allison and Phoebe turned out to be better representations than the versions they were viewed as, but Quinn turned out to be much worse. She was painted as fake – “the ultimate con girl”. I wasn’t able to connect with the ultimate con girl. I also can’t connect with the girl who kissed her sister’s boyfriend.In an effort to remain brilliant, zen, understanding Quinn, she goes a little overboard. Most of the choices she made were just so bad. I know teenagers make bad choices, but Quinn made them all in one night, which really felt unrealistic. I had a little sympathy for her, but honestly not much. I can understanding how heartbreaking it is to lose your sense of self and not know who you are and where you fit into the world. I can even sympathize with losing possessions that represent important moments and memories in your life. I just think Quinn didn’t handle the loss very well. Going to a party and getting drunk seem like really poor ways at showing your displeasure and your anger at your parents.Overall, not a great book. Okay if you want to kill some time.

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I left this for too long, I'd forgotten the details from the previous two books, I bet they'd be smashing to read all in a row. Regardless, I enjoyed Quinn's story on its own - it was really easy to empathise with Quinn's resentment at being the 'easy child' the one who is strong and not allowed to be upset when their family is turned upside down. I also liked the realistic picture of Quinn's parents here, we see them through Quinn's eyes as she realised that they are deeply flawed, but that she still loves them. The romance didn't light me on fire, but it wasn't awful.