I LOVED this book, I could not put it down. I felt so close to Katie in this book, like I was her best friend and she was telling it all to me herself. I laughed out loud at some of the things she said in her blogs, I rarely laugh out loud when reading. The passion that Katie feels is what pulls me in the most, she feels with every part of her being even though it seems like she tries to deny that to herself. The ending was perfect to me… I know a lot of people did not agree with the ending but it opens you up to imagine what happened with the rest. I finished the book last night and all I can think about is what happened, where is she, was this planned, how do I want her story to end.

Well after reading most of the reviews I guess, you (Allison Burnett) obviously know that most of your readers are upset about the ending of this amazing novel. I’d have to say that although it was bitter end, it was quite an adequate touch! It’s like a fish that got away. You put bait out for your readers, we accepted and we continued reading not knowing what to expect; we get hooked. Then you catch us with this amazing ending!
I’m glad I got to finally finish reading your book! I had bought it december 2009 just before starting my actual college semester which was perfect =) I am definitely recommending your book!
Please keep writing!

I finished this book in three days. If I didn’t have to go to school I probably would have finished it in one! I thought it was extremely good; humourous, dark, cynical, serious and just plain crazy all at the same time. I just really wish the book had some closure. It frustrated me sooooo much that it ended the way it did. I don’t really understand why the author would end it that way. It seems very arbitrary and kind of pointless as well. A great read overall but wouldn’t bother with it again.

I read this book in two days. I could have finished it in one day, but I had to work part of the first day so I didn’t have time to read. I really like this book. I say like and not love because I dont plan on reading it again.
***SPOILER ALERT***
The ending seemed like Allison got bored or something came up so he just killed her off. No pun intended. The whole book is intense, passionate, sexual and a little bit unreal with the way she portrays Katie. I’d recommend this book, but I wouldn’t suggest reading it more than once.

ok. This was an amazing book! UNTIL the end. It just left me pissed off and curious. i really wish the author would have said what actually happened. I loved Katie (or Amy) through the entire thing. Its like she was so real. I really just need a more definite anding for me not be pissed. It was just like “BAM…I’m over now”. But whatever. To each his own i guess.

I just finished reading the book. A friend recommended it to me, and I actually finished the book in an entire day. While reading the book, I was extremly interested and could not put the book down…… but then I got to the ending. The ending of this book was so out of left field. It did not fit in with the rest of the book or go along with the storylne, what so ever. I felt as though Allison Burnett just got lazy and wanted to end the book as fast as possible. It made absolutely no sense to me and now I feel like I have wasted a perfect summer day. If they do make this into a movie, I desperately hope for some closure. I absolutely hate when writers do this, FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!!!

It is funny how ignorance and arrogance are so tightly wound. The ending left me sad, almost depressed because the truth is there are more Katie/Amy’s in this world than most care to know. So we will never know.

I found Undiscovered Gyrl to be fascinating, and allowed the reader to see into the mind of this complex, beautiful, very troubled little girl/young woman.
Some of her actions are more mature than her young age and some are so immature you understand why she is acting or doing what she is though.
As far as the ending, leaves too many questions for the reader, causing me to come to these sites and gain perspective on what may actually have happened. No one has enlightened me.

I too could not put this book down once I started reading it. I hate it when books do that to you… The ending botheted me. I don’t care if it wasn’t a happy one, I just wish it was a more definite one. I can’t stop thinking about it.

I got this book a couple months ago and i finally got the time to actually sit down and read it like i have been planning. I spent my last couple days of spring break reading and not wanting to put the book down at all. I loved it! I can relate so much with the character and i got chills whenever she went through a new “adventure.” I have never completed an actual book in my life and for some reason i had to finish this one! I was so excited to see what would happen in her “new life” but the ending killed it for me! I am dying to know what happens to “Katie” or “Amy.” Overall good book! I have recommended it to my besties already!

WOW!!!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness, I had trouble putting this book down so that I could go to bed and wake up for work the next morning. I was blown away by the brutal honesty that Katie showed through her blogs! I knew girls exactly like this in high school, and I felt like I was Joel Seidler for them, without the suicide part. I really enjoyed this book. I just happened to be at Target looking through what sounded interesting and, MAN, was I satisfied with my choice. Very well written! I would love to check out more work by this author

I just got this book less then two days ago and ate it up. It’s so delicious. The first book I read after I finished my English class. I loved it!

I couldn’t loving and hating Katie at the same time. I even called my BFF guy friend to talk about it. He called her a total skank, BUT she was a skank with real character development. That’s cool coming from him.

All the details matter and Katie’s love life is a bumpy road with warning signs only the reader seems able to see.

Great detail, you get the whole idea without being overwhelmed and right when I started to hate Katie the most BAM another turn, I learn something new and I find myself rooting for her all over again.

Read it and read it all. Do NOT skip ahead. The ending will leave you thinking it over for hours if not days.

I picked this book up at the library today and I just finished reading it. I love the characters and all the situations. But the ending has thrown me for a serious loop. I think i’m going to have to re-read this book one more time.

i would also like to add that i completly suggest this book to all girls near her age. as a girl who is taking time off before going to college i feel for her. especially with things like losing all those people you thought were your friends because they are in college and you are taking time off

I loved this book, i read it in one night because i could not put it down. I have never related to a character as much as i did to “katie”. I cried at the end, and i just hope to have some sort of part two so that it getting the ending it deserves. leaving it the way it was left leaves something to be desired, especially after you learn so much about “katie” and feel so connected to her. i just need to know what happened.

God! My book store in our crappy little mall is going out. (Which is funny because it sounds like somebody else’s review) But I went crazy and just grabbed a whole bunch of books, and yup as you guessed it Undiscovered Gyrl was one of them! I read it within 4 days. I probably would have read it in 1 except school and work suck up my life. I absolutely loved this book, it was so up to date. I felt like I was actually reading this book as somebody’s blog in current today. The only disappointing thing was the ending. I sorta felt like, wow. Writer came close to the deadline? Like they needed to end the book asap. I don’t like my books leaving me hanging. I was totally shocked and a little annoyed. For such an awesome book, shitty ending.

i just recently got the book. but having a full time job and a part time job and im going to school, it has made it a little difficult to sit and enjoy the book. but i have found time to read a few pages a day and SO FAR SO GREAT!!
im super intrigued now i never wanna put the book down. i feel inspired!!:) page 123 here i come.!:D

[Publisher's Note: Spoiler Alert]

This book was really good and i visit this website today only because the cliffhanger at the end still has me thinking. I read this book in TWO days and felt every aspect of the authors detail. I loved it though.

[Publisher's Note: SPOILER ALERT]

I went into my local book store and Of course they are going out of business like most of the book stores in my area. I was just paroosing the shelves seeing what i could find. Books upon Books and 1 of them was Undiscovered Gyrl. I read the back of the book and thought “Hey this is going to be a fantastic book” So i finished it in about a day, which is a record for me. Katie is such a little rebel. From doing thing with 2 older men to random strangers and what not. Reading each blog of hers i fell more in love with this book. Than the ending came and I was shocked and disappointed all at the same time. I love that she “ran away” and her mother starts to blog for help but i did not like the ending. Now i sit here 4 days after i finish the book trying to figure what happened to Katie. Is there going to be a sequel or what? I dislike clif hangers. But all-in-all good book. !!!

i absolutely loved this book. it usually takes me a year or so to read a book…i read this in 5 days. i felt like i could somewhat relate to katie, which was awesome and the books ending just took me by surprise. when i finished it i handed it off to a friend of mine, she finished it in about 4 days and then she passed it off to another friend of ours…great story <3

I love love love stories with shocking endings, and this totally delivered. At first I was a little put off by Katie’s abrasive attitude towards sex and men, but as I read more I grew to love her. I loved this book!

I finished this book in three days, which is pretty good considering I’m a full time art student and part time employee. It was the most fascinating page turner, I have ever read. The ending had me in a complete shock, which I can’t yet decide weather I think it was a good thing or a bad thing…

When i saw this on the shelf i didnt really want it, but then reading the first couples pages i couldnt put it down. I finished it in maybe 3 hours tops. I couldnt believe her life and how sorta kinda maybe its a tad like mine.. It definitely is rated up there as one of my favorite books and as before, im passing it out to all my girlfriends to enjoy and be mind-boggled at the end

[Publisher's Note: Spoiler Alert]

i loved the book, i finished it in 3 days and im not of the readers…
it was scary to me how truthful this book was and at times i thought it was me blogging the story. she really reminded me of myself with a few differneces.
i absolutely loved the book until one line that made me hate it.
i was so shocked when i read the line….i dont care if Hitler is president.
i dont know too much of the Holocaust and im not some crazy zionist but that was just such a crude line considering he did murder over 6 millino jews and plus a few million more.
i hate Obama and yet i loved the way she was so involved with politis and that did nto bother me one bit but the hiler line made me furious with the book not to sya i didnt lvoe it juts i thought that was a poor line and could have easily been replaced with a line a million times better

wow this book was super amaizing!!!i showed it to my freid and he passed it along. the was wow i didnt expect that like to this day i try to figure out what happened to her. me and my friend make up threoris:did she have a lying disorder and just stated makiing stuff up, did dan kill her or was it glen did she really run away whith who did rory have something to do with this oh gosh so many possibilitys!!!!!

[Publisher's note: Spoiler Alert]

This book was fresh, witty, and deep at the same time. The character’s personality was captivating. I would love to read another book about this character. What happened to her? Leaving the cliff-hanger at the end of the book made the book imprint on my mind. I constantly wonder what became of this young girl.

it was so crazy reading this book at first cause she reminded me so much of myself in alot of ways its really the best book ive read yet and even better cause i could relate. love that the book is on point with reality. ive gotten so attached to the character that when i read the ending i really felt pain… pretty amazing. i def. recomend this book.

ciao.
jayd.

Undiscovered Gyrl is a great read for any “gyrl” who is trying to figure her shit out, and make a place in this world for herself. It’s a great read. If you haven’t read it, I highly encourage you to.

[Publisher's note: SPOILER ALERT]

i dnt kno what to say about ug except for it’s one of the best reads i’ve ever had. it was recommended to me by my best friend and im glad i took the advice. once i opened the book i sat down and read it cover to cover and than reread it looking for clues as to who Amy(Katy) really was and trying to sole the puzzle of where our sweet sweet girl was. Alas it seems we never are to know of what exactly happened, but she will continue to lve on in our hearts.

greatest book ever. i love books in format like this, there was no boring parts whatsoever. very curious if there is a sequel though, i hope so, it was soo good!

I read this book one night in the rain, and my mind just wrapped around it, trying to get inside her head. It blew my mind. The ending was totally unexpected. It really helps me in my quest to finding out what a gyrl should and shouldn’t do. I’d love to read it again. Thanks for the great read.

Undiscovered gyrl is an amazing book. Its very intriguing. I could not put it down. I read this book in one night and it was amazing. I need to know what happens!

WOW. This is honestly the most amazing book i have ever read. I just finished it and i had to go online and see if there was any sequel to Undiscovered gyrl. The end killed me. I was literally teared up when the mother began to write. It was a very surprising. I need to know what happens!

holy shit. i just finished reading this book and i am still in shock. so many questions left unanswered. although i hate mournful endings i absolutley LOVED this book. its so real and filled with so much emotion. at times i wished it was a real blog i was reading so i would be able to reach out to katie and help her through her struggles. all i can do is thank allsion burnett for putting this book out into the world. there are millions of katies out there who need to know that theyre not alone.

One of the best books that I have ever read…

WOW. this was one of the most insightful books that I have ever read.I couldnt put it down. It was so REAL and RAW. I feel more intelligent, compassionate, and open, having read this book. Thank you so much for shedding light on the REAL events that occur in a young gYrls life. please tell me that there will be a sequal to this… I need to know what happened!!!!!!!

WOW! just wow….I picked this book up because I have read every other book in my ever-growing collection, thinking that maybe it would mildly entertain me. As I got deeper and deeper into the pages of this book, I was reminded so much of myself as a teenager that I literally could not put it down! Katie took my youth to the extreme….answering so many what ifs that I have always been curious of. I appreciated the realness of the character, the misspellings, the faults that were acknowledged. I finished it about 12 minutes and am still in awe and deeply touched.

i think that this book is the best book that i’ve every read

I couldn’t put this book down! But the last 4 pages utterly confused me. Why so many questions left unanswered? Great book, not so great ending

Why do people blog? In the raw novel UNDISCOVERED GYRL, Katie Kampenfelt, a seventeen year old starts a blog to chronicle her life in the year she takes off between high school and college. The book is formatted like blog entries, giving the reader a voyeuristic look into her escapades. Her real name isn’t Katie, she changes identifying details about herself, friends, and family so she can be completely honest, because “what’s the point of blogging if you’re not going to tell the truth?”

In UNDISCOVERED GYRL, Allison Burnett pulls of an amazing feat. He creates an unlikable narrator and manages to make readers keep turning the pages to discover what happens to her. Reading Kate’s blog is like the gaper delay after a car crash on the highway, you feel bad for looking but can’t stop the impulse.

Read the rest of the review here:
http://bookreview.mostlyfiction.com/2009/undiscovered-gyrl-by-allison-burnett/

[Publisher's Note: Spoiler Alert]

i agree with morgan, i read it in about three days..it was an amazing book, i could not put it down. the ending was a little unexpected, when i read that first sentence from her mother stating that she was missing my heart just dropped, that’s the most emotion i’ve felt towards a book.

I’m concerned. A girl like you needs structure.” Just what Katie Kampenfelt wanted to hear from her English teacher the day she informed her that she was NOT going to college and that she wanted to take a year off to discover herself. And although she could only think of getting away from her teacher she remembered some advice that was given to her; start a journal or a blog so that she could look back on her year and learn from her experiences.

Initially Katie rebuked the idea of blogging for she could not stand the idea of recording the mundane nuances of everyday life. So she decided to only post about things that really mattered. Little did she know that her “life” would become so interesting to others. Yet, who would not find it fascinating? A young girl fresh out of high school who honestly journals about her provocative adventures and the tangled mess of her life that for all her popularity is shrouded in loneliness and heartbreak.

As the blog begins we soon realize that Katie is dating one guy while sneaking out and seducing an older man. A fact she feels guilty about but not enough to stop. She has no will power which she freely admits and you witness this in many situations especially the one where she is attracted to her boss because you know where it is going. Katie’s bizarre friendship with her BFF jade seems to only exist because they are both attractive but don’t like the same type of guys and they love to get drunk and high. Perfect! Also, Katie’s fractured relationship with her father is painful to witness, a dead beat dad who is slowly killing himself with booze and whose crude jokes are the only form of conversation he can ever seem to manage.

Katie’s blog is getting more popular and yet she feels more and more alone. You can see the recklessness of her actions take root and overwhelm her but through it all she manages to keep going, trying to find the true meaning to her life and true love.

My Thoughts (spoilery involved)

I did not know much about this book prior to reading it. I read the blurb, visited the website and became intrigued. When I was asked if I could review it naturally I said yes. I was curious to see how an older gentleman could write about being a teen aged girl.

Upon finishing Undiscovered Gyrl I was left a bit perplexed and sad. I had just laid witness to Katie’s life. Seen her struggle with horrible relationships, alcohol abuse and poor judgement calls…but towards the end you can see that she was getting better. Katie was taking control of her life and you wanted to see her succeed, then it gets cut short and you feel as if you have been pushed to the edge and then left there, awaiting the next step that will never come.

Undiscovered girl is brutally frank, at times funny and shocking. A page turner into voyeurism that I wanted to know what would happen next. I have to admit I would cringe at times because some situations were so painful to witness. I could see that Katie was going down such a dark path and with each entry I did not know what would unfold before my eyes. Heartbreaking that she wanted to share her life with the world, but she did not ever want to be discovered a fact that one day haunt those around her…especially when she disappears.

Undiscovered Gyrl is an interesting read but not one that I would recommend to my 14 year old godchild due to it’s strong sexual situations, drug and alcohol use. I did find the story a bit harsh for younger teens but could see how adults would enjoy it.

This is a story of a 17/18 your old girl who starts a blog about her life. She talks about the typical teenage things but she also has a darker side.

The blog format in which this book was written is very different from your usual novel style. I actually like it it made it more believable and real.

The Main character was not a likeable person in fact you start to hate here. She is the epitome of someone you would loathe. She was amoral, selfish and very hateful. She cared for no one but herself. Then after awhile as you learn more about her you start to pity her.

In the end I would recommend this book to an older teenager because I think it teaches a lesson. I think person should read this and discuss this with their teenage daughters.

When I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself: if it were possible for a book and a film to have a torrid love affair (J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Party Girl, respectively), their offspring might look something like Undiscovered Gyrl. I was completely engrossed from page one devoured this book in one sitting. It thrilled me, shocked me, captivated me, and made me laugh—often and out loud! I have a hunch this book is going to be very, very successful and I sure hope Allison Burnett is adapting it for a screenplay.

The voice of Katie Kampenfelt is so absolutely authentic that it is hard to believe this book is a work of fiction…and that’s a good thing. Katie is impulsive, witty, naïve, wanton, intelligent and unapologetic. She decides to defer college for a year to “discover her bliss” and documents that time in a blog…an anonymous blog. The result is hauntingly, painfully honest (and hysterically sarcastic) window into her soul.

There’s a broad appeal to Undiscovered Gyrl, it is enjoyable on the surface as YA fiction and yet profound enough to become classic coming of age literature. This book is funny and entertaining, relatable and relevant. It flawlessly captures the usual struggles of youth magnified today by the internet, texting, and the other “always available” technologies of this generation. At a deeper level, it is frank and inadvertently cautionary without being preachy or artificial in any way. There is one thing that bothered me about this book that unfortunately I cannot discuss without being a spoiler. I will just say that without that one part, the book is superb, and with it, it’s still a great read with one unfortunate and annoying blemish.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it is supremely clever and extremely readable. Bravo, Allison Burnett!

At first, Allison Burnett’s Undiscovered Gyrl appears to be the tale of a seemingly wild, superficial teenage girl, preoccupied with sex, alcohol and her own beauty. Written in blog-form by Burnett’s protagonist (who uses the pen name Katie), Undiscovered Gyrl draws the reader into Katie’s chaotic life, which includes her abusive boyfriend, Rory; Dan, the 32-year-old professor with whom she’s in love and having an affair; her alcoholic, cirrhotic father; a registered sex offender named Glen; her drug-addicted best friend Jade; a troubled ex-classmate named Joel; and a family called the Spooners, for whom she begins working as a nanny.

What Undiscovered Gyrl is actually about, however, is the loneliness of youth, the childhood traumas that shape our adult lives, and the often all-consuming need to be loved. Katie, beneath the reckless behavior and shallow attitude that she originally displays, wants desperately to find something to live for — she just happens to be looking in all the wrong places.

I read Undiscovered Gyrl in one sitting, and found myself shaken to my very core upon turning the last page. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, this novel, because it’s so much deeper (and darker) than it first appears. An excellent, thought-provoking book that will remain with you long after Katie’s story ends…

I can not wait to get this book I’m dieing to read. Seems very interesting.

I can not wait to get the book seems amazing

Undiscovered Girl by Allison Burnett is a searing and poignant portrayal of a very lost child. Burnett has written an excellent twenty-first century sequel to Go Ask Alice, the 1970s novel about a young woman lost to drugs. This time round, teenage-hood in all its modern dimensions is even more alienating and dangerous because of its duality: connection is offered through online blogging but the utter anonymity of online communication renders such connection ineffectual, and even worse, damaging in how it empowers the most destructive of behavior while offering no reward for moderation in action or reflection.

Katie, the narrator, begins blogging to document her year off after high school. She quickly becomes absorbed by the blogging, a vehicle for both invention and venting, and her blog becomes hugely popular due to its outrageousness, its sexual details, and its intimate sharing on family and friends. Katie is gratified by the popularity and feels both validated and understood. But the support and understanding seemingly offered by her online community is anonymous and amorphous; the empowerment she feels blogging leads her away from some good decisions and gives positive reenforcement to some bad ones; even negative reenforcement, as when her readers disapprove of her actions, makes Katie only more stubborn and self-destructive.

Katie provoked feelings of utter impatience, undeniable disgust, and keening protectiveness. As the mother of teenagers, my stomach clenched while Katie missiled towards catalcysm, and like all parents, I clutched at straws of hope that she would brake, stop, assess, and save herself. Her own mother, trying to rebuild her own life after marriage to an alcoholic and years of financial struggle, is painfully unaware of what her daughter is going through on a daily basis; only her blogging community knows but they don’t really know Kate at all, as much as they read her and comment back to her. They are behind a barrier of anonymity and cannot reach her; her mother is behind another barrier of disconnection, and her friends (so-called) and lovers are behind yet another, one built of selfishness and deceit. It is only a matter of time before those barriers become walls of enclosure and suffocation, yellow tapes marking the scene of disaster, with Katie in the center of it all.

My absolute favorite line of this book: “Marriage is sacred only to those who have never been married.”

But I can’t stop there. There are so many painfully disturbing snatches of precocious wit and fierce honesty in this work it’s difficult to just pick one stand-out moment. I am undone by this book. Completely–there is no adequate word other than–WOWED by what it puts forth in incendiary print. This read will takes me days to shake off–it’s that strong a book. I finished it and was like, “What the F*%^!” The end is a brilliantly clever plot twist that made me in turns both excited and furious. Did I know Katie at all? Was Katie lying to me the entire time? Was her entire life a construct of her destructively vivid imagination? Did she romanticize everything in her world because the banal truth was too under-stimulating for her to take? Did Katie betray me, or was it me that got duped, believing her when she made every attempt to warm me that “honesty is a lie?” I swear, Allison Burnett–yes, folks, he IS a guy–crafted the character of Katie, an eighteen year-old girl with such spot-on accuracy it’s downright eerie. Creepy as some of Katie’s boy toys. Burnett stands to become this generation’s Gustave Flaubert of YA lit (rhymes with clit. Ha! …OK, I’m getting a little Katie crazy here but I feel like this is something she would say). His ability is striking, breathtaking. If you’ve been Katie, are Katie, known a Katie then you must must must READ this gorgeously written, sometimes maddening account of one teenage girl’s dangerous descent into darkness. Wow wow WOW.

It’s a great book – the perfect 1st person blovel – that’s blog and novel – for the Anonymity Age. It’s not only a great character study – the voice authentic and charming, smart, funny, haunting – but it’s a very clever piece of meta-fiction that poses questions about morality and identity – as well as what is “true” about fiction. But the clever exploration of form does not detract from the powerful content. There’s real emotional truth in this piece of superior fiction!

Wow! What can I say? I opened this book and was instantly sucked in. I seriously couldn’t put it down! *much to my husband’s amusement!* I first was slightly annoyed at the format of the book but that quickly vanished. Katie’s story is told via blog entry. Each entry progresses the story of her life. I really liked Katie. She was both interesting and relate-able. The story reads fast, most likely because of the blog format but you don’t feel like you are missing anything. Like she says, she only “posts” the important stuff that people need to know. There’s not unnecessary chatter just the straight facts. This one kept me flipping the pages! The ending is..well you need to get your hands on this book. It’s got a release date of August 11, 2009. You won’t be disappointed!

I came into reading Undiscovered Gyrl, expecting a chick-lit book. And I was duly rewarded. However, under the veneer of a slick, techno-hip premise, and occasionally shocking language is a tragic, enthralling book. As others have mentioned the ending tends to stick with you. Yet it is the tragic and hypnotic way that the main character describes her life that gives the narrative added depth. I highly recommend it to both genders.

(From the Publisher: Spoiler Alert)

posted at InSearchofGiants.com and Goodreads.com:
From the publisher:

Beautiful, wild, funny, and lost, Katie Kampenfelt is taking a year off before college to find her passion. Ambitious in her own way, Katie intends to do more than just smoke weed with her boyfriend, Rory, and work at the bookstore. She plans to seduce Dan, a thirty-two-year-old film professor. 

It seems like a great idea, an awesome book along the lines of If I Stay or Wintergirls.  Just watch the trailer:

The publisher  continues:

Katie chronicles her adventures in an anonymous blog, telling strangers her innermost desires, shames, and thrills. But when Dan stops taking her calls, when her alcoholic father suffers a terrible fall, and when she finds herself drawn into a dangerous new relationship, Katie’s fearless narrative begins to crack, and dark pieces of her past emerge. 

Sexually frank, often heartbreaking, and bursting with devilish humor, Undiscovered Gyrl is an extraordinarily accomplished novel of identity, voyeurism, and deceit. 

Vintage itself has mounted a “huge, strange online campaign” fueled by social networking as its marketing strategy, complete with its own little army of grassroots publicists.

The biggest problem I have with this whole hoopla is that, while undiscovered gyrl is being marketed as a YA book, it’s really an exercise in postmodern reflection that should only be undertaken with discussion and analysis.

In a book group or an English class or with a friend over coffee.

If you like (and understand) J.D. Salinger, this is the book for you.  Allison Burnett definitely seems to be the next Salinger.

I do not at all care for Salinger.

Though it will not be released until August 11, undiscovered gyrl has already caused a buzz in entertainment news because of the alleged reports last summer that Miley Cyrus will play the protagonist – even in the nude (Cyrus denies it as an internet rumor) in the movie version (something I’ve difficulty conceptualizing.  The movie, not Miley.)

Some bloggers (like Melissa) love undiscovered gyrl, some hate it (Holly is one), some find it disturbing (like Kelly does).  Some aren’t sure.  Reviews can be submitted by site users at the original undiscovered gyrl site.

However, I can find few who have really analyzed it.  I’m not ready to do so here because so few people have read it yet.  But I will say that if you need a topic for a paper, the societal perceptions Burnett invokes by using the word “gyrl” is a good place to start.  And that I’m absolutely astonished at the number of people who say they can “relate to Katie.”

You may remember that I questioned the validity of a white man writing a black point of view.  Well, how about a middle-aged man writing as a teenage girl?  Yes, that’s right.   Allison Burnett is a man.

So much more about the novel makes sense, knowing that.  It shouldn’t, I understand.  An author’s genitalia have nothing to do with plot and structure and style.  But what I perceived as poor characterization instead is explained by gyrl’s publicist, as intentional to a

novel [that] keeps readers guessing as to the identity of its narrator by “putting traditional point of view on its head and playing around with the major identity issues of our age.”

It’s the whole point.   Burnett is a precipient interpreter of postmodern life.  To stop at the surface story is to miss the entire point of undiscovered gyrl.

Bottom line? I didn’t care for this book, and I can’t get it out of my head.  I can’t even say that about Catcher in the Rye, which so failed to elicit response from me that I forgot it pretty quickly.  I might decide I like undiscovered gyrl (though I doubt it.)  I need someone with whom I can marinate on it.

UNDISCOVERED GYRL is a book you will never forget. After reading it last night, I have been consumed by the thrilling, tragic and titillating world of Katie Kampenfelt. I ferociously devoured each page as if doing so was both a danger and an indulgence, until I found myself at the last two pages, when my jaw dropped. Trust me-this book will rock your world. Burnett, with his fearless wit and humor, and his heartbreaking poignance, has ingeniously crafted for us a completely unique heroine: Katie is unlike anyone I have ever “met” before. Now, that word is important because I am confident that like I did, so many girls will finish this book feeling as though they truly have met and gotten to intimately know one of the most fascinating, complex, and troubled characters ever. Katie has as much beauty as she has flaws, and I am beyond sure that readers everywhere will resonate with that. Anonymous and uncharted, Katie is any girl and every girl. She is the best and the worst of all of us. This is the sort of book that women will read in one sitting, then reread often to feel as though they too are not alone.

I think i’ve seen this somewhere before…but it’s not bad at all

In UNDISCOVERED GYRL Allison Burnett illustrates a dynamic teenage girl that chronicles her experiences as she tries to find her space in the world after high school graduation. The voice of Katie is authentic. As we get to know her through her open and honest postings on her blog, we want to know her even better. Upon completion UNDISCOVERED GYRL will leave you wishing your relationship with Katie didn’t have to end.

I read UNDISCOVERED GYRL in a single sitting and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Katie Kampenfelt is raunchy, defensive, vulnerable, and honest (we think), and I found myself simultaneously loving and hating her with every turn of the page. This book speaks so well to our world today, as people are building their personalities not only in life, but online – it cautions us, and sometimes feels all too real.

I was sucked into this voyeuristic mess from page one. Katie Kampenfelt is seventeen, and already everthing our mothers warned us about. Her blog chronicles her excessive drinking and drug use, her sexcapades with her boyfriend and the older man she’s sleeping with, and fantasies about her boss. The style, while gimmicky, is relevant – everyone has a blog, everyone thinks their life is newsworthy. And while Katie’s blog is indeed different from the rest, what she’s writing is nothing you would want for anyone close to you. Like a bad reality show, you can’t stop watching. But unlike said reality show, Undiscovered girl is cleverly written, culturally important, and the perfect summer read for young fans of transgressive literature. It’s like Bridget Jones, if Bridget were a mal-adjusted, alcoholic, promiscuous teenager. And while most moms of actual seventeen year olds would be horrified to find this book in their daughter’s room, you can bet the daring teens will be sneaking around to trade it with their friends.

What a sad person the character Katie is! I don’t relate to her — she has no ability to make good decisions. She has no self-esteem. Her least dangerous vice is smoking “regular” cigarettes! I don’t understand why her mother doesn’t have more control over her! And why on earth would a “professor” allow a drug-addicted 17-year-old to be his nanny???
I did not appreciate the anti-God slander — how ridiculous for the author to write that the “birth of Jesus Christ is a myth”! Are you kidding?? Even non-religious people know that there was a man whose name was Jesus & he did live and was a prophet. The Katie character needed religion in her life desperately!
(Spoiler Alert Warning) I found the ending shocking, but very disappointing — I don’t want to guess what happened to Katie.

This book by Allison Burnett hooked me right away. It is impossible to tell that this is a novel, it is authentic, funny and heartbreaking all at the same time.
Burnett captures the inner life of a teenage girl in the age of the internet when growing up seems to have become even more complicated than it already was. It is a book you cannot put down.

Wow. Just…wow. This book is phenomenal. I read it in less than a day, and can think of at least half a dozen women I want to share this with. I think it’ll be huge, and will stand as a lasting social record. I can’t think of any woman who wouldn’t identify with Katie, and the end is truly shocking. I’m going to be thinking about Katie for a long, long time.

I read this last night and literally couldn’t stop—I was up until 2am. Basically, I think this is compulsively readable and unique in a lot of ways. It has the voyeuristic qualities one gets from spending time on something like Facebook, or, of course, reading someone’s blog, but the format allows you to become sucked into the story, the way renting an entire season of a favorite tv show on dvd leads to an evening of consuming each and every episode. What’s intriguing about this is the voice Burnett has managed to create for Katie, which is rich and so appropriately teenage girlish—the slang, the language, the mood swings, the over-the-top emotional nature—it all works really well. It reminds me of reading GO ASK ALICE.

I was totally mesmerized by UNDISCOVERED GYRL by Allison Burnett. Katie, our blogger, is brash, raunchy, obscene, and somehow completely sympathetic and vulnerable. She is naturally beautiful and intelligent, but without any strong parental guidance (her parents are divorced—her mom’s a pushover and her dad’s a drunk), she runs wild. She drinks, she smokes, she sleeps around…. Katie is clearly a mess, but as I mentioned before she’s got spunk and attitude and a charming self-awareness. She knows what she’s doing is wrong and abnormal for a teenager, but she can’t help herself. The blog format brings a real immediacy and candor to the novel and makes Katie really come to life.

I read it straight through—on trains, buses, at dinner, whenever I had a second—and was always happy, if not slightly eager, to return to it. I liked the narrator’s voice. I also like that this taps into a number of contemporary issues surrounding the internet—privacy, identity, safety, etc.