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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Listened to the audiobook (read by Anne Hathaway!!) after not finishing many dud books and it was it holds up!!! Still very fun and honestly all the characters are better than the movie because they are worse people (tiny mean French grandmere with tattooed eyeliner vs wholesome Julie Andrews) and therefore funnier.
I really lived this read. I remember reading this when i was young but I can’t remember if I actually finished it. I wish i did now, this brought me so much joy. I couldn’t help but have Anne Hathaway narrate the book in my head though.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
At first I wasn’t enjoying this book. Having watched the films growing up (and still watching them repeatedly at 23), all I could focus on was the differences which I know isn’t a fair judgement but I didn’t like how they portrayed “Julie Andrew’s” character of Clarisse or that Joe was not Joe ! However, I was determined to finish the book if only out of love for the film and I’m really glad I did because despite the differences, I came to enjoy the book and want to continue the series. Though, if Nicholas doesn’t make an appearance somewhere down the line, my tween heart will be crushed!
It was a sweet read, i probably wont carry it on as it was a little bit too young minded for me but still very funny, definitely great for a teen girl!!!!!
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So cute! I loved it! Is also much better than the movie, I might add...
I didn't have the nostalgia of having read this series as a teenager, so take everything i say with a huge grain of salt, but I do love love love the movies. It's a 4 stars only because I recognise the book isn't for me, so I feel like it's unfair to be super harsh. And for what it is and who it's for, I think this would be pretty great, and I am a sucker for nostalgia.
*Very Mild* Spoilers Below!
As an adult, the book has merit, some/most of the characters are insufferable, but also they are teenagers, so they get a pass. Similarly with the "im not like other girls" trope, its a book for teenagers so it gets a major pass for me, also who as a teenager didn't think "they werent like other girls", especially in the early 2000s.
Not loving the weirdly casual mention of paedophilia and the (very brief) sexual assault/harassment of her grandma at the end (its a children's book so framing this in a neutral to funny light is problematic to me), i found it a little jarring whenever it was just tossed into the scene. Also the fatphobia in this book is rampant which I found super jarring as well, listing Tina's weight as a reason she doesn't have friends and on multiple occassions made me hate Mia (also wild that Mia would comment on Tina's lack of friends when she herself has no one to sit with when her and lily are in a fight. like girl. projecting much ???) Also, i didn't love how hard Lily went for the deli owners over "racism,"" claims. That whole thing was just infuriating and unnecessary and felt very reverse racism-ey. like a fairly wealthy girl in a New York private school who lives in New York with her well-off parents, where they have a chef and a cleaner, is going hard after a local deli for 5c, idkkkkk. something there feels a little icky to me. You can't talk about a class divide between the rich and the poor while actively benefiting from that system and not mention it or just gloss over the fact that you are upholding that. Her preachiness was too much for me.
Some characters are fairly different to the movie (lol, grandma, most of all), but most are pretty similar. Her melodramatic response to everything is pretty funny, and it's mild drama, which I enjoyed. All in all, I'm not sure I will be running off to read books 2-10, but maybe in the future sometime, I'm not striking it out as a future possibility.
I listened to this as an audiobook, and having Anne Hathaway as the narrator was lovely.
*Very Mild* Spoilers Below!
As an adult, the book has merit, some/most of the characters are insufferable, but also they are teenagers, so they get a pass. Similarly with the "im not like other girls" trope, its a book for teenagers so it gets a major pass for me, also who as a teenager didn't think "they werent like other girls", especially in the early 2000s.
Not loving the weirdly casual mention of paedophilia and the (very brief) sexual assault/harassment of her grandma at the end (its a children's book so framing this in a neutral to funny light is problematic to me), i found it a little jarring whenever it was just tossed into the scene. Also the fatphobia in this book is rampant which I found super jarring as well, listing Tina's weight as a reason she doesn't have friends and on multiple occassions made me hate Mia (also wild that Mia would comment on Tina's lack of friends when she herself has no one to sit with when her and lily are in a fight. like girl. projecting much ???) Also, i didn't love how hard Lily went for the deli owners over "racism,"" claims. That whole thing was just infuriating and unnecessary and felt very reverse racism-ey. like a fairly wealthy girl in a New York private school who lives in New York with her well-off parents, where they have a chef and a cleaner, is going hard after a local deli for 5c, idkkkkk. something there feels a little icky to me. You can't talk about a class divide between the rich and the poor while actively benefiting from that system and not mention it or just gloss over the fact that you are upholding that. Her preachiness was too much for me.
Some characters are fairly different to the movie (lol, grandma, most of all), but most are pretty similar. Her melodramatic response to everything is pretty funny, and it's mild drama, which I enjoyed. All in all, I'm not sure I will be running off to read books 2-10, but maybe in the future sometime, I'm not striking it out as a future possibility.
I listened to this as an audiobook, and having Anne Hathaway as the narrator was lovely.