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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
I'm surprised I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. There wasn't much substance to what was happening. There was SOOO much jam-packed into such a small book. Te dialogue was atrocious. The younger of the two sisters was seven, but spoke like a twenty year old. Very seldom did she appear to be her age. The only dialogue that was believable was through the main character and her best guy friend. Occasionally the mother, but not very often. Also, I felt like there was too much sarcasm thrown in there. I felt as though Elizabeth Eulberg tried to make me laugh too much with how it was written. Far too many parenthesis and snide comments that was supposed to be the main character's voice. I'm a girl who is all about sarcasm when it comes to me talking with friends, but I was annoyed. There's a way to make a character funny and sarcastic without shoving it in every paragraph. Too much voice without telling me anything other than Lexie, the main character, can make a joke. No detail about anything. Way too much was left up to my imagination. Sometimes, I had to go back and re-read things to understand what I just read. I don't want to spoil the ending, so I'll just say that you cannot have a character act one way throughout the entire book and then have the character change drastically. It makes the character unbelievable and that's how I felt about one character. It's too much of a "you didn't expect that did ya?" moment. I've always enjoyed her books, but this one was seriously disappointed. I won't be lending this out to any friends to read any time soon.
A very nicely written novel about coming of age girls. Kind of reminds me of Mean Girls (movie) but was definitely glammed up with different twists and glitter in the form of BEAUTY PAGEANTS.
Great characters, fast-moving plot, zippy dialogue, and an all-too-believable dilemma: Should Lexi change her looks in order to fit in? And if she suddenly gets attention from all the cute boys once she puts on a little make-up, should she feel flattered... or insulted? Is being known as the girl with a great personality really such a terrible fate after all? I thought this young adult novel was terrific. The main character comes across as a tremendously capable and likeable girl, struggling with a difficult home life, who has to make some tough choices -- for herself and for her family. You might look at the cover of this book and assume that its messages are the obvious (beauty is only skin deep, for starters), but I found that there's a lot more here than meets the eye. Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is certainly funny and entertaining, but it also provides a good amount of food for thought. Highly recommended.
Review copy courtesy of Scholastic via Netgalley.
(Complete review now up on my blog.)
Review copy courtesy of Scholastic via Netgalley.
(Complete review now up on my blog.)
I heavily identified with Lexi in this book and think it's one that girls and women of all ages should read. The message the author conveys about loving yourself how you are is one that needs to be repeated in today's society time and time again.
This book was more than I was expecting it would be. I thought it might be ok but it was more than that. It was a story of self-acceptance, friendship, and love.
2.5 stars. I felt like every character in the book possessed a completely fluid personality depending entirely on what they needed to be for the plot. Therefore, everyone swings wildly from being horrid and totally unlikable to sympathetic and worthy of affection.
Also, now I've read two books in a row where the mother of the protagonist is simply awful and evil!
Also, now I've read two books in a row where the mother of the protagonist is simply awful and evil!
"Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" was such a fun read with a funny and smart main character at its heart. Since her parents' divorce, Lexi Anderson has been living in the shadows of her broken family. With her father living in Houston and her mother and younger sister Mackenzie living in the pageant world of glitz and glamor, Lexi feels left out in more ways than one. With the encouragement of her friend Benny, Lexi decides to step up and make some changes which gain her the attention of the Beautiful People (and her mother and Mackenzie) and win her her first romantic conquest, Taylor friggin' Riggins. But, as Lexi becomes more 'liked' by the Popular People she realizes that all is not well and that sometimes changes can be made for the wrong reasons. Sometimes its good, better even, to aspire to the label of a girl with a 'great personality'. Maybe the "moment when the Great Girls inherit the earth" (14) is actually closer than anyone, Lexi included, could ever think.
In this book, Elizabeth Eulberg introduces a strong character who is just as susceptible to girlish dreams and ideals as the next girl, but who eventually realizes that sometimes ideals are just that: ideals. In doing so, I found "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" refreshing, encouraging and realistic. Although Lexi does momentarily get caught up in the Beautiful People and their fake world (and, c'mon, who honestly wouldn't?!), she eventually realizes that this fake world merely acts as a screen that hides the deep insecurities of girls like Brooke, guys like Logan, and women like her mother. By the end of the book, Lexi realizes and accepts that she can't continue to run away from or ignore everything, particularly when it comes to her mother and her pageant obsession or girls like Brooke and her hateful backstabbing antics, and courageously addresses both head-on. In "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" Lexi learns balance and gains the courage to be herself, and this, combined with her great personality (of course! ;) ), makes her an unforgettable character who is a beacon of hope for all those Great Girls out there.
In this book, Elizabeth Eulberg introduces a strong character who is just as susceptible to girlish dreams and ideals as the next girl, but who eventually realizes that sometimes ideals are just that: ideals. In doing so, I found "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" refreshing, encouraging and realistic. Although Lexi does momentarily get caught up in the Beautiful People and their fake world (and, c'mon, who honestly wouldn't?!), she eventually realizes that this fake world merely acts as a screen that hides the deep insecurities of girls like Brooke, guys like Logan, and women like her mother. By the end of the book, Lexi realizes and accepts that she can't continue to run away from or ignore everything, particularly when it comes to her mother and her pageant obsession or girls like Brooke and her hateful backstabbing antics, and courageously addresses both head-on. In "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" Lexi learns balance and gains the courage to be herself, and this, combined with her great personality (of course! ;) ), makes her an unforgettable character who is a beacon of hope for all those Great Girls out there.
Meh. I thought this would be another clever Austen fanfic like Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice. Not clever, unfortunately. Protagonist just comes off as whiny - a quick read but not that compelling. Too bad- potential wasted.
yummy, soft ginger cookies.
Cover Love: It's okay. I don't love it but I also don't hate it.
Why I Wanted to Read This:
I just adore Elizabeth Eulberg. She writes good contemporary girl power novels.
Romance?: Yes! But it's not the main plot point.
My Thoughts:
Lexi was awesome. She was smart and self-aware, even though she didn't have a lot of confidence in her looks. She gives some awesome speeches in the end of this book, cutting down a mean girl like anyone who was tormented by a mean girl always wishes they did! It was just refreshing by the end to see her stand up for herself and let all those great thoughts she was having come out!
Lexi's poor mom, she was the hardest character to read in this book. I just wanted to shake her and make her see what she was doing to her daughters. She is so mired in her own sadness and disappointment--living through Mackenzie is the only way she feels important. It made me very sad for her as well.
However, I cried and cried for Lexi when her mother did what she did to her. What an awful, awful thing. I really hope their mother takes a long look at what she has let her life become and makes some good changes. I was also glad that Mackenzie became a little bit more than just a one note pageant girl.
Lexi's friends are awesome, Benny and Cam. They supported Lexi and helped her through her time of self discovery. I liked that even though Lexi changed how she looked, it was more of just amping up what was already there. And she discovered that it is okay to look frumpy but it is also okay to primp. I really, really hope Taylor gives her another chance.
And the speeches Lexi makes! She is a sharp high schooler. In real life it probably wouldn't be this way, but she tells off a mean girl like you wish you could've in high school, and helps Mackenzie (hopefully) make changes in her life.
To Sum Up: Going to buy this one for my library! Girl power!!
Cover Love: It's okay. I don't love it but I also don't hate it.
Why I Wanted to Read This:
I just adore Elizabeth Eulberg. She writes good contemporary girl power novels.
Romance?: Yes! But it's not the main plot point.
My Thoughts:
Lexi was awesome. She was smart and self-aware, even though she didn't have a lot of confidence in her looks. She gives some awesome speeches in the end of this book, cutting down a mean girl like anyone who was tormented by a mean girl always wishes they did! It was just refreshing by the end to see her stand up for herself and let all those great thoughts she was having come out!
Lexi's poor mom, she was the hardest character to read in this book. I just wanted to shake her and make her see what she was doing to her daughters. She is so mired in her own sadness and disappointment--living through Mackenzie is the only way she feels important. It made me very sad for her as well.
However, I cried and cried for Lexi when her mother did what she did to her. What an awful, awful thing. I really hope their mother takes a long look at what she has let her life become and makes some good changes. I was also glad that Mackenzie became a little bit more than just a one note pageant girl.
Lexi's friends are awesome, Benny and Cam. They supported Lexi and helped her through her time of self discovery. I liked that even though Lexi changed how she looked, it was more of just amping up what was already there. And she discovered that it is okay to look frumpy but it is also okay to primp. I really, really hope Taylor gives her another chance.
And the speeches Lexi makes! She is a sharp high schooler. In real life it probably wouldn't be this way, but she tells off a mean girl like you wish you could've in high school, and helps Mackenzie (hopefully) make changes in her life.
To Sum Up: Going to buy this one for my library! Girl power!!