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A review by paradoxically
How Not to Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
2.0
The thing about books like How Not to be Popular is that while the underlying themes may be about being yourself, okay with who you are, and so on and so forth, they fail somewhat in execution. Why? Because they invariably descend into cliche, shove everyone in tidy, neat little groups, and then top it off with a main character that finally figures out that popularity is not everything (or, you know, important at all) and is finally okay with who she is (which, while good, is always the same unpopular, do your own thing sort of person).
Which isn't a bad sort of resolution, except that it's really tiring to see all of the popular kids being the crappy people (in general) and all of those little groups that always stay within their groups, and the loser club is (always) where one finds their true friends. It's just old and cliche. It's bashing one group (popular kids) and exalting another (so called loser kids) and sometimes you want them to be people first, instead of first seeing them for what kind of group they hang out with.
In one sense the book turns the usual business on its head, as the main character, Maggie, doesn't want to be popular. Except it's not because she thinks the popular kids are shallow or anything, but because she doesn't want to make friends as she knows that she's just going to move away soon. She's mopey, tries desperately to fend people off with horrid clothing choices, and is generally a moody teenager. Eh, I cut her a lot of slack because of this.
There's no real depth to the other characters. The 'loser' characters that she falls into line with don't actually feel like friends, and they don't ever seem fully fleshed out to me. Maggie's parents, while hilarious, are also more than a little out there and while I like them, they don't seem real at all. Neither does Maggie's situation and how things turn out for her. She tries desperately to be unpopular, but finds that she's growing more popular instead.
But, ignoring such thoughts and focusing on the really, really shallow, the book isn't all that bad. It's funny, it goes along at a good pace, and it's wrapped up fairly neatly. Granted, the ending was the worst part of the book (it happened too abruptly and too easily), and the book was highly predictable. Reading the first few pages of the book you pretty much know instantly how everything is going to turn out, with little to no surprises. But it was entertaining, so there's that.
It made me laugh at places. It amused me. I wish there was something different about it that would make it stand out or make it less cliche, but I didn't hate it. 2 stars.
Which isn't a bad sort of resolution, except that it's really tiring to see all of the popular kids being the crappy people (in general) and all of those little groups that always stay within their groups, and the loser club is (always) where one finds their true friends. It's just old and cliche. It's bashing one group (popular kids) and exalting another (so called loser kids) and sometimes you want them to be people first, instead of first seeing them for what kind of group they hang out with.
In one sense the book turns the usual business on its head, as the main character, Maggie, doesn't want to be popular. Except it's not because she thinks the popular kids are shallow or anything, but because she doesn't want to make friends as she knows that she's just going to move away soon. She's mopey, tries desperately to fend people off with horrid clothing choices, and is generally a moody teenager. Eh, I cut her a lot of slack because of this.
There's no real depth to the other characters. The 'loser' characters that she falls into line with don't actually feel like friends, and they don't ever seem fully fleshed out to me. Maggie's parents, while hilarious, are also more than a little out there and while I like them, they don't seem real at all. Neither does Maggie's situation and how things turn out for her. She tries desperately to be unpopular, but finds that she's growing more popular instead.
But, ignoring such thoughts and focusing on the really, really shallow, the book isn't all that bad. It's funny, it goes along at a good pace, and it's wrapped up fairly neatly. Granted, the ending was the worst part of the book (it happened too abruptly and too easily), and the book was highly predictable. Reading the first few pages of the book you pretty much know instantly how everything is going to turn out, with little to no surprises. But it was entertaining, so there's that.
It made me laugh at places. It amused me. I wish there was something different about it that would make it stand out or make it less cliche, but I didn't hate it. 2 stars.