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A review by wilde_book_garden
At Face Value by Emily Franklin
1.0
1.5 stars
Apparently this is a contemporary set in a fantasy world, where there are two kinds of girls: bitches (who are stupid and vapid and have the audacity to like feminine things) and REAL GIRLS (who are smart and worthy of winning the guy and have righteous contempt for all other girls.)
If you're lucky, you can try to be both, like Leyla! Except not really. Because she is, sadly, still stupid. And pretty. This will be repeatedly pointed out to you for the entire novel. Leyla: stupid, but she tries! And the noble Cyrie applauds her efforts to become a REAL GIRL.
Ugh. I thought we were getting away from this girl-on-girl hate in writing. The halfhearted attempts at the end of the book to give some depth to these two "breeds" of girls fell very flat after a couple hundred pages of consistent hatred disguised as pity. (And the personalities of the male characters are about as shallow.)
My advice? If the premise of this book sounds interesting, read the original Cyrano de Bergerac (I know, I'm gonna be that person.) I recommend the Brian Hooker translation. It's beautiful and hilarious and heart-breaking and one of the best things--play or novel--I've ever read.
Apparently this is a contemporary set in a fantasy world, where there are two kinds of girls: bitches (who are stupid and vapid and have the audacity to like feminine things) and REAL GIRLS (who are smart and worthy of winning the guy and have righteous contempt for all other girls.)
If you're lucky, you can try to be both, like Leyla! Except not really. Because she is, sadly, still stupid. And pretty. This will be repeatedly pointed out to you for the entire novel. Leyla: stupid, but she tries! And the noble Cyrie applauds her efforts to become a REAL GIRL.
Ugh. I thought we were getting away from this girl-on-girl hate in writing. The halfhearted attempts at the end of the book to give some depth to these two "breeds" of girls fell very flat after a couple hundred pages of consistent hatred disguised as pity. (And the personalities of the male characters are about as shallow.)
My advice? If the premise of this book sounds interesting, read the original Cyrano de Bergerac (I know, I'm gonna be that person.) I recommend the Brian Hooker translation. It's beautiful and hilarious and heart-breaking and one of the best things--play or novel--I've ever read.