Chelsea
Written on Feb 14, 2018
Actual Rating - 3.5
This was a fun story about three girls who are deemed the "ugliest girls at school" on someone's Facebook page. The main character, Mireille, is used to it by now since this is her third year in the top three. The other two girls, however, haven't experienced this kind of bullying so they end up turning to Mireille for help. She takes them under her wing and shows them how they don't have to listen to the bullies and they can get past this traumatic event. In a fun turn of events, they end up on a bike trip to Paris where they go to confront their inner fears.
It's such an inspiring story for young girls especially. Looks seem to be the first thing bullies pick on so it can be hard heaing that you're ugly every single day. It can cause some serious damage. I found Mireilla a greta character because she accepted her looks and could easily ignore the bullies. She had a fun and sarcastic sense of humour that made her narrating lots of fun to read. I found the whole voice of this book to be fun and quirky which made for a quick read. I didn't like it at first but I quickly got used to it.
This book isn't perfect by a long shot. I had a few issues, like how all their parents were ok with them biking to Paris, but I went along with it. Why not? There was also some issues like one character with an anxiety disorder and another who lost his legs in the military that the author probably could have touched on a little bit more. They were mentioned here and there but they could have used a little more depth.
One thing you should remember going into this book is that it's not super serious. It's meant to be a fun story about some young girls spending their summer going on a bike trip to Paris. On the way they grow up a little. They deal with the media, meet some new friends, and learn about each other. It was cute and fun!