Smart Girls Get What They Want

by Sarah Strohmeyer

[ladygrey]

I like the premise of this book- the idea that girls can be smart, have fun and other interests like athletics or shoes or whatever. And by the second half the character were interesting enough that it was a fun read.

But I really can't believe this author has won awards or whatever. Because the writing was... simplistic and not quite cliched but full of trite slang. There was a chapter in the beginning that was just a glut of names - presumably to introduce us around the high school and maybe make it feel inclusive. But none of those people mattered to the story and none of them had personalities or anything to make them something more than a name. It was briefly mind numbing.

I liked that Gigi was smart enough to figure out the dumb guys (mostly). And I liked that character arc with her and her friends. Though the opening sentence was just a mess. "Before Bea, Neerja and I got everything we wanted from high school..." Before what? Before the story? Before Bea and then Neerja and I are the objects of the sentence? It's only after reading the whole book that it half way makes any sense.

And more than once, Gigi made me cringe even though she wasn't an awful heroine. But it's interesting how in books like this where the plot feels meandering that the secondary characters can keep it interesting. Mike and Will both propelled the story forward and made it more fun to read.

But for all my grousing, you can't hold cute, fun, beach reads that high. It's not Kasie West but it's also not horrible.