Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It

by Kerry Winfrey

[Sam@WLABB]

Jolie had been dealing with her mandibular prognathism, aka underbite, her whole life. There were braces, pallet expanders, and more braces. There were also headaches, jaw aches, a lisp, and foods she could never eat. Finally, Jolie was old enough for corrective surgery, but after one too many "true story" TV shows, she was convinced something could go wrong. Thus, the list was born.

• Pro: Jolie captured my heart. She was that girl, who didn't see what other people saw when she looked in the mirror. She fixed her make-up to draw attention from her jaw, she arrange her hair to hide her jaw, she wore bland and plain clothing to keep herself in the background. It all sort of broke my heart, because she was such a smart, wonderful, and talented young women, and I was glad she learned to see herself a little differently by the end of this book.

• Pro: I love that Winfrey challenged the beauty standard. She also included a secondary storyline, which served to show us how even the "beautiful" ones are not without problems in their lives.

• Pro: The emotions Jolie experienced regarding her mandibular prognathism felt so real, and I am sure it is because Winfrey also had an underbite in her youth.

• Pro: The list was precious, and just writing the list pushed Jolie out of her box. She found out there was a lot more to her than her underbite, and she was able to shine even before they "fixed" her face.

• Pro: There is a lot of family focus, and Jolie's sister was dealing with a pretty big life change. Seeing her family banding together to support her was very touching.

• Pro: Evelyn and Derek were fantastic friends. Jolie was lucky to have so many positive people in her life, who genuinely cared for her.

• Pro: Speaking of Derek, I totally loved him. He was a pretty interesting guy with his podcasts and academic team clout. It was very touching watching him work through his grief, as well as his feelings for Jolie.

• Pro: The characters in the book had really fun quirks. Everyone should have a "terrible movie night", and Jolie's family's obsession with true-crime stories was very amusing.

• Pro: This book was funny, but packed with feels. It was sits on the lighter side, but has plenty of substance.

Overall: Another reminder, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I loved being there as Jolie learned to love and appreciate herself. You will laugh with her, and maybe share her heartache, but you will definitely cheer for Jolie to see her inner beauty.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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