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mehitabels's review
5.0
I love love loved this book. Cheesy, preachy, totally ridiculous, but filled with so much humor and honest goodness that I laughed, cried, and chastised myself for my laziness with the great experiences I have had.
A million fabulous lines, excellent scenes that cannot be explained without having read the book, and a really lovely moral to the story that plays out multiple times without being obnoxious.
Meg Cabot provided the blurb for the front cover that completely sums it up, "When I wasn't laughing out loud (which was often), I was wiping away a tiny tear."
A million fabulous lines, excellent scenes that cannot be explained without having read the book, and a really lovely moral to the story that plays out multiple times without being obnoxious.
Meg Cabot provided the blurb for the front cover that completely sums it up, "When I wasn't laughing out loud (which was often), I was wiping away a tiny tear."
kkdemarco's review
3.0
3.5 stars. This book was very...interesting. I'm still thinking about it. Overall, I liked it; I really liked many of the messages Rudnick was sending about outward beauty and society's obsession with appearances. But I think I just don't enjoy magical realism. For me, it has to be strictly fantasy or strictly realistic. At many points throughout this book, I found myself saying "How exactly did that happen?" or "That would never happen!" - phrases that I don't even utter in the most fantastical of fantasy books. So, I think the genre just didn't do it for me. Plus, everything seemed to happen so fast; all of a sudden it was six months later, five months later, a year later, with no real development of characters or plot along the way.
ajreader's review
3.0
Read my full thoughts over at Read.Write.Repeat.
The side of me that is reading the 100 Best Novels list and loves deep character exploration knows this book is crap. It's shallow and pure almost pure fluff.
The side of me that picked up a childhood favorite about princesses and dragons yesterday and that devours celebrity news and that deep down still dreams like a six year old girl completely loved it.
The book is fun. There's no denying that. I wish I had picked it up for a beach trip this summer instead of during the autumn. It would have been perfect poolside, when all you want is a story that matches the impossible sunshine streaming down around you. Still, this is definitely one I'll recommend to the right people. Most of us enjoy a good fairy tale every now and then, after all.
The side of me that is reading the 100 Best Novels list and loves deep character exploration knows this book is crap. It's shallow and pure almost pure fluff.
The side of me that picked up a childhood favorite about princesses and dragons yesterday and that devours celebrity news and that deep down still dreams like a six year old girl completely loved it.
The book is fun. There's no denying that. I wish I had picked it up for a beach trip this summer instead of during the autumn. It would have been perfect poolside, when all you want is a story that matches the impossible sunshine streaming down around you. Still, this is definitely one I'll recommend to the right people. Most of us enjoy a good fairy tale every now and then, after all.
the_yellowed_pages's review
4.0
I've been rereading this book for the 3rd time. The story itself conjures a glamorous image of fame and fashion with its rich descriptions of fabrics, social events, and everything related to high society. But, there, really, is this part that makes you reflect on yourself too, like how Becky did; behind all those glitter, just "who are you?"
rdyourbookcase's review
4.0
This book was hilarious. If The Princess Diaries had been written by a man, I think it would be similar to this book. I liked how the format wasn't predictable - when I thought the book would end, it kept going. When it finally did end, I loved what happened. It was like a fairy tale. Overall, it was unconventional and pushed the limits of YA fiction and I loved it.
fic_it's review
5.0
I don't think anyone can understand how completely in love with this book i am. *dead serious face*
I have never in my 18+ years of reading Young Adult books really read any, well, Young Adult book that have been so leave-you-gasping-and-running-to-your-closest-to-change-the-pants-you-just-wet hilarious! This book was fantastic because unlike all the other Young Adult books packed on the shelves like dolled up sardines it didn't take itself so seriously!
It had romance! But not the Earth shattering I-love-you-I-hate-you-shmuck! It wasn't the type of book that fantasized romance to the point where the guy hero (or heroine) is near impossible gorgeous and the girl (or boy!) is the only one who can save him/ her (their one true love), the world, or, you know, start a complete uprising (as is popular nowadays).
It had humor! Which is rare for me to find in Y.A books. Like yeas, they have bits in the book that are funny, hilarious sometimes! but that eventually dies down and the characters get back to saving the Tigers from some curse their under.
It had Beauty! The type of beautiful you want to be, what you aspire to be, what you dream of yourself being but NOT ONCE does the author make beauty sound vain or easy or takes beauty seriously.
And it's not just beauty this brilliant author touches upon its every radical thing i haven't seen in a book in like EVER. It's the type of book that goes "There. Anything else." and puts the world into a really open minded perspective of book people can be made human to!
So all in all I love this book, I love this author, Paul Rudnick, and i really will do my best to have patience for more! Honestly, I promise to hold still and NOT jump (to much) on the edge of my chair as I watch you write.
I have never in my 18+ years of reading Young Adult books really read any, well, Young Adult book that have been so leave-you-gasping-and-running-to-your-closest-to-change-the-pants-you-just-wet hilarious! This book was fantastic because unlike all the other Young Adult books packed on the shelves like dolled up sardines it didn't take itself so seriously!
It had romance! But not the Earth shattering I-love-you-I-hate-you-shmuck! It wasn't the type of book that fantasized romance to the point where the guy hero (or heroine) is near impossible gorgeous and the girl (or boy!) is the only one who can save him/ her (their one true love), the world, or, you know, start a complete uprising (as is popular nowadays).
It had humor! Which is rare for me to find in Y.A books. Like yeas, they have bits in the book that are funny, hilarious sometimes! but that eventually dies down and the characters get back to saving the Tigers from some curse their under.
It had Beauty! The type of beautiful you want to be, what you aspire to be, what you dream of yourself being but NOT ONCE does the author make beauty sound vain or easy or takes beauty seriously.
And it's not just beauty this brilliant author touches upon its every radical thing i haven't seen in a book in like EVER. It's the type of book that goes "There. Anything else." and puts the world into a really open minded perspective of book people can be made human to!
So all in all I love this book, I love this author, Paul Rudnick, and i really will do my best to have patience for more! Honestly, I promise to hold still and NOT jump (to much) on the edge of my chair as I watch you write.
trisha_thomas's review
1.0
"Real beauty. Indescribable beauty. Beauty as a gift, and an art, and a superpower. I'm talking about handing you a passport, and the keys, and the credit limit, to everything you could ever conceivably want. To everything that you, or anyone else, might ever dream of. You could rule the world. You could own it. Three dresses." ~ Tom Kelly
this one was just too silly to me. And for as silly and unrealistic as I found it, I thought the friend's constant swearing and vulgar language and insinuations was just awful. It was a bad mix and I just wasn't a huge fan.
this one was just too silly to me. And for as silly and unrealistic as I found it, I thought the friend's constant swearing and vulgar language and insinuations was just awful. It was a bad mix and I just wasn't a huge fan.
jen225's review
3.0
This was a fun read! What would you choose if you could be the most beautiful woman in the world or just your regular, teenage self? The story was enjoyable, if not believable, but that's what books are for! A modern day fairy tale.
opticflow's review
This is a modern day fairy tale, where a humdrum girl gets magically transformed into the most gorgeous woman in the world. There’s an orphan down on her luck, a fairy godmother in the shape of a fashion guru, a Prince Charming, as in the actual crown prince of England, and of course, a deadline to fall in love lest everything fall apart.
Just like Pretty Woman and My Fair Lady and Pygmalion and every girl-becomes-princess story there are stumbling blocks of class and grace. But this book has a knock-down, drag-out fight where the trailer trash bestie calls a society deb a fucking cunt. So that’s new.
I have no idea how to evaluate this book. The magic is Freaky Friday-style inexplicable, the characters are larger than life stereotypes, the plotting is all too convenient, every piece of fabric gets a paragraph of swooning description, and the expletives are outrageous. This book should absolutely not work, but it kind of does. It's not really my type of humor but I think I'd count it as a guilty pleasure.
Just like Pretty Woman and My Fair Lady and Pygmalion and every girl-becomes-princess story there are stumbling blocks of class and grace. But this book has a knock-down, drag-out fight where the trailer trash bestie calls a society deb a fucking cunt. So that’s new.
I have no idea how to evaluate this book. The magic is Freaky Friday-style inexplicable, the characters are larger than life stereotypes, the plotting is all too convenient, every piece of fabric gets a paragraph of swooning description, and the expletives are outrageous. This book should absolutely not work, but it kind of does. It's not really my type of humor but I think I'd count it as a guilty pleasure.