Friday, November 10, 2017

Fiction Friday (63)


Hello again! It's another Friday and that means another book review thanks to the imposed reading placed on me by my desire for self-betterment via graduate school. One of the great things about the YA Literature class that I'm taking is that it's forcing me to read books outside of my usual interests. This week I had to delve into Chick Lit, a genre I'm not well-versed in or have any particular curiosity in discovering. I decided to read something by Meg Cabot, given her wide ranging popularity in the genre. I really hated this at the beginning, but grew to not hate it by the end. Enjoy.


How To Be Popular by Meg Cabot
(Harper, 2006)



Everyone wants to be popular, right? Well, maybe not everyone. But nobody wants to be the person whose name has become synonymous with making a blunder. That has been 16 year old Steph Landry's fate for the past five years, but she's determined to change fate with the help of an old self-help book found in the attic of her soon-to-be stepgrandmother's house. She diligently studies the lessons in the book as it directs her towards achieving popularity.

Becoming popular turns out not to be as complicated as Steph had always thought. Sure, it takes hours and hours of work, a complete attitude and fashion make-over, and sort of dissing the friends you currently have, but in the end, it's all worth it...or is it? As her master plan progresses and things begin to fall into place, Steph suddenly has everything she could have hoped for, except that it doesn't feel that way. And are the popular kids really into her, or just using her? Is she really in love with the most popular boy in school, and if so, what is she actually feeling for the boy who has always been her best friend?

The is a quick read, one that reads like a mash-up of every 80's John Hughes movie. It is extremely predictable for anyone who has seen those movies, and some major plot points feel far-fetched. It also simplifies the motives the behaviors of teens to a point that may feel condescending.

This is like junk food, but we all like junk food every now and again. 

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