Review: Revenge of the Girl With the Great Personality

Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Release Date: March 1, 2013
Publisher: Point
Pages: 272
Source: NetGalley
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Summary: A hilarious new novel from Elizabeth Eulberg about taking the wall out of the wallflower so she can bloom.

Don't mess with a girl with a Great Personality.

Everybody loves Lexi. She's popular, smart, funny...but she's never been one of those girls, the pretty ones who get all the attention from guys. And on top of that, her seven-year-old sister, Mackenzie, is a terror in a tiara, and part of a pageant scene where she gets praised for her beauty (with the help of fake hair and tons of makeup).

Lexi's sick of it. She's sick of being the girl who hears about kisses instead of getting them. She's sick of being ignored by her longtime crush, Logan. She's sick of being taken for granted by her pageant-obsessed mom. And she's sick of having all her family's money wasted on a phony pursuit of perfection.

The time has come for Lexi to step out from the sidelines. Girls without great personalities aren't going to know what hit them. Because Lexi's going to play the beauty game - and she's in it to win it.  

My Favorite Lines:

An example of why Ms. Eulberg cracks me up:
"Did you hear about that junior who never had a boy ask her to do anything?  She died alone, surrounded by her forty-two cats.  Her ghost haunts the AV closet in hopes that a nerd will accidentally brush against her while getting a projector."   

"And in my opinion, bullies are the worst kind of people.  Because the people who feel the need to bring others down to feel good about themselves are the ones who need help.  And not the help that can be found in the beauty product aisle.  So I can take off the makeup, but I'm still a good person."

Why I Loved It:  Oh the laughs I had reading this book.  Lexi is part of a pageant family, which takes up a lot of time and lots and lots of money.  On a dare, she goes from the girl with the great personality to the girl who looks good enough people don't look at the personality.  But the ride?  Oh it's tons of fun.  The laughs I found in the book totally made my day.  The voice was pretty high school-ish, so if that doesn't sounds appealing to you, you might want to stay away.  For me, it was part of the charm of the book.

I am have never been part of pageants, and I avoid Toddlers in Tiaras like the flu.  Honestly though, the book managed to capture the horrors and the quirks of pageants.  She didn't dismiss them all together, just certain aspects.  I can't even begin to imagine the research that was involved.  Pairing the pageant with Lexi's search for what makes her happy was an awesome compare and contrast throughout the book.  Lexi sees the world around her though the lens of being part of a pageant family.

There was so much to love about Lexi: her heart, her sense of humor, her work ethic, and her family devotion in the midst of chaos.  Everything about Lexi was actually real.  There was a love triangle in the book that didn't follow the normal trend.  Lexi worked hard, and she had a mom that was crazy.  Man there were moments that I hated what the mom stood for.  And my gosh there were moments I needed to slap something.

Lexi's story is not all about a makeover or the girl who gets a makeover and then learns.  Lexi's story is about family and being who you are because you want to.  I know that the latter is pretty common, but it is presented in such a way that will make you laugh and scream and throw things and love what Lexi stands for.  You will fall in love with her friends, and cheer on Lexi in her search.  You will feel the joys and frustrations of being a teen in a very real way.  The book is fabulous!

Who Should Read It:  This is a great contemporary read.  For those doing the contemporary challenge, ADD IT!!