Welcome to Mera's YA Book List! Today we have a blog tour for Not Pretty Enough by Jaimie Admans. Keep reading for my review, a super awesome giveaway, and an excerpt from the novel.
1. Lloyd Layton will know I exist. He once said three whole words to me, so this is obviously progress. If I don’t get a proper conversation out of him soon, then I’ll take my top off and streak through the cafeteria, because nobody could fail to notice these boobs.
2. I will not get expelled for streaking through the cafeteria.”
Those are the words that begin her mission.
Chessie is fourteen, not pretty enough, and very much in love. Lloyd Layton is hot, popular, and unaware of Chessie’s existence.
Her goal is clear: to get Lloyd to love her as much as she loves him, and she has exactly one year to do it.
As Chessie’s obsession with Lloyd reaches boiling point and she starts to spin a web of lies that spiral out of control, Lloyd turns out to be not quite the prince she thought he was. Can Chessie avoid the gathering storm before things go too far?
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Not Pretty Enough is a contemporary young adult comedy suitable for ages thirteen and over.
Book two in the series will be released early 2014.
GIVEAWAY!
$40 Amazon GC + swag
MY REVIEW:
| I received Not Pretty Enough by Jaimie Admans in digital format for the Not Pretty Enough blog tour hosted by Oops! I Read A Book Again.
Chessie, the main protagonist in Admans novel, was quite a character. She was just as dramatic and unreasonable as you'd expect any young teen to be, but honestly even a bit more.
Chessie, who is absolutely obsessed with Lance, a boy who goes to school with her, spends a lot of her time trying to find ways to get her guy.
From the beginning, I have no idea why s...more I received Not Pretty Enough by Jaimie Admans in digital format for the Not Pretty Enough blog tour hosted by Oops! I Read A Book Again.
Chessie, the main protagonist in Admans novel, was quite a character. She was just as dramatic and unreasonable as you'd expect any young teen to be, but honestly even a bit more.
Chessie, who is absolutely obsessed with Lance, a boy who goes to school with her, spends a lot of her time trying to find ways to get her guy.
From the beginning, I have no idea why she likes Lance so much. He's popular, sure, and even cute, but besides that it is obvious that they have nothing in common, and honestly, he seemed the tad bit like a jerk.
Chessie would have gasped dramatically if she were to hear me say that (and if her hearing me was possible) but Lance actually became more likeable throughout the novel. That is until the end when something happens that makes me regret ever redeeming him of his 'LAME LOSER' title earlier in the book.
But even Lance, despicable as he is, wasn't my main problem with Not Pretty Enough. It was actually Chessie. She was everything a young lady should grow up not to be. She wasn't confident in her self, and she'd easily go to drastic measures to change herself for someone who wasn't even worth it.
However these problems actually made the story good because though I cringed every time she acted completely moronic, and yes, she did screw up a lot, she learned a lesson at the end.
"You don't need a boyfriend to complete you, and you certainly don't need one to make you popular, prettier, or smarter. As long as you're being yourself, then you're perfect."
Lines like these at the end made the book more enjoyable, and made me hate Chessie's actions a lot less.
I like my tea with a good amount of sugar and a nice splash of lemon, and I think it's obvious that this book just wasn't my cup of tea. That doesn't make it horrible however. The book had plenty of morals that are definitely beneficial, tons of activity, and could be engaging.
For these reasons, I give Not Pretty Enough a three star review.
However, I'd recommend this book to my middle grade and lower YA crowd as the dialogue and the characters are definitely more MG geared than YA, and the lessons enclosed are presented in a way that is more MG & Lower YA appropriate. |
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Though Not Pretty Enough wasn't my cuppa tea, it definitely didn't fail in funny!EXCERPT:
I’ve been in this school for two and a half years now. I’ve had this teacher – Mr Edmond – for a year and a half of them, and he has not yet realised that I am not interested in geography. In fact, the only thing even mildly interesting in this classroom is the fact that Lloyd Layton is in it.
I don’t know if it’s because my seat is directly opposite the teacher’s desk, or if it’s because he just doesn’t like me, but he loves to do quick fire questions, usually before you’ve even settled at your desk and got your books out. I’m always the first one he picks, and it’s always some rubbish about the Earth’s core or volcanoes that erupted fifty years ago. I never get it right, and I think Mr Edmond thinks I’m teasing him by pretending to be stupid when the truth is that I can just about find my way home from the bus stop.
“Miss Clemenfield,” Mr Edmond begins just as we are settling down in our chairs. “The population of Japan is?”
“Um…”
“Wrong. The population of Japan is not um. It is in fact…” He stops and stares at me for a moment. “Francesca, are you okay?”
I look up. “Yes, thank you. Yourself?”
“No, your face. It’s all red.”
“I had to run down from my last class. Mr Griffiths kept us behind.” I nod emphatically. Okay, so I’m seriously unfit. Why don’t you point it out to the whole class and have Lloyd Layton turning to look at my red, sweaty self, panting due to a short run from the maths block?
“If you’d like to go and get a glass of water from the fountain, you’re welcome to go now before the lesson begins.”
“I’m good, thanks.”
He walks away and starts the quick fire questions down the other end of the room.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ceri, who sits on one side of me, asks.
“You know, you do look a bit red and blotchy, Chess,” Ewan says from the seat on my other side.
“All right, I’m unfit,” I snap. “Why don’t you just announce that I’m a fat cow during school assembly and be done with it?”
“Sorry.” He holds his hands up and starts intently reading his textbook.
Leigh leans across from where she sits a few chairs down. “Don’t worry, Chessie,” she says with a sickly sweet smile that’s as fake as plastic flowers. “I suffer from PMT too. Do you want me to ask for a tampon for you?”
“At least mine’s not permanent,” I snap at her.
After ten minutes or so goes by, the teacher is about to fire another dumb question when he stops in his tracks and stares at me.
“You know, Francesca, I really think you ought to go and see the nurse.”
God, won’t anyone just leave me alone today?
“It’s Chessie, please.” I grab my bag from the floor and dig around in it until I find my compact mirror. “Is there something wrong with the lighting in this class or something today, Mr Edmond? Because I’m absolutely fi—”
Oh God. My face is all red and blotchy. It’s like I’ve come out in some sort of a rash. Crikey, no wonder the teacher was worried about me.
“Sorry,” I say quickly.
“Ewan, Ceri,” Mr Edmond addresses them. “Could you two move your chairs away a little bit, just in case it’s contagious. If everybody could just shift down a little.”
Contagious. Contagious? He thinks I’m contagious? And he’s just announced it to the rest of the class, and suddenly thirty pairs of eyes are peering at me and talking amongst themselves.
Crap.
Couldn’t he just have said something to me quietly, without making the entire class think I have the bubonic plague? That’s just great, isn’t it? Now Lloyd will never look twice at me because I’m like a walking wart. A giant walking wart that is contagious.
Although, perhaps a more pressing matter is what on earth is wrong with me. Why is my face all rash-like? I look like I’ve been sleeping in a nest of stinging nettles.
“I think you should go to the nurse, Chessie.” Mr Edmond puts unnecessary emphasis on my name.
“Yes, thank you.”
I grab my bag and rush out the door, grateful to be able to walk away from the staring eyes.
Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18142578-not-pretty-enough
