Review: Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg

REVENGE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GREAT PERSONALITY
By: Elizabeth Eulberg
Published By: Point
Release Date: March 1, 2013
Series: None
Pages: 272
Genre: Contemporary
Reading Level: Young Adult
Source: Netgalley
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads 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.



I have most of Elizabeth Eulberg's books, but this is the first one that I've read. I was looking forward to this book, but it didn't turn out to be quite what I was expecting.

Since her little sister Mackenzie came along, Lexi's life has revolved around beauty pageants. Her mom makes sure that Mac has whatever she needs to compete and spends countless hours planning and competing in pageants, leaving things with Lexi to fall by the wayside. Still, Lexi has great friends, Benny and Cam, and as so many have told her, a "great personality." But Lexi wants more. She wants to be someone who could capture the attention of a guy like Logan, pageant-queen Alyssa's boyfriend. When she makes a deal with Benny to start wearing makeup and dressing up, she thinks nothing will happen. Was she ever wrong. Before she knows it, Lexi has to decide which is more important - having a great appearance or truly having a great personality?

When I started this book, I was hoping for some Toddlers-and-Tiaras-esque laughs and a girl who broke stereotypes by not being beauty pageant material and still ending up with the guy she wanted. Instead I found myself annoyed with both Lexi and the "pretty girl who doesn't know she's pretty" stereotype early in the book. I'm not sure if this was a case of "wrong book, wrong time," or if I just couldn't connect to Lexi the way I wanted to. Either way, I spent most of the book feeling like there was a disconnect, and by the time that I began to care about the characters, the book was almost over. In addition, one character really disappointed me at the end, and it left me with an unsettled feeling. Many things about this book may have been realistic, but in the end I mostly wished they weren't. There was a good message there, but I felt like it got somewhat lost in the story.

That being said, there are some good things about this book, as well as events and emotions that give it depth. Lexi does not always agree or get along with her mother, and things come to a head with them more than once. She misses her dad, and though she loves her friends, at sixteen sometimes she still needed a parent who would care for her. It was easy to sympathize with Lexi in those moments as she dealt with unfair situations. Lexi was a good person when it counted, which I appreciated. There were also some lighter moments to the book, including learning about flippers and watching Lexi apply mascara for the first time. Even still, I just couldn't get into the book the way I wanted to.

I still plan to read Elizabeth Eulberg's other books, and I know other people enjoyed this book more than I did. See reviews at these blogs:

A Blog About Nothing
Ex Libris

Opening Lines (13)

Opening Lines is a new feature here on Portrait of a Book that showcases the first lines of recent and/or upcoming releases. If you're looking for your next read, let these first lines help you decide!



ALSO KNOWN AS
By: Robin Benway
Published By: Bloomsbury Juvenile US
Release Date: Feb. 26, 2013
Buy the Book: Amazon

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

"I cracked my first lock when I was three."


THE TROUBLE WITH FLIRTING
By: Claire LaZebnik
Published By: Harper Teen
Release Date: Feb. 26, 2013
Buy the Book: Amazon

Franny's supposed to be working this summer, not flirting. But you can't blame her when guys like Alex and Harry are around. . . .

Franny Pearson never dreamed she'd be attending the prestigious Mansfield Summer Theater Program. And she's not, exactly. She's working for her aunt, the resident costume designer. But sewing her fingers to the bone does give her an opportunity to spend time with her crush, Alex Braverman. If only he were as taken with the girl hemming his trousers as he is with his new leading lady.

When Harry Cartwright, a notorious flirt, shows more than a friendly interest in Franny, she figures it can't hurt to have a little fun. But as their breezy romance grows more complicated, can Franny keep pretending that Harry is just a carefree fling? And why is Alex suddenly giving her those deep, meaningful looks? In this charming tale of mixed messages and romantic near-misses, one thing is clear: Flirting might be more trouble than Franny ever expected.

"When Jasper Snowden's parents divorced, Jasper got to stay in the bedroom in the big house he'd always lived in, while his parents took turns living there with him."


DUALED
By: Elsie Chapman
Published By: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: Feb. 26, 2013
Buy the Book: Amazon

You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman's suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

"I've buried nearly everyone I love."


REVENGE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GREAT PERSONALITY
By: Elizabeth Eulberg
Published By: Point
Release Date: March 1, 2013
Buy the Book: Amazon

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.

"Applying butt glue to my sister's backside is, without question, not the first way I'd choose to spend a weekend."



Do any of these opening lines grab your attention? What are your favorite first lines that you've read lately?

"Waiting on" Wednesday

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



This week's selection is:

TAKE A BOW
By: Elizabeth Eulberg
Published By: Point
Release Date: April 1, 2012
Preorder the Book: Amazon

Goodreads Summary: From the fantastic author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice comes a story of all the drama and comedy of four friends who grow into themselves at a performing arts high school.

Emme, Sophie, Ethan, and Carter are seniors at a performing arts school, getting ready for their Senior Showcase recital, where the pressure is on to appeal to colleges, dance academies, and professionals in show business. For Sophie, a singer, it's been great to be friends with Emme, who composes songs for her, and to date Carter, soap opera heartthrob who gets plenty of press coverage. Emme and Ethan have been in a band together through all four years of school, but wonder if they could be more than just friends and bandmates. Carter has been acting since he was a baby, and isn't sure how to admit that he'd rather paint than perform. The Senior Showcase is going to make or break each of the four, in a funny, touching, spectacular finale that only Elizabeth Eulberg could perform.



Why it's wanted:
I love books about the performing arts, and I have a feeling this book will take me right back to my senior year in high school. I'm curious to see how everything plays out for the performers!