Monday, October 3, 2016

Outward Blonde Review

Outward Blonde
By: Trish Cook
Sixteen-year-old Lizzie Finkelstein is a hard-partying socialite who lives a charmed life with her mother in Manhattan. After a public drunken escapade results in both an arrest and an embarrassing viral video online, Lizzie’s parents stage a late night intervention. Lizzie finds herself whisked away to Utah to learn a lesson or two about taking responsibility at Camp Smiley, a wilderness survival program for troubled kids.
Camp Smiley is a far cry from Lizzie’s high society life in New York. Without her stable of luxury hair/makeup items, her teacup Pomeranian, contact with the outside world or access to social media, Lizzie must face the harsh conditions of the outdoors. Grouped with troubled campers in which she’s certain she has nothing in common (except Jack, who’s pretty hot), Lizzie must now learn to dig her own toilet in the woods and build a fire by rubbing two sticks together before the camp will ever let her go back to her former existence. She has a choice: get with the program, or get out of there.

I don't know what I would do if my parents sent me to camp against my will; let alone one that makes you hike ten miles in a day for fun. I can barely do ten push ups without being winded. So when I cracked open the book and was transported into the world of Lizzie Finkelstein, I could relate a little with her. 

She hates outdoors, loves shopping, fashion know-it-all, and generally a nice person (most of the time). Though she does have a lot to work on: Rude, harsh, spoiled, manipulative... to name a few.

But yet through this book you see the journey of a broken soul trying to find her way back. Which is something we can all relate to. Lizzie represents teenagers everywhere trying to find themselves in a society that determines it for you by look. 

Positives:

- Relatable Protagonist
- Underlying meaning
- Comedic gold
- Douche bag guy
- Adorable love interest
- crazy back stories

Negatives: 
- Spoiler to back stories
- Not enough connection to love interest
- Sometimes awkward language used

There was a page around the third chapter that had a documentation of the "campers." Along with the descriptions of what they did. I liked the little commentary documents but these I didn't enjoy. I think the anticipation would have been better if we had to figure out what they did to get sent to the camp on our own.  A huge plot twist could have been made then. 

I also think the spark formed between Lizzie and him (not going to give it away don't worry) should have grown a little more. In a way it wasn't there but there at the same time. I love the love interest and think he would be perfect for Lizzie... I just wished the love would have grown and been shown a little more before the huge reveal. 

Also when Lizzie is texting her friends, sometimes she would use slang and weird stuff teenagers don't really use anymore... or ever. 

For the long haul I liked the book. The plot and one-liners were great, and the ending was adorable. I'd give it 3.5/5 stars. It reminded me a lot of Legally Blonde in a way because of the different world Lizzie is transformed into... and how she deals with it. 

Fans of Legally Blonde and Miss Congeniality will eat this book up and not want to put it down. The comedic writing style with the few sentiment and important moments will keep you hooked. 

*Was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

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