Title: Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Release date: March 1, 2013
Publisher: Point
Pages: 272
Source: Netgalley/Publisher
Reading level: YA
Challenge: YA Contemporary Challenge
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 hate to say it but Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is my least favorite of Elizabeth Eulberg’s books. All of her previous books have ended up on my favorites list and I just can’t say the same for this one. While I still enjoyed it, I find myself forgetting about it already.
Lexi was my biggest problem. She had absolutely no confidence in herself. She thought that the only way she could interact with guys was if she cracked jokes and acted like she didn’t care about anything. She considered herself ugly just because she didn’t wear a ton of makeup or dress super girly. I get that living in the pageant world made her feel bad about herself but it really bothers me when girls act like makeup and clothes are the only things that could make someone pretty. I wanted to slap Lexi so many times because she was just so oblivious! Also, her friends got on my nerves a bit too. One of them only added to her thoughts that makeup and clothes are all that matter and the other one got angry about nothing in particular and acted kind of bitchy. They weren’t horrible, by any means, but they weren’t nearly as awesome as the friends in Elizabeth Eulberg’s previous books.
The story itself was a little shallow but it was entertaining. Lexi decides to transform herself so that guys will finally start to notice her. Little does she know how well it will actually work. One day as her new self and guys are falling all over her and Lexi’s life completely changes. It was a little unrealistic but it made for a pretty fun story.
Oh, also, I have to mention Lexi’s family and how bad they were! Oh my gosh I would have become an emancipated minor if I had her mother. She is probably one of the worst moms I have ever read about, ever. She had two daughters but she really only seemed to care about one and it wasn’t Lexi. Every thought revolved around pageants even though they had no money for them. There’s one point in the book where I really probably would have murdered her if she had been my mom. And Lexi’s little sister came across as this huge spoiled brat for most of the book but by the end I did like her.
One other flaw I had with Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality was the ending. Things seemed very unresolved and I was left wondering what happened. The ending worked but it’s not what I wanted at all. It just bothers me when things are left hanging.
Overall, if you’re a fan of Elizabeth Eulberg, check out Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality. However, if you’ve never read any of her other books, I’d recommend starting with one of them rather than this one.
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This is the first review I’ve read of this book. It’s been on my TBR list for a while now, but after reading your review I don’t think I will be picking this up soon. And the ending doesn’t sound good at all. I hate it too when things are left hanging!
Great review, Katie! : )
Great review Katie. You summed up everything I found wrong with this book perfectly. Lexie was so annoying, and I hated that she had absolutely no self esteem. And yeah, that family was absolutely horrible. I kept on thinking I was reading an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras lol.
Also, thanks so much for linking to my review!!!! <3
Emily@Emily’s Crammed Bookshelf
I’m glad I’m not the only one who had so many issues with this book. I kept hoping it would get better but for me, it never really did.
I’ve never read one of Elizabeth’s books, but don’t think I’ll be starting with this one.
This is definitely my least favorite Eulberg book, too. I was sort of expecting that Lexi would decide herself to become popular or whatever, and to show guys that that looks aren’t everything. But it was just her friend betting her to dress up. And I hated the ending. Especially the part where Lexi dresses up all beauty queen like and makes her speech on the stage. Ugh! I just thought that was ridiculous. And not the best way to talk to her mother.
I’ve haven’t tried this author before, so I’ll take your advice and start with another of her books.
A bad parent is sometimes still better than a parent you never hear about throughout the book (like in my last read).
Totally agree with you about the mother! Probably the worst mother I have ever read in a YA novel. Completely mentally and emotionally abusive.
I didn’t have the issues with Lexi that you did, though. I saw this book as her journey to be okay with who she is in spite of the pageant world. But maybe I just connected with this novel because of my background in the competitive dance scene.
Thank you for this review. I was thinking about reading this book but I’ve never read anything else by her. Now I know I should read her others first. I would hate to get the wrong opinion of her, if it turns out I don’t like this book.
oh no! I had such high hopes for this book. I hate when books look like they’re going to be deep/meaningful but end up kind of shallow.
Definitely agree with you on pretty much everything you said! Compared to the one other book I’ve read by Elizabeth Eulberg – this one wasn’t too great and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it as the first of her books.
And oh my goodness, her mother! AH.
Great review!
I didn’t like this one as much either (although Take a Bow is least favorite). I loved the light peppiness of Lonely Hearts and P&P and these later two just don’t quite capture that.
I found the beginning of this book really funny, and to be honest I really liked the insight into the pageant world and how it affects family members who aren’t in it.
I love Elizabeth Eulberg, and usually her books end differently, but this ending worked, like you said.
If you hated her mom, you’d despise Mrs. Baker in Heather Demetrios’ Something Real. It’s a wonderful contemporary about growing up on a reality show about your family and what that does to you and how you have to fight to get the life you want. The characters are wonderful, there’s an awesome sibling relationship and one of the best boys out there.
Have you read it ? You should!!