Review : Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Pretty Amy
Author : Lisa Burstein
Publication Date : May 8th 2012
Publisher : Entangled Publishing
Goodreads - The Book Depository

Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she’s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when the girls get stood up for prom and take matters into their own hands—earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx — Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating “rehabilitation techniques” now filling up her summer. Even worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing — like she is nothing.

Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it’s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.


Personal Thoughts

Pretty Amy is a difficult book for me to review, mostly because I'm afraid to sound overly negative and rude towards the book. I feel like I have been deceived by the cover. Going into Pretty Amy, I expected a cutesy novel about a girl making a mistake and actually learning something from that mistake and hence, growing up. Unfortunately, my expectations were crushed and tossed into a corner.

The characters in Pretty Amy were all terrible characters that I didn't care for at all. Usually when reading a book, I enjoy at least one character's presence, but not in Pretty Amy. They were all so awful and I just couldn't respect them even a teensy bit. It's like the author took the worst possible characters and put them all together in one book. Amy, the main character, was unnerving for the entire book. I gave her a chance in the beginning, in the hopes that she would grow up, but that girl was a train wreck, making one mistake after the other non-stop. She was basically prone to making the worst decisions and had no common sense whatsoever. The thing with Amy was, I didn't understand her circumstances for acting like shit with every single person around her. I got the impression that she was depressed and was going through the some hard times in her life, but her reasons for her attitude and behavior were not at all clear to me. Sure, she was trying to find her place in her life and was having some problems with her parents, but they weren't as extreme as expected and they definitely weren't reasons for her to act like everyone hated her and that she had the worst problems ever. So, why did she constantly whine and moan about even people were genuinely trying to help her out. I understand that Amy was a teenager and most teenagers go through such a phase, but I just couldn't find myself connecting with Amy on any level and she really frustrated me to the extent where I wanted to jump into the book and give her a couple of slaps so she would come to her senses and appreciate what she had in life. I kept waiting for Amy to mature and become more likable, but she never truly grew up in the sense that I wanted her to grow up. Like I mentioned above, the other characters were as disastrous as Amy and some even worse. I was conflicted about my feelings for Amy's mother. In certain scenes, I got the impression that she genuinely wanted to help Amy out, but in other scenes she would act bat-shit crazy and took drastic decisions. Amy's friends were also pathetic excuses for friends and I honestly didn't give a care to whatever happened to them. They could have been struck by lightning and I wouldn't have cared less. Another characteristic of Amy that baffled me was her fierce devotion to her so-called friends. Amy was obsessed with the idea of not losing them and she let herself drown in peer-pressure. All of Amy's flaws just made her appear so weak and fragile. I truly wish she had grown a lot more than she did in this book.

Somehow, I feel like I wasn't the audience for Pretty Amy. Maybe if I went into the book not expecting much out of it, I would have enjoyed it, but it was honestly excruciating to get through the book. Pretty Amy tackles some intense themes including drug use and teenagers. It's just that my strong dislike for the characters prevented me from appreciating Lisa Burstein's efforts to present those themes in the book. I also thought that the romance was out of place in this novel. It was barely there, but even it's presence in the background confused me. Amy and the love interest had been friends before they had a fallout. By the end of the book, after a couple of conversations, the two forgive each other and realize they want to be together. There just weren't enough scenes between Amy and Joe to convince me about their romance. Lisa Burstein isn't a bad author as such. I believe she is very talented and has great writing skills. I think the problem with Pretty Amy lies in me. I just wasn't ready to read such a book and I definitely feel deceived by the cover model who looks like she might be smiling.

I apologize if this review sounds harsh and negative, but I just had to put my thoughts about this book out there. While Pretty Amy wasn't a book written for me, it might appeal to audiences looking for a realistic approach to peer pressure, drug use and teenagers.

Rating

Cover : 2/5
Plot : 1/5
Characters : 1/5
Writing : 3/5