This book felt just like a soap opera to me. Only geared to 13 year olds. As an adult, it was really hard to stay focused and invested but I think this book might appeal to a lot of young 13 year old girls who are in to these sort of things.
The story is all about Landry who feels all the typical insecurities of this age group, and they are many. It's a tough age and most early teen girls will be able to relate. Throw in those boy crushes, the friend drama and some family issues and you have this book in a nutshell.
Landry has self esteem issues. She never feels pretty or good enough. Friends come and go in a love-hate sort of way as many friends do at that age. Landry is always trying to figure out where she fits in while trying to please everyone. The mean girls were nailed in this book. They reminded me of a couple girls I knew at this age.
Landry and friends go to the mall a LOT. And the movies and basketball games. They have sleep over's and gossip about everyone. To me, if felt very repetative (oh, they are at the mall. Again. ) but I realize I'm not the target audience for this book. I guess for me, the book didn't really go anywhere. It just kept spinning in the same place. I didn't see much growth in Landry. I really wanted it to move forward and progress and it just didn't.
Content: It was clean. No swearing or sexual situations to report.
Enjoy the following excerpt:
A lot of girls at school were talking about trying out, but most of the girls at Hillcrest were jocks. Yasmin McCarty, the most popular girl in our class with one thousand-three people on her social media friends list, could win a modeling competition, but she would never enter because it would be beneath her to stand in line and wait to be judged on her looks. She was always saying modeling and stuff was so superficial, but she was also the same girl who walked around school pretending she was freezing so the teachers would let her wear her designer hoodie over her uniform.
I dunno, maybe some girls just knew they were hot and didn’t need some TV show to confirm it. I loved watching the show, but the thought of going up there to be judged on how I looked scared me. I was afraid of the judges but even more afraid of Ericka. I knew she’d get mad at me if I didn’t try out. So while some girls were secure enough not to need strangers to tell them they were pretty, I spent the whole day trying to figure out the right outfit for my audition (and my dad wondered why my math grades sucked). I mentally went through my closet, and nothing seemed right. My clothes said American Couch Potato, not American IngĂ©nue.
Author Biography Krysten Lindsay Hager is an author and book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and also writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. Her debut novel, TRUE COLORS, will be out June 17th from Astraea Press. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and currently resides in Southern Ohio where you can find her reading and writing when she’s not catching up on her favorite shows.
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Thanks for spotlighting True Colors
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