[Shanise] Review: Pretty Face by Mary Hogan

Pretty Face by Mary Hogan

Published: April 1st, 2008 | HarperTeen
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 213
Acquired: Public Library

Overall: 1/2

Review: I have been really interested in books lately that are contemporary and about the girl who isn't. . . the looker. . . and this one was recommended to me based on the previous books I had checked out at the library. Well, I wasn't disappointed, but I wasn't blown away either. Neither here nor there.

Pretty Face is about Hayley; the funny girl, the friend. . . The girl with the pretty face. Hayley has had a serious crush on Drew Wyler since he walked into their highschool and when she finally gets up the nerve to ask him out she is amazed that he accepts, but then he tells her he likes her best friend. All seems lost in Hayley's oversized world until her parents decide to send her to Italy for "new experiences".
Hayley is sent to Italy to stay with her mother's college friend Patrice, her husband Gino, their daughter Gianna and son Taddeo. There she learns that the stick figure girls of California are nowhere near perfect, nor ideal. She learns that her hips and thighs are curves, not mountains. She learns that there are people who accept you for you.

I expected this book to be a "chick-flick" type of book despite the summary given. I was expecting Hayley to fly to Italy and indulge in the romance of the city--not just the food. I didn't quite get what I expected, but I wasn't left without either.

When Hayley makes it to Italy she's in a completely different world--literally. Food is eaten with love, curves are normal, people are relaxed, and boys are cute. I loved reading these experiences through Hayley, I just wish I got to read more.

I was relieved once Hayley made it to Italy away from her overbearing, and dare I say toxic, mother. Her father who didn't seem to have a care in the world and just the hustle and bustle of America. A place I'm all too familiar with.

The people in Italy were amazing, and if that's how it truly is I would love to live there. And I don't speak an ounce of Italian. The food, do not get me started. Italian is already my favorite and to have it authentic. . .Aish! The way Hayley describes the sensations and tastes of the foods, I felt like I was eating right beside her!

Once Hayley gets out of the gorgeous little tower she occupies she's finally able to explore Italy, gelato, and the people. . . And the boys. Like Enzo (short for Lorenzo), the perfect Italian guy with the adorable gap teeth. I won't lie, the thing about him being perfect, never an argument, or a bad thing, always saying the right things annoyed me. I wanted conflict. I get it, once she goes to Italy everything is supposed to be okay, but come on, he's a guy!

That's what annoyed me most about the book, there wasn't much to it, not enough pages to develop a relationship with Patrice and her family and especially not Enzo. I wanted more, more, more. More got kisses, late night rendezvous(s), and just more Italy.

I did love that Hayley began to learn things about herself, begin to love herself, food(again), and find that life can be simple if you let it. A lesson I need to learn. I enjoyed that she was happy there apart from missing her best friend, Italy is obviously the place for her.

I didn't like that once something begins in the story, be it a conflict, romance, friendship, whatever, it almost ends or we move on to something else leaving things open and with question. I would have liked to know how she truly felt about Drew before he told her he liked her best friend. I would have liked to see her tell her mother to back off and let her live her life (especially that!). I would have liked to see why Hayley loved Enzo so. A cute accent and adorable gap in your front teeth can only take you so far. And I would have liked to have gotten to know Patrice (in particular) and the rest of her family.

Just as quickly as the book began, it ended, with a short e-mail between Enzo and Hayley. And the ending was a tad. . . unrealistic.

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Follow Friday & Blog Hop!

This week the featured blogger is: http://www.bookswithbite.net/
And the question is: What books have bitten you??

Shanise: I don't really know how to answer this, I haven't read a good book that completely took me in...in quite awhile. However I did love Paranormalcy. (See my review here) I will be starting Sisters Red very soon.

Amanda: I'll be honest, the first to "bite" me, was Twilight. I don't care too much for it now, but it definitely had that effect on me. Hush, Hush and The DUFF also drew me in and I'd reread either one in a heartbeat. I'm sure there are others....

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy for Books! It's a way for us book bloggers to find each other and get to know each other!!


We are given a question each week, and this week the question is:
"How do you spread the word about your blog?
(e.g. Social Networking sites, Book Blog Directories, comments on other blogs...)"


Shanise:  I like to enter the blogger lists and do any meme or feature I find enjoyable and hope that I gain more readers. I prefer people to follow because they like what's on my page, not just because they want me to follow them back.
I also have a twitter (@camisadomind) and through asking people to check out my blog and to RT anything I post, I hope that possibly through authors or other larger blogs/bloggers others will click the link & check out my page!
I also like to read comments and comment back. Follow bloggers & make sure to comment on a post I enjoyed.

Amanda: I participate in features, memes, and sometimes challenges. I also link my content through Twitter. I really don't think I do much more than that. What more is there?

Waiting on Wednesday (001)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are anticipating.

This week, we are both anticipating:




Slice of Cherry, by Dia Reeves

Happiness is a bloody knife. 

Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around. 

It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities....

Why Amanda wants it:
    This one sounds fun. I've read a few books that were from the perspective of the killer, but none of them sounded as light and humorous as Slice of Cherry. I'm anxious to find out who these girls think "deserve" to be murdered. As for Fancy opening a doorway to another world, this adds an extra touch of fantasy, and you know how I love the impossible.

Why Shanise wants it:
   I loved Dia Reeves' book, Bleeding Violet. The sarcastic & smart ass MC was one of my favorite things about the book. I didn't expect it to be such a paranormal type book. But it was, and it was done well. Now to have twins in a paranormal book, I can only imagine it's double the Hanna, smartass-ness! I actually thought Slice of Cherry was a sequel to Bleeding Violet because of a doll that ate cherries(you'd have to read the book to understand), but it sounds just as fun.
I wonder if these "doors" she opens are like the "doors" that Hanna found...I'm excited! :-)
P.S. that cover is amazing! Ha.