2013 book 61

M. Molly Backes' Princesses of Iowa
I should note here that this is the February book for FYA book club, and I was very unwilling to read a book with this title, not even knowing what it was about. And the very first section is kind of unusual and I really related to it . . . and then it turned into one of those books about a bitchy popular girl who only cares about her popularity and is obviously going to learn some Life Lessons (with, obviously, the help of a creative writing class [because THAT'S never been done before], an irrepressible girl who knew her before she was cool, and the inevitable sensitive cute writer boy) and start to be nice to the nerds or whatever. (Though honestly, I really think a popular girl could say "Hey, don't be a dick" to her boyfriend's stereotypical jock friend without losing popularity points, as opposed to calling a dude a /fairy/ to seem cool.UGH.) I think if I'd read this when I was younger, I would be like "wooooow, she is so REAL" and though she is an authentic character, this plot is cliched in basically every way. And I mean, if I was going to read a book about a popular girl learning Life Lessons, can't it at least be Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall, which besides having a more interesting premise, is also excellent and sad. Not to say this book was bad--the writing is solid and the characters are mostly realistic, if unlikable, but it's just sooooooo predictable. So predictable. And that's boring. B/B-.