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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Review ~ SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT,by Sarah Strohmeyer

Smart Girls Get What They WantGigi, Bea, and Neerja are best friends and total overachievers. Even if they aren't the most popular girls in school, they aren't too worried. They know their "real" lives will begin once they get to their Ivy League colleges. There will be ivy, and there will be cute guys in the libraries (hopefully with English accents) But when an unexpected event shows them they're missing out on the full high school experience, it's time to come out of the honors lounge and into the spotlight. They make a pact: They will each take on their greatest challenge--and they will totally "rock" it. Gigi decides to run for student rep, but she'll have to get over her fear of public speaking--and go head-to-head with gorgeous California Will. Bea used to be one of the best skiers around, until she was derailed. It could be time for her to take the plunge again. And Neerja loves the drama club but has always stayed behind the scenes--until now. These friends are determined to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want--but that could mean getting way more attention than they ever bargained for. . . ~From GoodReads

The first thing that comes to my mind after reading SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT is Girl Power. What a great example for the tween and teen girls out there!

Gigi, Bea, and Neerja are three besties with one common goal: to be at the top of their class, go to a prestigious school where they will live a scholarly existence among their own kind, complete with intellectual hotties. They are perfectly content to fly under the radar at their school until the day they realize that their dedication has also earned them invisibility among their classmates. The three then set out on a quest to challenge themselves, to step out of their comfort zone and really live the high school experience. Along the way, though, these girls learn a lot of lessons about life and love.

SMART GIRLS is entirely told from Gigi's view point. She was obviously a brainiac, but the girl had a great ironic sense of humor, and that made her so much fun to read. She is very matter-of-fact, isn't whiny or annoying, a really great narrator. Her friends, Bea and Neerja were similarly endearing. My favorite character, though, was definitely Mike. Mike seems to be the antithesis to Gigi. He's popular, athletic, and knows how to have fun. Gigi assumes that because of these qualities, Mike doesn't have a lot going on upstairs. When Mike and Gigi are forced to work together on a school project, Gigi will learn that as smart as she is, she still has a lot to learn about people and assumptions.

I found SMART GIRLS to be cute and engaging, though not overly exciting. I didn't become fully engaged in the story until approximately one hundred pages in, when I finally got a grasp on what the story "wanted" to be. Once I got into it, I did enjoy it a good bit. There were many times I found myself smiling and chuckling as I read. I liked the way SMART GIRLS turned out and I thought the lessons learned were terrific, my favorite being, friendship over boys. Even though Gigi, Bea, and Neerja were open to new experiences, they always had each others' back. And that alone makes it a great read.


Favorite Quote:

"To recap: I am the the product of two brilliant inert elements with negative bonding capabilities, one who was a Dr. Who fangirl, the other who consistently drove into fire hydrants." (pg 37, ARC)

 Expected publication: June 26th 2012 by Balzer + Bray

You can purchase SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT at:
Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Book Depository


Source: Received from publisher in exchange for an honest review.

13 comments:

  1. Ohhhhh I loved this book!!! It's definitely "GIRL POWER" and I really wish I had read a book like this back when I was in high school! I think my life would have been so much more fun!!! Great review, I totally agree with you!

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  2. YAY Girl power! Sounds really cute. Even smart people still have things to learn. Glad to hear the girls are trying to round out their lives and have a great high school experience along with being top of the class. It is a hard balance to find. I was more on the party side than the top of the class side lol

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  3. Oh, this sounds adorable! I think I would have really liked to read a book like this when I was in high school. :)

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  4. When I first saw this book; I knew I needed to read it. It sounds like an empowering and very cute story. I'm so glad I read your review! I kind of get discouraged when it takes books a long time (100 pages give or take) to really get good.

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  5. This sounds like a great girl power book!! I love that being top of their class and getting into a good college is really important to them, but they also want to experience high school too. Thanks for the fabulous review chick!!

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  6. I really enjoyed this one too! I loved that friendships were so important. And I loved how the romance,how it built up and we didn't know which direction she'd go. Glad you enjoyed!

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  7. This sounds cute. I'm curious how it works being told from one person when there's three friends involved? Hmmmm....friendship stories aren't usually my thing. I'm glad you stuck with it long enough to like it.

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks.com

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  8. Thank you, Andrea! Great helpful review. I really appreciate you getting the word out about Smart Girls and so glad you found it to be a great read. At least...finally!

    Sarah

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  9. This does sound like a cute book for a tween or around that age. Thanks for sharing love!

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  10. This sounds like a cute book. I love smart girls who have to learn how other things work in life because I was one of those girls growing up. This sounds right up my alley so I'm glad Harper sent me a copy of this.

    Thanks for the great review!

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  11. Goodness, I wish I'd had this book as a teen! I can't tell you how many fun things I missed out on because I was so obsessed with studying! I look back now and wish I'd taken advantage of the freedoms I had as a teen and young adult.

    Nice review!

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  12. Great review, hun! This books sounds so fun and you're the second person review it to say how good it is! I like the sounds of Gigi, a lot!

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