Review: Favorite Read Among Teen Girls
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2014
A really unique fantasy romance, Chasing Pretty captures your imagination in a sweet and innocent way. I bought this book for our local school's 'Kindle Library'- a newer concept that is being used by Junior and Senior high school students. Since then I've heard many great remarks, and it seems to be a well-loved book among the older teens.This book takes you into the interesting life of an older teen girl who is caught up in a very fairytale situation. She's a Cinderella in the fact she struggles with her self-identity and lacks a certain confidence- even though her natural beauty is evident (seemingly to everyone but her). She may have just found her prince charming- a mediocre boy with a personality and appearance that quickly steals her heart. But then, in walks Mister Perfect-In-Every-Way. A not so real prince charming who was conjured up by who else- than the wicked witch of the tale. And so, as with many teen girls, her heart is pulled in many directions. Does she follow it to the guy who is normal- but wonderful, or the guy who is created specifically to perfection?I think this book was definitely targeted towards young adults. Don't get me wrong- many adults could easily enjoy the story too. But it's fantasy essence is definitely one that more easily appeals to a younger crowd. A lot of girls relate the book to an edgier version of some of Disney's more modern 'Cinderella Stories' (ones with Selena Gomez and Hilary Duff). I, too, after reading the book, certainly see similaraties between the storyline in this book and those movies. And I think that's a large majority of what makes it so appealing for the teen crowd. It's something they can visualize and relate to with ease.All of the characters are relatable and easily defined. Every teen will have meant each of these characters in real life. There's the popular girl, the jocks, the cute guy who goes unnoticed, and the guy everyone seems to think is downright flawless. Girls definitely fall right into the pages. I've seen a few teens finish this book in one or two days. Something about it really captures their attention and keeps them moving from paragraph to paragraph with ease. It's hard to find books that so easily engage older teens (now-a-days movies seem to be the 'in thing'). But this book definitely did it's job well. It's earned a great deal of attention in our library- and for that reason it's definitely earned a 5 star rating from me.