Book in Review: The Pretty App by Katie Sise
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Author: Katie Sise
Publishing Date: April 14th, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Format: ARC
Rating: 2/5 stars
Summary:
Poor Blake Dawkins! She's rich, she's gorgeous, and she's the queen bee of Harrison High. The girls want to be her; the boys want to—okay, enough said. But it turns out Blake’s life is not so perfect—just talk to her dad, who constantly reminds her that she's not up to par, or to her ex-bff, Audrey, who doesn't even look her in the eye.
Then Harrison—and every other high school in America—becomes obsessed with posting selfies on the ubiquitous Pretty App. Next: Leo, an adorable transfer student, arrives at Harrison and begins to show Blake that maybe being a queen bee doesn't mean being a queen bitch. And though Audrey suspects somebody’s playing foul, Blake finds herself catapulted to internet fame after being voted one of the prettiest girls in the country. She's whisked away to star in a reality show—in Hollywood, on live TV. But she doesn’t know who to trust. Because everybody on the show wants to win.
And nobody is there to make friends.
The Boyfriend App author Katie Sise spins another irresistible tale of technology, secrets, and big-time romance in this story of what it takes to be #trulybeautiful.
I haven't read the first book but this works as a standalone anyway, so when I got an advanced copy, I thought why not?
This is one of those books that I found very easy to read and I breezed through in just around two hours. Honestly, there isn't really anything great about its storyline unless you're looking for a book just to pass the time. I didn't really have any expectations for this book, so I can't say I'm disappointed; if anything, I actually didn't care.
The Pretty App is about Blake Dawkins, a mean girl who wants to do a make-over of her life, and change for the better. The pretty app is a newly released app where teenagers all over America can post pictures of themselves, and people can rank them according to how pretty they are. Whoever gets ranked highest from each school, will get a chance to become part of a reality TV show / beauty pageant. Blake Dawkins finds herself to be part of this reality show, and here begins her life-changing journey that will eventually result in her realizing that looks aren't all that matter. There is some obvious message here how physical looks aren't everything and what matters is the beauty inside. I didn't like how in-your-face and obvious the message is shown. There is a lack of creativity plot wise, and I found the story to be somehow comical and a little bit too ridiculous.
The romance isn't all that good either and I found some parts to be predictable. I wasn't convinced with Blake's character development and I didn't get how easy it is for her to decide to suddenly become nice and I didn't like how she doesn't have to do any big sacrifices or lose anything - aside from throwing away the pageant. I felt like this story lacks any depth to it, and honestly I felt it too be a bit shallow and immature. I did enjoy reading it though and there are some parts I found funny, but some comical in away that it felt too weird (like the host cheating on stage - REALLY?? That happens???) If there's anything I liked about this book however, is that I admired how Blake has a real passion and dream, to become a TV reporter and I did sense her honesty in that. There are some sweet moments between her and Leo, but they don't exactly go beyond that.
I would recommend this to readers who are in for something fun and light to read, but for those who are looking for something more, then I suggest you skip this.
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