Mostly Good Girls

Are you in need of a good laugh? Like a seriously good hardcore, giggle until there are tears in your eyes? Then you absolutely MUST read Mostly Good Girls.

Description from Goodreads:

The higher you aim, the farther you fall…. 

It’s Violet’s junior year at the Westfield School. She thought she’d be focusing on getting straight As, editing the lit mag, and making Scott Walsh fall in love with her. Instead, she’s just trying to hold it together in the face of cutthroat academics, Scott Walsh’s new girlfriend, and the sense that things are going irreversibly wrong with her best friend, Katie. 
When Katie starts making choices that Violet can’t even begin to fathom, Violet has no idea how to set things right between them. Westfield girls are trained for success—but how can Violet keep her junior year from being one huge epic fail?

This book was so true, so funny and so poignant, I'm kind of in awe of Leila Sales. I also kind of want to be her best friend. The voice of Violet was amazing and I don't think there was one page that wasn't full of hilariousness. I could totally relate to Violet's worries and a lot of her attitudes. If you ever obsessed over your grades in high school--you will love this book. If you ever obsessed over a boy you could never have--you will love this book. And if you ever had a best friend--you will love this book.

I don't really know how to do this review justice without just basically sharing a few quotes.

This poem, submitted anonymously to the Wisdom, the lit mag Violet is the editor of is so funny and so reminds me of the sort of poetry I wrote when I was on my high school's lit mag kind of just plays in my head all day now and makes me laugh every time.

I want to be thin
Because that means I win
I must be thinner than my kin
Thinner than my sister, Lynn
As thin as my skin
(Which is yang to my yin).
Hunger is a sin
As bad for you as a shark's fin.
I would laugh and grin
If only I were thin.

The ONLY thing funnier than how bad this poem is, is the reaction the lit mag has to it, and Violet's desperate attempts to get the girls to see how while anorexia is a serious issue, this is a really poor piece of literature.

And, from the Unthemed school dance...

Katie leaned over and shouted something at my ear.

"What?" I yelled back. School dances are loud. That's part of the reason why you have to look so pretty--because it's not like you can rely on conversation to get you anywhere.

"I said," Katie repeated, "why are no random dudes trying to hump us from behind?"

I snorted. "No sense of romance, obviously."

Then there are chapters called "Genevieve is anorexic", followed by "Genevieve is not anorexic." Seriously if you want to know what a Harry Potter tour is, or how to become a pool shark, or what happens when you steal ritalin from the kid you're babysitting for and try it, or why you might find yourself drinking copious amounts of orange juice after your first attempt at getting drunk....read this book!

Bonus! If you've seen Easy A, you can totally imagine Violet's parents as Olive's.  I only thought of this toward the end, but just imagine them that way the whole time and it will bring your reading experience to a whole other level.

Ok, go read this. And if you want more info on Leila Sales, check out her fun website.

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