Synopsis:
Tomboy to the core, Toni Valentine understands guys. She'll take horror movies, monster hunts and burping contests over manicures. So Toni is horrified when she's sent to the Winston Academy for Girls, where she has to wear a skirt and learn to be a lady while the guys move on without her.
Then Toni meets Emma Elizabeth, a girl at school with boy troubles, and she volunteers one of her friends as a pretend date. Word spreads of Toni’s connections with boys, and she discovers that her new wealthy female classmates will pay big money for fake dates. Looking for a way to connect her old best friends with her new life at school, Toni and Emma start up Toni Valentine’s Rent-A-Gent Service.
But the business meets a scandal when Toni falls for one of her friends--the same guy who happens to be the most sought-after date. With everything she's built on the line, Toni has to decide if she wants to save the business and her old life, or let go of being one of the guys for a chance at love.
Tomboy to the core, Toni Valentine understands guys. She'll take horror movies, monster hunts and burping contests over manicures. So Toni is horrified when she's sent to the Winston Academy for Girls, where she has to wear a skirt and learn to be a lady while the guys move on without her.
Then Toni meets Emma Elizabeth, a girl at school with boy troubles, and she volunteers one of her friends as a pretend date. Word spreads of Toni’s connections with boys, and she discovers that her new wealthy female classmates will pay big money for fake dates. Looking for a way to connect her old best friends with her new life at school, Toni and Emma start up Toni Valentine’s Rent-A-Gent Service.
But the business meets a scandal when Toni falls for one of her friends--the same guy who happens to be the most sought-after date. With everything she's built on the line, Toni has to decide if she wants to save the business and her old life, or let go of being one of the guys for a chance at love.
Release Date: February 10, 2015
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So One of the Guys reads like a coming of age story.
We have Toni who is used to living a certain way. She's used to hanging out with her four friends every summer looking for the swamp monster. She's used to going to the same school with the same people. She's used to her old Maxima. She's used to her old clothes. She's not accustomed to change but one action sets forth the beginning of her new life.
People change. Some grow up, some don't. Some leave, others stay. Sometimes we grow closer and with others we grow further apart.
What makes us into the person we're supposed to be is how we deal with these changes, how we embrace them and make room for more because, every once in a while, maybe change isn't so bad.
I really loved the idea of the story but the execution was not really on point.
At times the story really dragged especially the last 30%. I also felt Toni didn't really grow up that much, still being a weak character by the end of the book.
To be honest she didn't even feel like a tomboy. All she had were really bad table manners.
She would just go on burping and chugging soda or scratching her butt to remind us that she is, in fact, a tomboy. My dog has better manners than that.
It was sadly stereotypical.
Also, I would have loved to see more of their friendship as a whole. We're told they've been best friends for years but that doesn't really come across to the reader. They're all quite different and it would have been nice to see them interact as friends at some point without having feelings of resent in the background. I found most of the characters were flat and one dimensional and not really all that intriguing. To be honest the only characters I really liked were Emma and Micah.
In the end it was light and cute. Really easy to read and at times relatable. I enjoyed it quite a lot.
We have Toni who is used to living a certain way. She's used to hanging out with her four friends every summer looking for the swamp monster. She's used to going to the same school with the same people. She's used to her old Maxima. She's used to her old clothes. She's not accustomed to change but one action sets forth the beginning of her new life.
People change. Some grow up, some don't. Some leave, others stay. Sometimes we grow closer and with others we grow further apart.
What makes us into the person we're supposed to be is how we deal with these changes, how we embrace them and make room for more because, every once in a while, maybe change isn't so bad.
I really loved the idea of the story but the execution was not really on point.
At times the story really dragged especially the last 30%. I also felt Toni didn't really grow up that much, still being a weak character by the end of the book.
To be honest she didn't even feel like a tomboy. All she had were really bad table manners.
She would just go on burping and chugging soda or scratching her butt to remind us that she is, in fact, a tomboy. My dog has better manners than that.
It was sadly stereotypical.
Also, I would have loved to see more of their friendship as a whole. We're told they've been best friends for years but that doesn't really come across to the reader. They're all quite different and it would have been nice to see them interact as friends at some point without having feelings of resent in the background. I found most of the characters were flat and one dimensional and not really all that intriguing. To be honest the only characters I really liked were Emma and Micah.
In the end it was light and cute. Really easy to read and at times relatable. I enjoyed it quite a lot.
"I received this book via Netaglley in exchange for an honest review."
♥Until next time♥
I hate it when "being a tomboy" doesn't actually mean anything. There's a lot more to it than not having manners. It also isn't necessarily a permanent state. A girl can plow a field, drink beer, climb a tree and play sports and then also put on make up.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when girls get oversimplified to their face value.
Lovely review!