Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

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Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 806 ratings · 229 reviews

A hilarious new novel from Elizabeth Eulberg about taking the wall out of the wallflower so she can bloom.

Don't mess with a girl with a great personality!

Everybody loves Lexi. She's popular, smart, funny...but she's never been one of those girls, the pretty ones who get all the attention from guys. And on top of that, her seven-year-old sister, Mackenzie, is a terror in a...more

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published March 1st 2013 by Point

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Feb 08, 2013 Avery TheLibrariansDaughter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, favorites, reviewed

Cue obnoxious Redneck voice and Toddlers and Tiaras theme song

description

I'm Mackenzie, I'm seven and I'm a beauty queen. None of those other girls are going to beat me HONEY BOO BOO CHILD!!!!!

Okay I've been meaning to post this review for a few days, but since it's exam week that has been a little hard. First off I want to thank Jv Poore for giving me her ARC of this book, I really enjoyed it, so thanks again.

On to the book. There's alot of debates regarding beauty pageants, do kids actually want to do t...more

9 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2013 Kristina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-egalley-for-review

I am a huge, huge fan of Elizabeth Eulberg and Take a Bow was one of my favorite books that I read last year. When I saw Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality on netgalley, I was so excited to start reading it. With a title like that, how could it not be good? Revenge was a fun, quick read and it was everything that I was expecting and more!

I loved Lexi as a character. In her family, she isn't considered the pretty one, that title is reserved for her 7 year old beauty queen sister (thin...more I am a huge, huge fan of Elizabeth Eulberg and Take a Bow was one of my favorite books that I read last year. When I saw Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality on netgalley, I was so excited to start reading it. With a title like that, how could it not be good? Revenge was a fun, quick read and it was everything that I was expecting and more!

I loved Lexi as a character. In her family, she isn't considered the pretty one, that title is reserved for her 7 year old beauty queen sister (think Toddlers & Tiaras). She is known as the girl with the great personality and she is ok with that. She is used to never being noticed, that is until one day when she decides to do a makeover. She starts to wear tighter fitting clothing, changes her hairstyles and wears make-up. Now everyone is noticing her, including some of the cutest boys in school. In an instant, Lexi's life is changed. When it comes down to it, is fake friends really worth it? The boys and girls only want to talk to her because of how she looks and Lexi isn't sure if that is the life she wants.

Even though this story is focused on teenagers, everyone can relate to it. We live in a society where looks matter above anything else. But there is so much more to a person then how they look on the outside. What matters is who they are on the inside. Revenge has a great message for teenagers, and I think it would make a fantastic book for my school book club!

Another aspect of this book is beauty pageants. There is a huge debate in this country about little girl beauty queens. Personally, I think these pageants are disgusting. Those parts in the story were really hard to read because it is something that I feel strongly against. I think we got a realistic portrayal of what happens behind the scenes, about the parents who support this, and the girls who participate in it. I felt so bad for Mackenzie. She can be such a terror, but then you realize that she is a 7 year old who is forced to act like an adult which is one of the reasons that I am so against this. Children should be children, and nothing else. These pageants force them to grow up so much quicker then they should.(less)

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Mar 01, 2013 Jen Ryland added it

Shelves: netgalley

*I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher for possible review*

Lexi dreams of being a fashion designer, gets dragged to the kiddie beauty pageants that her little sister competes in, and is secretly in love with a Logan, a guy who (inexplicably) also accompanies his beauty queen girlfriend to all her pageants. When Lexi overhears Logan telling a friend that she has a "great personality," she decides to glam herself up. When Lexi sees that pageants are bankrupting her family, she decide...more *I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher for possible review*

Lexi dreams of being a fashion designer, gets dragged to the kiddie beauty pageants that her little sister competes in, and is secretly in love with a Logan, a guy who (inexplicably) also accompanies his beauty queen girlfriend to all her pageants. When Lexi overhears Logan telling a friend that she has a "great personality," she decides to glam herself up. When Lexi sees that pageants are bankrupting her family, she decides to take a stand.

It seems to me that this kind of plot could go a couple of different ways. It could a) be a fun escapist read that gently mocks the pageant world (false eyelashes and spray tans and butt glue -- ha ha) and ends in Lexi learning to appreciate her inner beauty and finding true love. Or it could b) offer more of a critique of the objectification of girls and women by the fashion and beauty industry, something like The List by Siobhan Vivian. Or it could be both a) and b), like Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. Because Libba Bray can totally pull that kind of stuff off.

I really wish that the book had not wavered ambivalently between a) and b). The weirdness of the whole "Toddlers and Tiaras" world is alluded to but all the blame for Lexi's problems is placed on squarely on Lexi's mother, who, though FAR from perfect, is also recently divorced, overweight, depressed and a compulsive overeater. (Her father, who lives in another city with his new girlfriend, gets let completely off the hook.) Lexi seems mildly outraged at her sister's participation in pageants, but eventually decides that the only way she can make her mother understand the wrongness of it all is to publicly humiliate her. Meanwhile, Lexi dreams of being a fashion designer. Is the fashion runway all that different from the pageant stage? Pot, meet kettle.

That aside, there were definitely aspects of the book that made it a fun and enjoyable read. The whole kiddie pageant world is a strange and fascinating subculture -- at least as it's portrayed on reality TV. Lexi's gay BFF is obsessed with the 80s, and nervous about taking his new boyfriend public. And it's unusual to see any YA book these days that resolves (view spoiler) Though readers who expect this book to fall into the a) category may have issues with that aspect of the book, I though it was great.(less)

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Mar 17, 2013 Nenia Campbell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-stands-for-a-readers-xmas, netgalley, x-2013s, ya-baby-ya

You can read more reviews on my blog, The Armchair Librarian.

Mean Girls+ She's All That+ Toddlers in Tiaras = Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality!

Lexi is that girl. The one who all the guys want to be "friends" with but none of whom want to date. The one, in other words, with "the great personality."

Her younger sister, Mackenzie, is a seven-year-old pageant princess, and the apple of her mother's eye. Lexi's needs are constantly put on hold for the sake of her sister's. She has to wo...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Lexi is a teen with a pageant-obsessed mom, a spoiled brat of a little sister, and a semi-absent dad. Her mom spends money they don't have on her little sister's beauty pageants and causes Lexi some anxiety. She kind of compensates by not dressing up; not wearing makeup; not doing her hair. Her best friends, Benny and Cam, are the best support she could have. Everyone loves Lexi--because she's got a great personality. Which, in code words (to Lexi, anyway) are words of social death. When Benny d...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Natalie (Natflix&Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

3.5

A cute, quick read set in the world of little-girl beauty pageants.

So over Christmas break my sister made me watch some child pageant reality show on TLC or whatever, not the Honey Boo-Boo one (which, I'm sorry, is truly the most despicable thing on tv--the show, not the girl), but some other show that follows a group of child pageant contestants, but is really about the crazy moms and families (my sister is a perfectly intelligent woman btw, she just has horrible taste in tv shows). So I w...more 3.5

A cute, quick read set in the world of little-girl beauty pageants.

So over Christmas break my sister made me watch some child pageant reality show on TLC or whatever, not the Honey Boo-Boo one (which, I'm sorry, is truly the most despicable thing on tv--the show, not the girl), but some other show that follows a group of child pageant contestants, but is really about the crazy moms and families (my sister is a perfectly intelligent woman btw, she just has horrible taste in tv shows). So I watched this show in absolute horror as these poor little girls in these atrocious outfits and way-too-much makeup danced around the stage while their mothers mirrored their dances in the aisles. I was saddened by the way the mothers and "trainers" cut up the competition. Calling the other little girls names and just in generally being totally trashy to one another. A little girl shouldn't be judged by her looks (and neither should women, of course). Kids should be able to play and discover and...whatever else kids do these days, without having to worry about what they look like. I'm not saying that some of those pageant girls don't enjoy doing the pageants, but I'm sure that a good portion of them do not like them, but do them anyway to please their pageant mothers. Anyway, I'm just against the whole thing. That's pretty much what this rant was trying to say.

Anyhoo, Revenge of the Girl with a Great Personality follows Lexi, a smart, funny teenaged girl who lives with her mother and little sister, Mackenzie. Mackenzie, who I believe is 9, is a little pageant girl, and their mother is the epitome of a pageant mother. Their mom is a hugely-overweight, lives-in-a-trailer, spends-all-their-money-on-pageants pageant mother. All she seems to care about is Mackenzie and her pageants, ignoring Lexi unless she is needed to sew a costume or take Mackenzie somewhere. And Lexi is sick of it.

Lexi has spent the past few years dressing down in an effort to separate herself from her family. She never wears make-up and is always in something baggy and comfortable, but that changes after she makes a deal with her best friend, Benny. If Benny asks out the boy he likes, then she will start making an effort in her appearance--wearing make-up and dressing up nicer. To her surprise, the transformation actually garners her some attention from both nice guy, Taylor and from her mega-crush Logan, who happens to have a pageant queen girlfriend.

I enjoyed Revenge of the Girl. Like Ms. Eulberg's previous books, this one is fast-paced, light, and easy to read. I really liked Lexi's character and enjoyed her journey and I loved Benny and their third friend, Cam. I didn't love the characterization of her mother--I'm so sick of the trailer-park mom stereotype. I mean, for real, not everyone who lives in a trailer is a fat, horrible person. Why are there so few good parents in YA books these days? However, to be fair, part of the story is definitely about the problem with pageant moms...so I understand why she had suck.

Also, I couldn't help but think about this scene in this one movie--Not Another Teen Movie--where the sister of the boy who made the bet about the unpopular girl (spoofing on She's All That) comes over to do a makeover and literally just takes off the girl's glasses and takes her hair out of the ponytail and then says, "There I'm a genius." I'm kind of skeptical that just putting on a dress and some make-up would make the entire popular clique stand up and take notice of somebody. Pretty girls are pretty without makeup...that's why they are pretty. But whatever.

Overall, I did enjoy this book--even with these little gripes and would recommend it to anyone wanting to read a quick, cute YA contemporary. I really enjoy Elizabeth Eulberg's writing and will continue to look out for her next book.

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. (less)

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Mar 23, 2013 Carmen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favourite-books, chick-lit-contemporary

I love Elizabeth Eulberg's books. They're always funny, with a fun sense of quirky and witty humour, showcasing smart and intelligent girls, who are just as flawed as any other teenaged girl.

Especially in this book, Lexi's personality really took center stage. She took matters into her own hands (through a dare) and discovered more about herself deep inside and what beauty really meant. The most powerful part was of course, at the end, when Lexi finally figured out what was most important to her...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Lexi’s always been the funny one, the girl with the great personality. Everybody loves to hang out with her because they can always count on her to make them laugh. And while that’s all fine and well, lately Lexi has been getting tired of being shoved into that category. She wants guys to see her as girlfriend material, not just as a friend who’s a girl. But how can she get everyone to start thinking about her differently? With a little help from her friends and some inspiration from the beauty...more Lexi’s always been the funny one, the girl with the great personality. Everybody loves to hang out with her because they can always count on her to make them laugh. And while that’s all fine and well, lately Lexi has been getting tired of being shoved into that category. She wants guys to see her as girlfriend material, not just as a friend who’s a girl. But how can she get everyone to start thinking about her differently? With a little help from her friends and some inspiration from the beauty pageant scene her seven-year-old sister Mackenzie frequents, Lexi hatches a plan: with a little makeup and some hair product, Lexi’s going to be the new beauty queen at school. But things don’t quite turn out as planned, and Lexi will have to figure out, under her new exterior, who she really wants to be.

With a fabulous title like Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality and the promise of the lighter and darker sides of beauty pageants, I knew that I would enjoy this book before I picked it up. My instincts were correct, and I blew through this story. I was expecting quite a few laughs, but I wasn’t as prepared for how heartwrenching Lexi’s story could be at times; Eulberg adds a lot of depth to what could have been a more frivolous, lighthearted look at the beauty scene by including the complexities of Lexi’s family as well as her desire to break out of her “great personality” shell. I’m not always a fan of stories that aren’t completely or mostly self contained, since I find a lack of concrete conclusion unsatisfying, but even though everything doesn’t wrap up for Lexi at the end of this book, I still left her story with a sense accomplishment—that Lexi had grown as a person and that she was on her way to living her life on her terms. So, even if she doesn’t get everything she’d hoped for at the beginning of her story, in terms of guys and her family, she’s become more comfortable with herself, as a girl who’s proud to have a great personality. And that made for a very satisfying story.

Fans of Eulberg’s earlier novels, especially The Lonely Hearts Club, will not want to miss Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality, nor will readers who also enjoyed North of Beautiful by Justina Chen and My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com (less)

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Mar 02, 2013 Karen Yingling rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lexi is tired of spending her weekends following her seven year old sister Mackenzie around to beauty pageants, and is also angry about the money that is spent on this. It doesn't help that her mother and boys at her school consider her "plain". Her friend Benny, however, thinks she has the potential to be better looking and therefore get more boys, perhaps even her long time crush, Logan, who's dating a girl who competes in the high school pageants. Benny dares Lexi to fix herself up when hot f...more

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May 23, 2013 Jill rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review will probably be longer than the short book itself, but unfortunately the author has inspired me to go off on a diatribe.

Eulberg tries to incorporate some good messages into this story but I’m not sure she doesn’t undermine herself at most turns. Her biggest messages seem to be:

(1) There is nothing “wrong” with being gay; in fact, there is no reason for gay kids and their romances and romance angstiness to be treated any differently than hetero romance and angst. The author does a g...more

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May 14, 2013 Megan (The Book Babe) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-on-my-site

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality delivers exactly what the title says; we get revenge and a girl with a great personality. Make that an awesome personality, because I loved Lexi so much! She was so snarky and sweet and innocent, and she was just so funny! I wish I had half the sense of humor that this girl does!

Not only was she funny, she was so three dimensional and such a fan character to read about! She has some strange worries fo...more

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May 10, 2013 Katy rated it 3 of 5 stars

also posted at: http://ablightedone.wordpress.com/201...

First off, I’m not sure what “revenge” the title speaks of, because aside from some tell-offs, there isn’t an act of revenge. Unless living well is the best revenge? Anyway, Lexi is the older sister but she plays second fiddle to pageant girl Mackenzie. Mac is seven, nine years younger than Lexi. Mac is in the spotlight and their mother is obsessed with pageants. I’ve never watched Toddlers & Tiaras, but I have seen enough commercials t...more also posted at: http://ablightedone.wordpress.com/201...

First off, I’m not sure what “revenge” the title speaks of, because aside from some tell-offs, there isn’t an act of revenge. Unless living well is the best revenge? Anyway, Lexi is the older sister but she plays second fiddle to pageant girl Mackenzie. Mac is seven, nine years younger than Lexi. Mac is in the spotlight and their mother is obsessed with pageants. I’ve never watched Toddlers & Tiaras, but I have seen enough commercials to relate the book to the show. Her mom likes the attention she gets, not realizing that a lot of it isn’t positive. She spends money they don’t have on things they don’t need and takes advantage of Lexi along the way.

Lexi doesn’t mind helping but is tired of being in the background and feeling second best. She has a job, dreams of being a fashion designer, and works hard. But she’d also like to be known for more than her personality, she’d like to be pretty and special. Not only does she feels like she fades compared to Mac, but her crush Logan’s girlfriend is also a pageant girl. She decides to make a change in her life and with the support and dares/bets/challenges of her friends, starts dressing differently.

I really enjoyed Lexi’s outlook, she felt like a realistic teen. Her conversations with Benny and Cam seemed like how I would have talked with my friends. Benny is big and friendly and gay, making him a bit of an outcast in their Texas town. Cam used to be popular but now focuses on school, and she’s one of the smartest people in their school. The three of them are good friends and really supportive of each other, which was really nice.

One thing that annoyed me was all the Group Titles they used. Popular Posse, Glamour Girls, and Chosen Ones are the names I remember. I hate names like this in any book. Are they trying to be like Mean Girls? Did anyone come up with names for groups in high school? We didn’t at mine. There were popular people and I just thought of them as popular people. Group names rarely add anything to the book for me and just frustrate me. Another big annoyance were public scenes. There were at least three occasions that bugged me, but the last and biggest was cringe worthy. I actually skimmed most of the scene because I was so embarrassed for everyone involved. I didn’t think it was necessary, and diminishes the actual message of the scene.

Overall, I was glad that Lexi learned to stand up for herself and was more comfortable in her own skin. Plus, she gained some perspective on personalities in general. I wasn’t interested in the pageant aspect but as an offset to image issues and great personalities, it makes sense. And even Mac learned lessons about herself. It also didn’t end in a neatly tied package, but I would have liked a little more resolution. I can’t see myself wanting to reread it, but I can see myself recommending it to someone who is interested in a quick contemporary with good friendships and great personalities.(less)

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May 03, 2013 Erin Huber rated it 3 of 5 stars

I couldn't write a review immediately after reading this book because I honestly couldn't decide what to make of it. On some levels, it was good--it was a fast read, funny at times, interesting connection to the pageant world for anyone who's seen Toddlers&Tiaras, and some emotional issues that a teenager or someone who works with teens could easily connect to.

But...it wasn't entirely believable. In the real world, yes, someone could be friends with a lot of guys and not date anyone, but tha...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Anjelica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-releases, contemporary, cover-love, romance, standalone, wish-list, ya

For some reason I kept putting this off. But I finally picked it up a few days ago and I thought it was amazing. The summary sort of threw me off because the first sentence it says "Everybody loves Lexi. She's popular, smart, funny". And that's not exactly true. Yes, she is smart and funny and she does have people that love her, but she isn't quite that popular.

Lexi Anderson is your run-of-the-mill sixteen year old girl, except for one thing ... she spends her weekends at beauty pageants. No, s...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, humorous, realistic-fic, self-image

Not bad. Eulberg did a good job of making me despise the mother on nearly Dolores Umbridgesque levels. And it was a rare glimpse into the lives of girls whose mothers force them into beauty pageants. Having never watched Toddlers and Tiaras or Honey Boo Boo, I had no idea the things these little girls have to go through. False teeth for a seven year old? Ew! However, while the message was positive, it was pretty much shoved down your throat. The ending wasn't close to realistic (when Lexi is up...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Kristen Unger rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classroom-library, net-galley

This story has a great protagonist, as the title indicates, largely because she's quick witted, insightful, and tenacious. I was really glad that her actions throughout the book were largely consistent with the way she was portrayed. However, this made some of the secondary characters feel unrealistic. Mac did not speak like a seven year old, their mother was the kind of hot mess best witnessed on Toddlers and Tiaras, and Logan went from being cast in a heavenly romanticized glow to being a weak...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Arthistorychick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Netgalley and Point/Scholastic

“Applying butt glue to my sister’s backside is, without question, not the first way I’d choose to spend a weekend." Oh, but this is exactly how Lexi spends nearly every weekend as a part of Team Mackenzie and somewhere along the way, everything in Lexi’s life began to revolve around Team Mackenzie. Here are the many problems with this life: 1) Mackenzie is SEVEN; 2) the pa...more Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Netgalley and Point/Scholastic

“Applying butt glue to my sister’s backside is, without question, not the first way I’d choose to spend a weekend." Oh, but this is exactly how Lexi spends nearly every weekend as a part of Team Mackenzie and somewhere along the way, everything in Lexi’s life began to revolve around Team Mackenzie. Here are the many problems with this life: 1) Mackenzie is SEVEN; 2) the pageant life is utterly and completely ridiculous; 3) Mackenzie is SEVEN; 4) Lexi’s family absolutely does not have the money to maintain Team Mackenzie and; 5) Mackenzie is SEVEN!!

For Lexi, life at home is simply one misery after the next and has been ever since her mom and dad divorced and her mother lost her damn mind. Lexi’s mother is obsessed with pageant life and has made it abundantly clear only the beautiful and talented Mackenzie can bring she and her family any happiness, ever. This means nearly every meal is from a fast food restaurant as there is simply no time to cook or shop; every free minute is spent practicing a new routine, sewing a new costume and, being fitted for new fake crap like eyelashes and teeth (WTF??) and; driving to and from a new pageant each and every weekend.

Lexi is by far the most responsible person in her household and carries the load for everyone: she alters and repairs (at her mother’s request) her little sister’s pageant costumes, she calms Mackenzie when the child throws a fit during her hours of hair and makeup application, she goes to school full-time, she works a part-time job so she can have healthy foods at home (seriously!) and, with the exception of her two best friends has pretty much removed herself from social interactions. Lexi learned (from her mother!) a very long time ago she is not the pretty one and so she has spent years making sure she in no way stands out in a crowd. No make-up, no fancy clothes, no flirting, no interaction, nothing. Let’s be honest though, what high school girl hasn’t dreamed of being a part of the popular crowd? So, one day Lexi and her best friend Benny (who is all kinds of adorable) hatch a plan and strike a bargain: if Lexi will come out of her self-imposed shell Benny will strike up a conversation with his crush. Let the games begin!

Almost immediately Lexi begins to understand how her sister feels every weekend when she is all dolled up and strutting around on stage. Lexi’s make-over immediately draws attention and before long she is dating one of the cutest guys on campus, being invited to shop with the popular girls and finally making the invitation list for the cool kid parties. Unfortunately, Lexi also realizes much of the attention she is receiving (like her sister at a pageant) is based on her appearance and not her great personality. As my granny used to say, “Pretty is as pretty does” and Lexi soon figures out being popular isn’t all it is cracked up to be and even the popular kids have issues and attitudes.

In just a few short chapters, everything comes crashing down around Lexi in a spectacular way. Her little sister reveals how she really feels about pageants, her mother snaps the tether in a horrifically awful way, Lexi’s crush turns out to be an asshat of the highest order, and all the newfound popularity suddenly becomes far, far more trouble than it’s worth. Lexi is forced to acknowledge alot of ugly truths and deal with those truths and their consequences as best she can. Because of her home life, Lexi has been forced to mature quickly and is better able to handle the ugliness than most kids her age would be. It is truly remarkable how well Lexi pulls herself together and deals with the ginormous crap-storm she finds herself in.

The Bottom Line: I really liked this book but found so much of it truly disturbing. I don’t know the first thing about pageants but if what Eulberg has presented in this novel is anywhere close to the truth then those poor kids should be allowed to sue their parents for stupidity and child abuse. Can you sue for stupidity? The most stupid of them all is Lexi’s mother and I can honestly say I absolutely hated that woman and how she treats her children. On the flip side of the anger and hate, I felt genuine sympathy for both Lexi and Mackenzie and was so glad to see the two of them come together as sisters to help one another. I also very much like that Eulberg created a plot with scenes, scenarios, and situations which make sense for the time, the place, and the people involved. Taken as a whole, Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is a well-written novel that I fear is far closer to reality (Hello! Toddlers and Tiara’s??) than we care to admit.(less)

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Mar 28, 2013 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dysfunctional-families, high-school, relationships, romance, ya

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!

I've read several books lately all centering on Girl Power-- girls finding their power, finding what makes them strong and going against the grain of high school or their families to become true to themselves. It's really hard to not love a good Girl Power book, but I did not love this one. I liked a lot of it and thought it had great promise but Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality didn't quite deliver.

Lexi is sixteen and feels...more Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!

I've read several books lately all centering on Girl Power-- girls finding their power, finding what makes them strong and going against the grain of high school or their families to become true to themselves. It's really hard to not love a good Girl Power book, but I did not love this one. I liked a lot of it and thought it had great promise but Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality didn't quite deliver.

Lexi is sixteen and feels invisible to the majority of her high school's population. Meanwhile, at home, the world revolves around her 7 year old sister Mac and her pageants (it's Dallas, Texas, so think major Toddlers and Tiaras-- scary stuff here) that her mom has become obsessed with. One day, Lexi gets sick of feeling invisible and decides to start wearing make up and doing her hair in order to get noticed, and she does. But surprisingly, it doesn't fix all her problems.

Even though kid pageants make me want to vomit, I really liked that particular aspect of the story. I never realized how incredibly involved and expensive pageants are, and Eulberg does a nice job showing the downward spiral the family is going through because of the mom's obsession with winning and meanwhile unpaid bills, expensive dresses, teeth, makeup, etc. are costing money. And Lexi is just a funny character; I loved the way she was written and her voice is hilarious. Thank goodness the main character really does have a great personality!

I thought overall, the tone was a little preachy. Eulberg doesn't seem to give her audience enough credit (and yes, I'm aware that her intended audience would be teen girls, but teen girls are pretty smart). Yes, there is a parallel between the pageants that Lexi abhors and high school, but I felt like she kept emphasizing it when it was already obvious. And towards the end, there's a moment that I think is supposed to be touching and in some ways it was, but it felt so preachy and lecture-y, I got a little turned off. I loved the message that is being sent in the novel, but I would have liked it to be a little more subtle to allow for readers to make connections and conclusions of their own.(less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Alison (AlisonCanRead) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrenyalit

Elizabeth Eulberg is one of the top writers of light, satisfying YA contemporary fiction. Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is her fourth book and probably the best one yet (although Prom & Prejudice is my favorite).

Lexi lives in the shadow of her beauty pageant little sister. At home and at school, Lexi is the friend, the helper, the slave - never the beauty or the star. All this changes when Lexi decides to put on a little makeup and dress in something other than jeans and a t...more Elizabeth Eulberg is one of the top writers of light, satisfying YA contemporary fiction. Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is her fourth book and probably the best one yet (although Prom & Prejudice is my favorite).

Lexi lives in the shadow of her beauty pageant little sister. At home and at school, Lexi is the friend, the helper, the slave - never the beauty or the star. All this changes when Lexi decides to put on a little makeup and dress in something other than jeans and a t-shirt. Boys pay attention to her, she sort of gets into the popular crowd. Can Lexi be beautiful without losing her great personality?

The makeover plot is a fairly common one, but Ms. Eulberg puts a twist on it. The pageant aspect is fascinating. I loved every chapter focusing on Mac and Mom's pageant craziness and all the details about toddlers dressing up as sexy woman ten times their age. You should read the book for the pageant alone.

What I loved best about the book is that it's not just a romance. If you're expecting a book with a big kiss and HEA, you'll be disappointed. Instead, Revenge of the Girl focuses on Lexi's personal growth - that looks can be superficial, but a sense of self and confidence is not. Between Logan, Lexi's longtime crush, and Taylor, her date, boys are an important part of the novel, but ultimately the book focuses on other things.

Lexi's family is more important to the plot than the boys. Lexi's mother is broken. Her obsession with pageants is only a symptom of a much larger problem. Lexi's seven year old sister is a brat, or is she? Lexi's father tries to be helpful but disappoints in the end too. The family is dysfunctional in the extreme but felt real and pitiable.

I loved Lexi's relationship with her friend Benny who is gay and wears crazy t-shirts. In some ways he is larger than life, but in other ways he is a shy, scared teen. Lexi and Benny pushed each other to be more and both grew in this novel.

A few criticisms...Mac, Lexi's seven year old sister, didn't always sound realistic. The things she said seemed to come from someone much older. Then again, I don't know any seven year olds, so maybe they do talk like that. I also thought Lexi's friend Cam existed in the shadow of Benny. This made her seem flat and somewhat irrelevant. I get the role that she was supposed to play, but her character development was inadequate.

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality is not a perfect book, but it is a very enjoyable one. Ms. Eulberg is steadily growing as a writer. Lexi is a likable, realistic main character struggling to grow up in an imperfect family. You'll cheer for her as she begins to find her way.

Rating: 4 / 5(less)

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Mar 24, 2013 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ahhh!!! I love it! I hate it! I thought it would make me laugh. It actually made me cry! Okay, deep breaths.

Well, I really needed to get my mind off Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, so I just wanted a light, quick, cute, fun read, and what's better than a "hilarious new novel from Elizabeth Eulberg about taking the wall out out the wallflower so she can bloom." So why not.

I admit, it took me a little while to get into the book, because it was your cliche, by-the-book story about the older...more Ahhh!!! I love it! I hate it! I thought it would make me laugh. It actually made me cry! Okay, deep breaths.

Well, I really needed to get my mind off Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, so I just wanted a light, quick, cute, fun read, and what's better than a "hilarious new novel from Elizabeth Eulberg about taking the wall out out the wallflower so she can bloom." So why not.

I admit, it took me a little while to get into the book, because it was your cliche, by-the-book story about the older sister whose younger sibling gets all the attention. Big surprise, she's an average nobody at school who wants to fit in and wants to get the guy everyone loves, and of course, you have all of your usual pageant elements and drama. But hey, I wasn't expecting much.

Then, about a third of the way through, it really grew on me. First of all, I love (view spoiler) because he was always real, and he really did charm me from the start. And Benny and Cam were you stereotypical best friends, but they felt real to me, unlike your typical best friends in such books. And their problems were more than the petty you became beautiful so you ditched us types of concerns. Cam genuinely looked out for Lexi's best interest regarding Taylor, and Benny just wanted her to reach her full potential.

But the thing I liked most about this book was that Lexi never lost herself throughout the change. Sure, she became beautiful, and she wanted to please the popular crowd. But she never forgot her friends, giving up the popular crowd to make sure her friends knew they came first, even when they sometimes didn't. And the scene where she said she could have told them that she gave up the popular crowd for them but decided against telling them - that right there earned my respect for what a great person Lexi was.

So what exactly did I love… er… hate? The end! I thought my book was missing a few pages. Ack! The torture! This was exactly what I did NOT need after reading Clockwork Princess. Ugh!

Okay, okay, so it was a pretty cool ending, very powerful - one that leaves you with a renewed sense of hope and determination. Yeah, yeah, but what about (view spoiler) Or I guess more importantly, (view spoiler) Hmph, I guess I'll have to leave it up to my imagination.(less)

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Mar 24, 2013 Emmcee Roy rated it 2 of 5 stars

The title was misleading. There wasn't really any revenge, and as much as the book told me over and over again that the main character had a good personality, I never really saw it (but that's just my opinion. If you saw it,power to you).

I really liked Benny and Cam although they were very flat characters with no real personalities as were most characters in the book.

- SPOILER ALERT -

There wasn't much conclusion to the abusive parent story arc
(because having a parent that is constantly callin...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: beauty, bullies, community, families, humor, jobs, romance, school, self-esteem

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Despite her great personality and wit, Lexi has languished in the shadows for far too long, and she decides it's time to come into the light. While many books for teens describe a younger sibling being overshadowed by an older one, in this case, the reverse is true. Lexi's mother dotes on her younger daughter, seven-year-old Mackenzie, and spends weekends dragging her from beauty pageant to beauty pageant across the state of Texas. The author's depiction of these events is far from complimentary...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Tori rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

"Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" was such a fun read with a funny and smart main character at its heart. Since her parents' divorce, Lexi Anderson has been living in the shadows of her broken family. With her father living in Houston and her mother and younger sister Mackenzie living in the pageant world of glitz and glamor, Lexi feels left out in more ways than one. With the encouragement of her friend Benny, Lexi decides to step up and make some changes which gain her the atten...more "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" was such a fun read with a funny and smart main character at its heart. Since her parents' divorce, Lexi Anderson has been living in the shadows of her broken family. With her father living in Houston and her mother and younger sister Mackenzie living in the pageant world of glitz and glamor, Lexi feels left out in more ways than one. With the encouragement of her friend Benny, Lexi decides to step up and make some changes which gain her the attention of the Beautiful People (and her mother and Mackenzie) and win her her first romantic conquest, Taylor friggin' Riggins. But, as Lexi becomes more 'liked' by the Popular People she realizes that all is not well and that sometimes changes can be made for the wrong reasons. Sometimes its good, better even, to aspire to the label of a girl with a 'great personality'. Maybe the "moment when the Great Girls inherit the earth" (14) is actually closer than anyone, Lexi included, could ever think.
In this book, Elizabeth Eulberg introduces a strong character who is just as susceptible to girlish dreams and ideals as the next girl, but who eventually realizes that sometimes ideals are just that: ideals. In doing so, I found "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" refreshing, encouraging and realistic. Although Lexi does momentarily get caught up in the Beautiful People and their fake world (and, c'mon, who honestly wouldn't?!), she eventually realizes that this fake world merely acts as a screen that hides the deep insecurities of girls like Brooke, guys like Logan, and women like her mother. By the end of the book, Lexi realizes and accepts that she can't continue to run away from or ignore everything, particularly when it comes to her mother and her pageant obsession or girls like Brooke and her hateful backstabbing antics, and courageously addresses both head-on. In "Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality" Lexi learns balance and gains the courage to be herself, and this, combined with her great personality (of course! ;) ), makes her an unforgettable character who is a beacon of hope for all those Great Girls out there.(less)

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Mar 11, 2013 Amanda N. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg was funny, heartbreaking and timely (with television sensations such as Toddlers and Tiaras and Honey Boo-Boo all the rage nowadays). Deep issues concerning family and self-worth are explored in this meaningful Young Adult novel.

The narrator, Lexi, has always played second string to her younger sister. Mackenzie is a seven-year-old beauty pageant darling, and Lexi is her over-burdened and under-appreciated sister with a "great...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Tiffany rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

Ah, yes. Elizabeth Eulberg does it again! I could go on and on about the main character, Lexi, how she is so full of quick come backs and "a great personality." I could say how much I can relate with a character who can go through a bag of chips, a package of cookies, and a quart of ice cream in one day. I could also relate to the high school crush on a guy for years only to have all dreams shattered with one kiss. Yes, I could go on and on raving about the way Elizabeth channels the high school...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Gillysegal added it

Lexi is a young woman caught between a rock and a sparkly tiara. Her younger sister is a child pageant star a la Toddlers and Tiaras. Her mother is bankrupting the family to support her pageant habit and forcing Lexi to help out too. And Lexi isn't one of the pretty pageant girls. She's a girl with a great personality. Until Lexi makes herself over and suddenly finds herself the center of attention for the first time. And she likes it. But who is the real Lexi? The girl with the great personalit...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I had the opportunity to meet Elizabeth Eulberg at a Scholastic party in Kansas City last week, and she's as incredible and funny as her books would lead you to believe. I just recently reviewed Take a Bow, so you all know how much I loved it and the bar was set pretty high, but Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality totally lived up to it. Lexi is generally loved by everyone, except for her family who seem to not appreciate her at all. But for all the affection, she's still never even...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Sharay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley, loved-the-cover-and-book

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I’m a sucker for interesting book titles and fancy book covers but the lipstick book cover was creative, cute and simple. THANK YOU NETGALLEY!!!!

*********Spoilers**********

Cons:clichés/Unrealistic Dialogue

Unrealistic dialogue (arguments) between mother and daughter at times:

When Lexi was trying to fix Mac’s crown, Mac started screaming that she wanted it back –this was sort of believable– but when her mother joined in after begging her to fix the cheap plastic thing that seemed a bit unrealistic...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Jessie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-ya

Elizabeth Eulberg is one of my favorite authors for contemporary YA books. She takes difficult topics like boys, self esteem, and broken homes and writes about them in such a relatable way. I don't feel like I'm watching a made for TV drama unfolding. I feel like her characters are real, and even when they're struggling, I'm still rooting for them the whole way.
Lexi is definitely someone to root for! After her parent's divorce, she's struggling. She also has a new baby sister to deal with. A ba...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Jodi Papazian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-reads

* This review is based on reading an ARC*
I really enjoyed Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality. Elizabeth Eulberg is fast becoming one of my favorite authors for YA girls. Her books are normally pretty innocent enough where they can be passed on to younger YA readers who are looking to read something that makes them feel a little older.
Lexi has spent years of her life following her mother and younger sister through the pageant circuit in Texas. Her disdain for the idea of people bei...more * This review is based on reading an ARC*
I really enjoyed Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality. Elizabeth Eulberg is fast becoming one of my favorite authors for YA girls. Her books are normally pretty innocent enough where they can be passed on to younger YA readers who are looking to read something that makes them feel a little older.
Lexi has spent years of her life following her mother and younger sister through the pageant circuit in Texas. Her disdain for the idea of people being judged on their looks has influenced how much attention she pays to her own looks - very little. When her best friend Benny negotiates a deal with her, Lexi finds herself glamming up and liking the attention it gets her. She soon worries that she needs to create a balance between the girl she really is and the way that she wants to present herself.
This was definitely a fast-paced read. Lexi was a strong main character who was easy to root for. Some details of her home life - particularly her awful relationship with her mother - were difficult to take at times and that caused this to be a bit more of a serious read rather than the light-hearted fun reads I am used to with Eulberg. There was one "problem" with her and her mother that I saw happening early on but that didn't make it any less devastating when I was right.
Really there was only one thing that bothered me and it was very minor - I didn't like how the character of Mac was written. In the beginning she was spot-on as the bratty, spoiled kid but later in the book I thought that her voice became a little unbelievably mature for a 7 year-old. Not a big thing but still something I found distracting.

SPOILERS AHEAD
I understood the ending and Lexi's choices, however, I would have liked to see her go off into the sunset with the guy who liked her for who she always was - what can I say, I like a romantically happy ending!
All in all, an enjoyable read that will be easy to pass on to YA female readers - older and younger. This one is already on-order for the library!(less)

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About Elizabeth Eulberg

The short and sweet version:
Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before heading off to Syracuse University and then making a career in the New York City book biz. She lives outside of Manhattan with her three guitars, two keyboards, and one drumstick. In researching The Lonely Hearts Club, she tried swearing off boys forever. It didn’t work. She did, however, learn how to play Rachma...more The short and sweet version:
Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before heading off to Syracuse University and then making a career in the New York City book biz. She lives outside of Manhattan with her three guitars, two keyboards, and one drumstick. In researching The Lonely Hearts Club, she tried swearing off boys forever. It didn’t work. She did, however, learn how to play Rachmaninoff’s Eighteenth Variation from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini on the piano while writing Prom and Prejudice, so she’s not a total slacker.
The long and babbling version:
I was born in the small town of Portage, Wisconsin and am the youngest of four children. My father owned a clothing store, called (appropriately enough) Eulberg’s, that had been in my family since 1929. My mother was a teacher then stayed at home with us kids until I was old enough to go to school. She eventually became a high school librarian…at the high school I attended! (And no, she did not play favorites. Ever.)

Growing up, three things dominated my life: traveling, music and reading. I still have passion for all three today.

Traveling:
Every summer my parents packed us all up in a van, complete with a tent that slept six—and we travelled for two weeks to a different parts of the country. Being the youngest child, there are many pictures of me crying in numerous historical landmarks across the United States: Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon—you get the idea. Of course, as soon as I was able to appreciate these trips, my parents decided to stop doing them. Something about us wanting to spend more time in the campsite pool than site-seeing…

My love of travel prompted me to become a foreign exchange student the summer between my junior and senior year of high school (if you do it in the summer – no homework!). I lived in the tiny village of Bühler, Switzerland and got to travel all around Switzerland. I also studied abroad my junior year of college in London. I have since travelled extensively around Europe, been to Australia (twice!), New Zealand, Argentina… I have a lot more places that I want to go and think Chile is going to be next on my list, but I also really want to travel around the countryside of Ireland since I’ve only been to Dublin. So many places…

Music:
My mother had me begin taking piano lessons when I was five since, she says, I banged on the piano more than my two older sisters who were taking lessons. Music became my main obsession throughout childhood. I started playing the clarinet when I was in fourth grade and even played the drums in marching band in high school (how cool was I?). A few years ago, I decided I wanted to learn to play the guitar. I still keep up with the piano, although I’m nowhere near the level I was in high school and continue my quest with guitar lessons to become a full-out rock star (some day!). It was my love of music that led to my career in publicity… but more on that in a bit.

Reading:
The first book series that I remember becoming enthralled by was the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. I think I was in second grade when I got one of the books from the library. I was hooked instantly and followed Betsy from the first book to the last, Betsy’s Wedding (I always laugh when publishers say kids don’t want to read about adults). I also remember reading Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and, of course, Little Women. I say “of course” about Little Women since my mom wanted me to be called Beth, after the character from the book (oh, and I have a sister named Meg). But alas, I never went by Beth. I prefer Elizabeth (and still do).

My next reading craze happened when I started reading the Sweet Valley High series. My mother always encouraged us to read. While some people would prefer their children to read more “literary” books, my mother didn’t care. She was just happy I was b(less)

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