3.2 out of 4 stars.
If the “Devil Wears Prada” and “Reconstructing Amelia” had a love child it would be Knoll’s “Luckiest Girl Alive”. A very entertaining story line that included all the bells and whistles; rape, murder, affairs, and a broken marriage. Very Lifetime movie-esque.
Need me to explain more? Essentially, a girl, Tifani, is pushed into a prep school in order to fulfill her mother’s fantasies of becoming/marrying into a wealthy family. She was purchased all new clothes and poked at to talk to the popular kids. Classic. Now everyone knows when you try to hang out with the older more daring crowd what happens, right? You get burned. This is exactly what happens to Tifani. I surprisingly use the term “burned” lightly in this book’s case. The next sequence of events that follow after enrollment are not for the weary. Very serious issues occur that are not pleasant. I would also comment that TOO many climaxes happen. It left me overwhelmed and confused.
I would not recommend this for young adult readers even though most of the book takes place at the tender age of 14. I am not sure how teenagers are nowadays but back when I was one (can’t even remember) NONE of the above was even a topic in my head. Maybe that is why this book fell short for me? Not realistic.
As many of you have seen this book has been at the top of the best-selling charts for weeks after its release. I was shocked when I was almost laughing through the book of how crazy some of the lines were. I mean pages of “typical white girl problems” overflow. I can’t remember exactly but I believe Knoll referred to Louis Vuitton being tacky? If LV is tacky then I don’t even know what is cool anymore and I work at a fashion company! The trendy references throughout every line leave the reader feeling distracted and rolling their eyes and the superficial lingo.
All in all a great beach read if you want something quick and enjoyable but not if you are looking for a book to make you think or learn. I do have to hand it to Knoll for being so quick on her feet while writing this. She was able to loop in to the storyline so many great cliff hangers, but in my personal opinion less is more would of worked fine. I may be wrong! Also, “Devil Wears Prada” was one of my favorite storylines and will be a cult classic for a long time so in no way am I 100 percent comparing this book to that one. This lands on the trendy spectrum and we may not remember come 2016.
Here is Sadie after reading this book:
