How to Rock Braces and Glasses: Book Review

Hello dearies! This is our second book review with the killer new template!

Novel: How to Rock Barces and Glasses by Meg Haston

Release Date: September 5th, 2011
Publisher: Poppy
Pages: 294
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Source: BookPeople Teen Reviewing

In the story, an eighth-grade Queen Bee, after finding herself dropped into Loserland, realizes that it’s time to pay back the bad karma she built up.
Gorgeous, uber-harsh, and uber-stylish, Kacey Simon is the undisputed social dictator of Marquette Middle School. That is, until an eye infection and a visit to the dentist leave her with coke-bottle glasses, a mouth full of metal, and... a littttthsp! Dissed and dismissed by her popular friends, Kacey is forced to hang out with a boy who wears skinny jeans and jams in his own band. But as she adjusts to life as a loser, she's surprised to find that Skinny Jeans is kind of hot and his band is pretty cool. Suddenly, hitting rock-bottom feels oddly uplifting. Could rocking braces and glasses be the best thing to ever happen to her?

(Synopsis from Goodreads)

Willa's Rambles:

   This novel is definitely in it's own realm. Usually the story about a girl changing (physically, emotionally, and socially) comes from the girl in "Loserland" and she goes to the top. But in How to Rock Braces and Glasses it's the other way around. Kacey goes from the top straight to the bottom in a single day. Supportive friends? Forget it. None of Kacey's friend even want to talk to her, let alone spend time with their old best friend.

   Kacey's experience does look up though, but only after she gets some help from the best friend she left behind when she climbed to the top - Paige - and she finds a place in a band. The issue with this? She plans to leave behind Paige once she sits atop the social ladder, and the head of the band is Zander, her old best friend's crush. And maybe-boyfriend. 

   So Kacey and Paige construct a plan to get Kacey back on top. What really surprised me is that Paige was totally willing to help Kacey after she left her behind in 5th grade. Would you do that? (Let me know in the comment section) Paige willingly pushed Kacey to the top, and I think she thought she would either go with Kacey or not be treated like an outcast. What actually happened to Paige and Kacey? Go read the book. Then you'll know exactly what happened. 

   I have a few issues with  this book. First, parts of the book you totally knew would happen. Like Kacey falling for Zander? You know that will happen the minute she meets him. Secondly, some of the characters were a bit flat. Only one of Kacey's sidekicks got a lot of air-time, and that was Molly, the second in command. Olivia and Vanessa? Not much. Just a few dirty looks, descriptions, and snarky comments. I wanted to know what made each of them snap into a million pieces. How did Olivia and Vanessa feel about Kacey's immediate banishment? 

   Thirdly, I had a real issue with Kacey. She was rude to everyone, harsh to her best friends, and she had no respect for the things people did to her. I understand that was part of her character, but I have no tolerance for people like that. No one should be so rude, so harsh, and so blinded! She said thank you once in the entire book, and even then she didn't mean it.  I wish she could've snapped while she was at the bottom. She kind of did, but not to the extent I was hoping for. I wanted her to realize how mean she was and fix it, not go back to her old friends, and be a different girl. 

   Did she become a different girl? You'll have to wait and see. Or find an ARC somewhere over the rainbow in a leprechaun's pot of gold. Otherwise, wait for September 5th.