Book Review: Not That Kind of Girl

Not That Kind of Girl
Siobhan Vivian
322 pages - Hardcover
Published September 1st 2010 by Push
Source: Bought

Summary:

Natalie Sterling wants to be in control. She wants her friends to be loyal. She wants her classmates to elect her student council president. She wants to find the right guy, not the usual jerk her school has to offer. She wants a good reputation, because she believes that will lead to good things.

But life is messy, and it's very hard to be in control of it. Not when there are freshman girls running around in a pack, trying to get senior guys to sleep with them. Not when your friends have secrets they're no longer comfortable sharing. Not when the boy you once dismissed ends up being the boy you wants to sleep with yourself - but only in secret, with nobody ever finding out.

Slut or saint? Winner or loser? Natalie is getting tired of these forced choices - and is now going to find a way to live life in the sometimes messy, sometimes wonderful in-between.

Review:

While I like the fact that Natalie Sterling thinks and acts like an honest to goodness feminist, I think her take in this subject is rather different. Natalie is a very proud and an uptight character. She thinks she's superior to everyone especially those abomination called highschool jocks. She thinks very little of them and won't even give them the time of the day if she could. She's a smart character though, the president of student council. She's against girls who make a fool of themselves around boys and tries to teach these girls how to act like a woman with self-preservation. That is, by acting proud and uptight like herself and ignore the lowly creatures. This includes not going to parties, not having boyfriends unless it's a genius handsome guy who's ready for a lifetime commitment, and avoiding vices and skimpy clothes. In short, to live a boring life and focus on studies and school activities.

Natalie is the type of character you'd take pleasure in slapping, shaking and slapping some more. Yes, she is that annoying. She loves to manipulate people. Even her best friend did not escape from her human controlling skills. And while it is clear that she only wants to help girls be tougher and to stand up to jerks, I dislike how meddlesome she is.

Also, this book reminds me of the anime/manga Maid Sama! where in the student council president is also a feminist, who thinks so highly of herself and so lowly of the boys. But has a secret of her own that opposes her definition of feminism. However, Natalie is much more stubborn than the protagonist in Maid Sama!. It's hard to sway her away from her principle. I once read a quote from goodreads about how people with no vices have annoying virtues. This seems to be completely true with Natalie.

Anyhow, all in all, I truly enjoyed reading this book. Despite Natalie's annoying qualities, it is easy to understand and connect with her. Plus, this also has a lot of depth. I also like the plot's pacing. It's fast and really quick to read.

Rating: 4/5 stars