“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”– George Bernard Shaw
This book showed up as a recommendation on my Libby app, and its funky colorful cover called to me. It is a well-designed book cover. Written by Teri Wilson, this book bears a strong resemblance to the Sandra Bullock movie “Miss Congeniality” and refers to it multiple times.
Charlotte and Ginny are twins who switch places in the beauty pageant when Ginny suffers a mishap. Charlotte is a librarian who has no relation whatsoever with makeup, glitter, and glam. She discovers herself through this journey, undergoing a transformation that is much beyond makeup, extensions, and nails. She is remarkably relatable as a character. She prefers jammies over designer clothes, books over cosmetics, and Shakespeare over Victoria Secret.
Ginny, on the other hand, is a social media influencer with thousands of followers on Instagram. She has participated in several beauty pageants and derives a close relationship with her mom through it. However, she is not shallow. Humans are similar to onions. We have several layers, and understanding ourselves involves exposure to different and difficult situations.
Charlotte embarks on this journey for her sister but continues on it to discover herself. She ends up falling for one of the judges, and the situation quickly spirals out of control. The book has its hilarious moments, and even though the plot is easy to guess, it offers a fun read.
It has its dose of family drama, and feminism with women standing for other women. However, the author undermines the efforts that a contestant takes to participate in these beauty pageants. The author makes winning the preliminaries seem effortless, and Charlotte seems to sail right through them. The plot has so much more potential, and I wish the author would have elaborated on Charlotte’s struggles rather than make it seem a brain-numbing read.
I read somewhere that Wilson’s books would resonate with fans of Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella. I strongly disagree. It had the potential; however, it failed to do that. It is a one-time read; however, I don’t see myself returning to it soon.
I would give it a 3.5/5 stars. If you would like to purchase the book, here is the link https://amzn.to/2KS12vR