Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Judging by the cover, the publishers are clearly aiming for the beach-reading-chick-lit audience, and I was happy to oblige, picking up the book for a fun summer read. Unfortunately, even for a breezy story I was disappointed by the laziness of this book. If you have ever seen the movie Mean Girls, you know the predictable storyline. Fish out of water 'normal girl' attempts to integrate herself into a strange subculture of wealthy, spoiled and entitled girls. Secretly, she reports on their strange behaviors to her 'normal friends' while comparing them to jungle animals, eventually turning into the very thing she was initially repelled by. I was into the concept, however without the addition of Tina Fey's wry humor, the story is just...boring. With broad strokes, the author paints herself as an 'anthropologist' and frequently structures the beginning of chapters like a tongue in cheek scientific paper. Quoting Jane Goodall over and over and over and over again, the author seems to think that we won't understand the title unless she brings up the mating rituals of primates every 20 pages. At the start of the book, we are led to believe that this privileged culture is ridiculous to the author and her family, laughable even. However this breaks down after the first few chapters, when she purchases an expensive handbag just because she 'wants it.' The next 75% of the book is a stream of brand names and nursery schools. There was no character development, or even characters! Everyone was described by an outfit, a handbag, a child. No one was a person. Which would be fine, if the author was a fully developed character. After all, the entire book is in her point of view. However, perhaps in an attempt at privacy, we learn nothing about the author other than her address. Like the scientists she quotes, she keeps from personalizing herself. However this isn't Nature, this is supposed to be a fun gossipy read about a new subculture. The lack of an empathetic character really hinders the book. It comes off as a series of disjointed events the author remembered from her time there, with the slight exaggeration that comes from telling a story to friends hundreds of times. By the end I felt like I was at a work party, stuck in a conversation with an adult woman, who can't stop talking about that crazy sorority party 15 years ago. Just like this book, those stories are only funny to the people who were at that party over a decade ago.