4 stars

I wasn’t sure how I’d like this book going into it. I’ve watched the TV adaptation and liked it well enough. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was entertaining.

I’m glad I ended up reading the book, because I did enjoy it. It’s not the world’s best literature or anything, but it is an entertaining read that goes surprisingly quickly despite the long length. It is a pretty relaxing read for the most part, but does bring up some important points. Bushnell incorporates many topics into the text such as feminism, cliques, and power dynamics.

I’ll admit the last quarter of the book was kind of a let down. I liked the ending well enough and it was set up nicely for the second book, but there were things that happened that made the book more stressful than relaxing for me. It’s not necessarily a critique of the book, just something that interrupted my personal enjoyment of it.

As far as TV show vs. book, I think the characters are pretty consistent although. the show smooshes Lali and Maggie together. Also, Missy doesn’t exist in the TV show universe. The mishaps and problems each character faces varies slightly, but for the most part they are similar.

Overall, a very entertaining read.