Review of The Pretty App by Katie Sise

Title/Author: The Pretty Ap (App #2) by Katie Sise
Publisher/Date published: Balzer + Bray, April 14th 2015
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: Poor Blake Dawkins! She's rich, she's gorgeous, and she's the queen bee of Harrison High. The girls want to be her; the boys want to — okay, enough said. But it turns out Blake’s life is not so perfect — just talk to her dad, who constantly reminds her that she's not up to par, or to her ex-bff, Audrey, who doesn't even look her in the eye.

Then Harrison — and every other high school in America — becomes obsessed with posting selfies on the ubiquitous Pretty App. Next: Leo, an adorable transfer student, arrives at Harrison and begins to show Blake that maybe being a queen bee doesn't mean being a queen bitch. And though Audrey suspects somebody’s playing foul, Blake finds herself catapulted to internet fame after being voted one of the prettiest girls in the country. She's whisked away to star in a reality show — in Hollywood, on live TV. But she doesn’t know who to trust. Because everybody on the show wants to win.

And nobody is there to make friends.

So I'd heard good things about The Boyfriend App and when I came across this companion, I thought well, why not? It sounded pretty cute and I am a big fan of America's Next Top Model and this sounded sorta like it mixed with a beauty pageant, so...

Well, let's just say that The Pretty App wasn't all I'd hoped it would be. I mean, Blake was ok, she's a flawed character, but she owns it and I kinda respected her for that. I also respected that she wanted to change, but just didn't know how. And I liked reading from the Queen Bee's POV for a change. We're pretty much always seeing things from the not-so-popular, not-really-ugly duckling side of things and I liked that Katie Sise switched it up. I also really felt for Blake with her family situation. I mean, she basically gets NO support whatsoever. Her dad is just plain hurtful, her mom doesn't stand up to him and her sister cut her out of her life 4 years ago. How is a girl supposed to cope with this?

I did sorta feel like I was missing things because I hadn't read The Boyfriend App first. The history between Blake and Audrey is mentioned and sort of gotten into what happened, but maybe I'd have more of a backstory if I'd read The Boyfriend App? I can't be sure of course, but it felt like there were some missing pieces that I should have been clued into if I'd read the companion.

And ok, don't kill me for saying this, but the whole Pretty App thing and the show around it felt so American to me! I mean, not in a bad way, but like, I'm not sure that would have gotten this kind of response in Holland. I kinda liked how Blake handled herself during the reality show, but I could also get how people aren't all that eager to forgive her for years of ruthlessly ruling Harrison High. You can't just erase all of that. So it also sorta felt off to me how easily the Trogs accepted her in their circle. Also, the Trogs seem like awesome people.

I couldn't really get behind the romance part of it. It all felt a little too iffy and all the lying or not fully telling the truth and then Blake totally got blindsided and it was just pretty awful. But mostly, I just wasn't feeling it. There was something off about the guy and I was never really sure if he was faking it or not and that bothered me.

Mostly, The Pretty App was an ok read, but it wasn't exciting or cute or fluffy or funny or any of the things I was expecting. And for a tagline that says it has a big-time romance, it fell pretty flat for me. I am however very curious to read The Boyfriend App!

My rating: 2 stars