Smart Girls Get What They Want By Sarah Strohmeyer
Published June 26th 2012 by Balzer + Bray
Summary: Gigi, Bea, and Neerja are best friends and total overachievers. Even if they aren’t the most popular girls in school, they aren’t too worried. They know their real lives will begin once they get to their Ivy League colleges. There will be ivy, and there will be cute guys in the libraries (hopefully with English accents)! But when an unexpected event shows them they’re missing out on the full high school experience, it’s time to come out of the honors lounge and into the spotlight. They make a pact: They will each take on their greatest challenge—and they will totally rock it.
Gigi decides to run for student rep, but she’ll have to get over her fear of public speaking—and go head-to-head with gorgeous California Will. Bea used to be one of the best skiers around, until she was derailed. It could be time for her to take the plunge again. And Neerja loves the drama club but has always stayed behind the scenes—until now.
These friends are determined to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want—but that could mean getting way more attention than they ever bargained for. . . .
Heartwarming and relatable, Smart Girls is a lovely easy read.
Smart Girls is the kind of book I wish I read when I was 14. Gigi is someone I could definitely relate to. I’m what most people would consider a nerd and it certainly didn’t help that I’m socially inapt. I love cute contemporaries and Smart Girls reminded me a lot of the Stephanie Perkins books. In true Perkins fashion, Smart Girls had swoon-worthy boys, and extremely likable characters.
The characters in Smart Girls are wonderful. There are no mean girls or people fighting with each other, but simply people trying to get along with each other. Though it doesn’t sound entirely realistic, it is something different than most high school-centric contemporaries and I really appreciated this change. I loved that Gigi’s best friends were featured a lot and weren’t just there when she needed help, but were constantly a part of her life. I really enjoyed Gigi as a character. She is believable, relate-able and intelligent but at the same time she has a lot of flaws. She doesn’t have social skills and is rather judgmental but she accepts that she is wrong and tries her best to change her perceptions of people.
I enjoyed the overall plot of the book; it was really fun to see how Gigi and her best friends try to come out of their shell all while maintaining their true selves. I thought they were brave to try and do that, and to accomplish it so successfully was an amazing feat for three girls who were invisible at the start of the book. If I had to nitpick, I’d say the part where Gigi gets blindsided by Buzzard was a little odd. It seemed weird to me that her teacher wouldn’t believe her when she is really smart and gets good grades. But apart from that, the plot was really well done.
Smart Girls is a really feel good contemporary and would appeal to everyone who loves contemporary YA. It is such a light and easy read, and quite a breeze to get through as well. I really enjoyed Sarah Strohmeyer’s writing and will definitely be checking out her other YA books. Highly recommended!
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