Populazzi

Populazzi by Elise Allen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Populazzi was such a fast read for me. I really got caught up in Cara’s life and the decisions she was making. Cara starts her junior year at a new school. Her best friend Claudia has devised a plan for Cara to follow to the letter. This plan called, The Ladder, will propel Cara from a nobody to the Supreme Populazzi at her new school. At her old school, Cara and Claudia had an unfortunate accident that followed them all the way from Kindergarten. With Cara’s new chance to start over, Claudia wants to help Cara transform into the most popular girl in school.

Despite the fact that I gave this book 4 stars, I still had some parts that I really really struggled with. I definitely understood Cara’s desire to become someone new. I think most of us would love to have do overs in life. And High School does tend to be the place that people want a do-over. I liked that Claudia used The Ladder to keep the two of them connected despite their distance. However, the execution of the plan just hurt my heart at times. Cara completely transformed and became someone she was not for several groups of people. She was not herself for most of the book. Again, though, that is something that I think a lot of us struggled with during high school. I think it may take High School for you to realize who you truly are and be authentic. I found myself cringing in many places as I watched Cara make some really poor decisions.

Her home life could have been a whole story in and of itself. I think that was the one problem I had with the book. Her step-father was a complete nutcase. There were little tidbits dropped throughout the story about him but that story was never flushed out. I am curious to know if she will have a follow up to this novel. Because I seriously want to know why Cara’s step-dad is the way he is and why her mother sticks with him.

Thank you NetGalley for this book!
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