Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig

Title: Pretty Crooked
Author: Elisa Ludwig
Series: Book #1
Format: Hardcover
Published: March 13th 2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)
Pages: 360
Source: Library

Overview:
Willa's mother is an artist so it's safe to say they had a lot of cash flow problems but suddenly her mom hits it big and with her Willa does too. Willa has never lived in a place with such beautiful sights like her new home town. After living in as many places as she's been it's nice to finally have an actual home she'll stay in longer than a couple of months.

Her new life gives her access to the top school: Valley Prep where she meets the Glitterati. She at first sees as this fashion forward group that she's wary of only because they are the popular girls. But they take her in and show her a whole different world filled with luxurious clothes, the best parties, and cute boys. It's only when she finds out who they really are that she decides that she's going to make the scholarship kids and the rich kids equal. She's going to be a modern-day Robin Hood. But when thefts are being inspected into the Glitterati are looking for revenge. Who will she turn to for help?

My Review:
The cover actually makes this book seem way more materialistic than it actually is. I mean the Glitterati are very materialistic and Willa gets a little selfish there for a while but that's not what the book is about. Love the cover anyway. A modern day Robin Hood is what this is about. I love that it's about giving to the poor by stealing from the rich. It's not like those girls deserved any of it and I would have never felt bad for them. Maybe for me when thinking of what would happen if I ever got caught but that's about it. It's like the revenge every high schooler wants but can never do. She's very kickass that way.

Willa gets in with the Glitterati by befriending the only nice one out of them: Cherise. Cherise just kills me. She was with these girls that were so very beneath her. Willa was too but it took a while for her to catch on. It wouldn't have taken me long because I'm not a beautiful blonde. I found that very stereotypical as well as who the Glitterati were making fun of - the Mexicans. I really don't even know if they said they were Mexican. They could just be Hispanic but maybe I missed that. Anyways it annoyed me to no end. That's why I was waiting anxiously for Willa to take some action and get some justice for those girls.

Willa befriends Tre who is an outsider. He shows her all the tricks and trades of being a thief. He's this big teddy bear to me. He was also kind of stereotypical. I mean the black guy has to be the thief? That's messed up. I'm probably just thinking about this way too much but it did irritate me a little bit. Tre was in his own way a nice friend and warned Willa. I wish I would have seen more of him.

Now we get to the love interest - Aiden. Aiden is this typical smooth talker but he was nothing but a good person and he stood up for what he believed in even if he had a massive amount of money. Willa would get all crazy when he's around which makes sense but girl! calm down. Willa had her moments where she can be selfish but overall she always tried to do the right thing and I never thought she was doing them out of spite. She was stealing because those girls deserve it. I know there's a whole bunch of ethics that can be thrown at this logic but it was a nice thing to read about. Standing up for the weaker kids.

Her mom was never there! She gets mad at her when she is to blame as well. She never talked with her mother and when Willa needed her she never could count on her. Her mom was out and about with some guy who remains a mystery for most of the book. Willa herself was a likable character with an awesome name. She has this vintage bike that I was eyeing all throughout the book. The upcoming series reminds me of The Lying Game series and I can see it becoming as popular as those series and others like it. The concept is crazy good and the mystery in it provides us with an extra layer to the already exciting story. I really want to know what happens with her and the Glitterati. That could get interesting. This is a great new series prefect for every teen girl who loves kickass girls.