Review: More Than One Way To Be A Girl by Dyan Sheldon

Publication Date: 06 July 2017
Publisher: Walker Books
Source: Review copy

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Blurb: From the writer of Confessions of A Teenage Drama Queen and My Worst Best Friend comes this hugely entertaining teen read, all about what it really means to be a girl. 

ZiZi likes to think of herself as a girly girl: her wardrobe is almost exclusively pink, her daily makeup routine can take upwards of an hour and she loves a bit of a flirt. Her best friend Loretta is very different: all of her clothes are black, she doesn't wear any makeup whatsoever and she doesn't like the way ZiZi dumbs herself down for boys - or her old-fashioned ideas about "a woman's place". One day, they decide to make a bet. 

Can ZiZi stand looking like Loretta for longer than Loretta can bear dressing like ZiZi? As their summer unfolds - often hilariously - the pair are surprised to find they have a lot to learn from each other.

 Thank you to Walker Books for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for my full review.

I had never read a Dyan Sheldon novel before but have seen them in my local library and bookshops for years.

This book centered around our two main characters Zizi and Loretta, two best friends who couldn't be more different. While Zizi is make up and fashion obsessed, Loretta is low key and think brains are better than beauty. Zizi thinks Loretta should try harder with her appearance and Loretta thinks Zizi should focus on more important things than looks. That is when the bet comes into play that they both swap looks for the summer. 



The plot of the novel was fun, enjoyable and quirky. Although the concept seems to be one that has been done a hundred times before, the novel brings a little extra to it. I enjoyed the different turns of the plot and also the way the bet progressed with each girl not wanting to be the first to give in. Watching both girls slowly change and learn that there is nothing wrong with the way the other dressed was heart-warming. Seeing the reactions of their families and work mates was also interesting. 

I enjoyed the feminism featured in the novel which we see mostly through the education of Zizi as she progresses through the bet and slowly sees Loretta's views more clearly. Their friendship was really cute and even though they were so different they were so supportive of each other. 

An enjoyable cute contemporary novel with some laughs and serious parts. I wish there was a tiny bit more of an ending as I felt it could have went in another direction and at time the writing was a little slow but it was an enjoyable read.