Girl Power… Not.

Have you ever started a book and realized you may have just made the biggest mistake of your life?  

Well, that was me with this one.

Which one: The Regulars by Georgia Clark.

The Regulars is the story of three twenty-something ladies living in New York City. Each has a different look and interest:

•   Krista is the aspiring actress who also happens to be the resident screw up.
•   Willow is the ethereal artistic photographer with severe self-esteem issues.
•  And Edie is a moppy writer who works at a women’s magazine despite hating everything about the magazine.

These ladies happen upon Pretty, a potion that can magically change their faces and bodies making them part of gorgeous society. Each decides to take it and the ride it puts them on leaves each of them changed indefinitely.

The Good

The premise of this book is excellent. After all who wouldn’t want to wake up as a gorgeous creature despite uncomfortable stomach issues. This potion gives each woman a new confidence that pushes them to follow their dreams. I liked that each lady is quirky and has an identifiably distinctive personality making it easy to spot the differences the potion has on them.

 There are also some seriously funny moments including Krista’s encounter with her teenage crush that ends in disaster. Apparently, size really does matter. Krista was the source of a couple of laugh out loud moments which were enjoyable.

The Not So Good

The pacing is off and the read goes much slower than it should. There were times I wanted to know more about one of the girls, but the chapter ended abruptly.

The major issue I had was how the girls were portrayed. I had issues with Edie and Krista but I was really upset about Willow. The character puzzles me. She has daddy issues which cause her to make her boyfriend think he cheated on her. She can’t trust him and feels suicidal due to her low self-esteem.

I was glad that her friends eventually realized the damage they had done to her by introducing her to Pretty but she was a mess.  She’s the only one in a loving relationship but can’t value it or herself. She spends most of the book lashing out at her father and his girlfriend who treat her well and her only consequence for the despicable act of torturing her boyfriend is nothing?

Nope. I’m not buying it.  Actually, there aren’t lasting consequences for any of the girls for their hijinks. I’m not pleased with that at all.

Verdict

 I think the author got lost in trying to tell all three stories together which diminished where the novel could have gone.  But I did understand the author’s message that true happiness can only be found by accepting yourself flaws in all.  The problem was that the message was too little too late for save the story.