Release Date - July 11, 2017
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy
Pages - 400 pages
My Rating - 3.5/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**
Here is the Goodreads synopsis
This laugh-out-loud debut is filled with hilarious awkward encounters, a supportive LGBTQ organization, and too many cheesy lyrics to count—all with the compulsive readability of Audrey, Wait! and Boy Meets Boy.
Junior Nattie McCullough has always been that under-the-radar straight girl who hangs out in the cafeteria with her gay-straight alliance friends. She’s never been the girl that gets the guy, let alone the girl that gets a hit song named after her. But when last summer’s crush, smoking-hot musician Sebastian Delacroix—who has recently hit the mainstream big-time—returns home to play a local show, that’s just what she gets. He and his band, the Young Lungs, have written a chart-topping single—“Natalie”—which instantly makes Nattie second guess everything she thought about their awkward non-kiss at that June pool party. That it was horrific. That it meant nothing. That Sebastian never gave her another thought.
To help keep her mind off of Sebastian and his maybe-about-her, maybe-not-about-her song, Nattie throws herself into planning the school’s LGBTQIA dance. That proves problematic, too, when Nattie begins to develop feelings for her good friend Zach. With the song getting major airplay and her once-normal life starting to resemble the cover of a gossip magazine, Nattie is determined to figure out once and for all if her brief moment with Sebastian was the stuff love songs are made of—or just a one-hit wonder.
Who's That Girl is a lot of things. It's funny. It's romantic. It is a breezy summer read that may have been entirely different than I was expecting, but was nonetheless entertaining. It is the kind of book that won me over gradually and left me happy I read it.
This is a story about a girl who finds out she is the muse behind the current it song. Every girls dream, right? Well, this novel showcases how the reality might just be the exact opposite. Natalie is not exactly wanting to bask in the attention this song is going to bring her way, and that combined with a lot of uncertainty leads to some funny (if awkward) situations. It may be nice in theory, but I predict many people would not actually want to be known as the person who inspired a majorly popular song.
This story surprised me by being completely different than I anticipated it to be. I expected the song plot point to be the main focus, instead I got a story that was really about Nattie and her relationships. The song could have been substituted for anything that brought attention her way and the story still would have worked. This is both a positive and negative for me. I wanted the story about the song. I wanted to have the story be about being the girl who got the song written about her. Those going in for simply this story element may end up disappointed, BUT the care taken with the relationships between the characters more than makes up for it (at least for me).
I love when parents have a huge role in young adult novels. They should be present and part of the narrative in most cases. Nattie's parents are not only part of the story, but their affection for one another is clearly evident. Her family doesn't just consist of those biologically related to her, which was nice to see incorporated into this story. Her friends also play a large role in Nattie's journey and those bonds are just as well crafted. This novel really shines with the building of those relationships, and the nuances of the characters within them. The side characters are just as fascinating as Nattie, and that makes their interactions all the more interesting.
The romance that happens within these pages is cute. It also happens to be one of my favorite romance tropes. I won't spoil who eventually gets together, but I will say it quickly becomes evident what is going to happen. It's a more realistic romance which grounds some of the novel's other, more quirky, elements. It ends up being a pretty good contrast to the rest of the novel, and I think a lot of people will be satisfied with how Nattie's love life unfurls.
Blair Thornburgh delivers a fun, quirky read that I predict will charm many people. It's filled with humour, and some great friendship bonds. While I may not have fallen entirely in book love with this one, there are still plenty of great things to be found within these pages. Blair Thornburgh certainly has a talent for crafting engaging characters, and I will definitely give her next book a try.
This is a story about a girl who finds out she is the muse behind the current it song. Every girls dream, right? Well, this novel showcases how the reality might just be the exact opposite. Natalie is not exactly wanting to bask in the attention this song is going to bring her way, and that combined with a lot of uncertainty leads to some funny (if awkward) situations. It may be nice in theory, but I predict many people would not actually want to be known as the person who inspired a majorly popular song.
This story surprised me by being completely different than I anticipated it to be. I expected the song plot point to be the main focus, instead I got a story that was really about Nattie and her relationships. The song could have been substituted for anything that brought attention her way and the story still would have worked. This is both a positive and negative for me. I wanted the story about the song. I wanted to have the story be about being the girl who got the song written about her. Those going in for simply this story element may end up disappointed, BUT the care taken with the relationships between the characters more than makes up for it (at least for me).
I love when parents have a huge role in young adult novels. They should be present and part of the narrative in most cases. Nattie's parents are not only part of the story, but their affection for one another is clearly evident. Her family doesn't just consist of those biologically related to her, which was nice to see incorporated into this story. Her friends also play a large role in Nattie's journey and those bonds are just as well crafted. This novel really shines with the building of those relationships, and the nuances of the characters within them. The side characters are just as fascinating as Nattie, and that makes their interactions all the more interesting.
The romance that happens within these pages is cute. It also happens to be one of my favorite romance tropes. I won't spoil who eventually gets together, but I will say it quickly becomes evident what is going to happen. It's a more realistic romance which grounds some of the novel's other, more quirky, elements. It ends up being a pretty good contrast to the rest of the novel, and I think a lot of people will be satisfied with how Nattie's love life unfurls.
Blair Thornburgh delivers a fun, quirky read that I predict will charm many people. It's filled with humour, and some great friendship bonds. While I may not have fallen entirely in book love with this one, there are still plenty of great things to be found within these pages. Blair Thornburgh certainly has a talent for crafting engaging characters, and I will definitely give her next book a try.
