ARC Review: How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer
4/5 stars
Balzer + Bray, 2013
320 pages
YA Contemporary
Scheduled to release April 23

Source: Received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded so adorable! I love theme parks (especially that most famous of ones) and loved the sound of getting to be an intern at a magical place like Fairyland Kingdom, the New Jersey theme park setting of this book. That would have been my dream when I was a kid (it is less exciting now that I reflect on how customer-service oriented that position likely would have been.) I also really enjoyed Strohmeyer's previous YA novel Smart Girls Get What They Want and expected a story along the same lines.

One similarity was the focus on female friendship and ambition, both prioritized over mooning over stupid boys (although there are a couple of cute boys here!) Though Zoe is obviously the main character (hello-her name is in the title), her cousin Jess has an important subplot and allows us to see the unguarded Zoe as well as deeply explore her compassionate side. Ambition is also important as both girls (along with the other interns) are competing for a scholarship to pursue their big college dreams but neither is willing to compromise their standards.

A big difference though would obviously be that this is set at a theme park, bearing a remarkable resemble to Disney World but obliquely referencing the Mouse and his park.  I feel like the setting was so magical and really helped to set this book apart as something different from other light humorous contemporaries. This also showcases the backbiting drama of high schoolers competing for a significant amount of money, something I really adore.

As I mentioned, there is a bit of romance. You couldn't have so many young people mixed together and not have some flirting going on! The romance is not a big part of the book but it was appreciated with the ending resolution being especially satisfying.

Overall: A fun funny story laced with Strohmeyer's trademark humor-definitely worth checking out when you need your next summer read!

Other Opinions:
The Book Scoop
Candace's Book Blog
One Page at a Time

Smart Girls Get What They Want

Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer
4/5 stars
Balzer + Bray, 2012
348 pages
YA Contemporary

Source: Received for review through Amazon Vine.

I wasn't really interested in this book until I saw a couple of positive reviews of it (most notably from Christina T at Reading Extensively) and figured out that the author had written one of my favorite "chick-lit" books, The Cinderella Pact. Thus I was excited to pick this up. Basically the three smartest girls in the class (narrator Gigi and her best friends Bea and Neerja) are dismayed to realize that grades don't translate to popularity.

Part of my problem with this book draws heavily from my own experiences as a "smart" kid like Gigi. First I would never expect the smartest kid in school to be well-known to his or her peers. If the student population and culture does not value intelligence, and usually it doesn't, preferring to elevate sports stars, then why would Gigi expect to be known? Second, what kind of schedule does she have? For me, I was mostly in AP classes and thus hung out with other AP kids. Here it seems like it is just Gigi, her two friends, and a couple of other kids. At my school, there was basically a whole huge clique of us who took all the same classes, just at different times and didn't necessarily interact much with non-AP kids like Gigi does in this book. Obviously it depends on the school but it doesn't ring true with my experience.

Happily as the book progresses there ended up being a lot of things I did really like. However I must mention the one thing that just drove me crazy, which was Gigi's crush on new rich kid Will who was obviously playing her. Her determined ignoring of his still very much in the picture girlfriend drove me crazy. For a smart girl, she sure was dumb about some things.

Now on to what I did like. Most notably would have to be the friendship of Gigi, Bea, and Neerja. This is heavily featured even as the girls explore other interests that they don't share. Since friendship is one of my strongest memories from high school, I am always so glad to see a YA book that includes a good one and this is definitely one of the best I've read. I also really liked their challenges: Gigi faces stage fright to run for class rep, Bea takes up skiing again, and Neerja pursues her drama passion. Their efforts are often humorous but with immense growth for them. There are also various flirtations with cute boys.

Overall: I would say it's pretty predictable but a lot of fun!

Cover: I'm not the biggest fan of this cover with the words so prominent and just the girl standing in space although she does seem pretty true to Gigi's description so that's good. It actually turned me off until I saw some reviews.