Pretty Face - Review

Reviews - Books for Teens
Pretty Face - Review
By Cynthia Kirkeby
May 18, 2008, 15:41 PST

Mary Hogan’s teen novel, Pretty Face, has a witty young woman as its main character by the name of Hayley. Set in Southern California and Italy, the tale revolves around an obsession on being the right size, pleasing a weight watching mother, and looking good enough to attract the “right guy.”

On the surface, the character “finds” herself when she goes to Italy for the summer, getting away from her tofu obsessed mother. Unfortunately, when the book is finished, the character really hasn’t learned much of anything.

The thing I like best about Halley is her wit. Throughout the book, she has a quirky, quick wit that makes the read fun. If it weren’t for that sense of humor, I probably wouldn’t have continued reading the story. A number of issues really bother me about this book.

The sense of time seems to be confused in this novel. Halley is supposed to be in Italy for a summer. The first few days seem as though they would have taken a couple of weeks. By the time Halley meets her Italian beau, the delays in their first dates would have put her back in the states before they had any time together. Some time spans seem too short, others too long, and overall the time scheme doesn’t flow smoothly.

Assisi, Italy

Then there is the issue of a young girl in Italy and her explorations. Her hosts tell her to ask when she wants to go somewhere, and in the entire course of the book, Halley only goes to Rome once! An entire summer in Italy and she never learns to speak any Italian.. talk about the ugly American! When her Italian family meets her boyfriend Enzo, she doesn’t even know for sure what Che Bello! means. Come on! Everyone learns that in the first few days. (If you are curious, she was being told that her boyfriend was handsome.)

By the end of the book, the only thing this character seems to have accomplished is to slow down her binge eating and to get laid. Halley finally looses enough weight that she’s comfortable with herself when she attracts a good looking boyfriend, but she sleeps with him the first day she’s kissed. Whoa... wait just a second! She’s going into her senior year in high school which means she’s only 16 or 17. She’s never been kissed until Enzo comes along, but the very first time that she’s kissed, she goes all the way! Something is twisted about that. You don’t have to have sex with someone to “grow-up.” You need to figure yourself out, and get comfortable with who you are.

Prudish is not a word my daughter and her friends use about me. The sexuality in this book, however, drove me nuts! It's nice that Halley found a nice guy as her first lover, but to go from her first kiss to a hop in the sack in about a page and a half, was ridiculous! I really have quite a problem with this book. The journey Halley makes in Pretty Face is superficial and unsatisfying. I would hate to have any teens read this story, and think that Halley's experiences were worthwhile. I just cannot recommend this book in any good conscience. There is so much this character could have experienced and learned in her summer in Italy. Why not learn to cook and learn about healthy eating that way, so that she could bring that knowledge back to California with her? Why not learn about her host family? Why not explore Italy and learn more about the culture? I could go on and on.... What a shame she learned so little!