The story follows Tiffany, Amber, Courtney, and Michelle: four high school seniors who work part-time as costumed princesses at Enchanted Park, their town’s local run-down amusement park. It’s very reminiscent of Storybook Land, which was a similar park near where I grew up in New Jersey (and still very much operational).
These are Mean Girls with a part-time job. They verbally abuse the “nerds” and “losers” they see around them, including their coworkers at the park. They see themselves as superior to just about everyone. And they give new meaning to the word entitled.
They’re about as stereotypically “popular” as can be, and their dreams are as varied as their personalities (i.e., not very much). One wants to be an actress, one dreams of being a model, the third is a cheerleader, and the fourth … is the smart one.
With few other options, the girls band together to organize and try to save the park. They capitalize on their existing skills, learn some new ones, and engage in a good ol’ fashioned ’80s training montage as they try to reclaim some semblance of control over their lives.
I need to be honest here. These characters are not very likable. They don’t have a lot of engaging qualities that make you want to root for them and cheer them on. I I found that I didn’t have much sympathy for them or their “difficulties.”
Do they “learn something about themselves” along the way? Sure. Is it a life-changing revelation? Are they transformed by the end? Not quite. But let’s keep in mind that these are high school students. Anything more than what does happen to them wouldn’t be believable.
It would be unfair to say that they’re the same at the end of the story. All four girls do travel an arc, and they each develop in unique ways. What’s important, I think, is that they develop in believable, realistic ways. They’re not lost causes. There’s certainly hope for them to develop even further as they leave high school behind.
As we all do.
Like its protagonists, I’d say this book is appropriate for high schoolers (and some middle schoolers) and up. There’s some language, frank (and casual) conversations about sex, and an unexpected romance that all might be too much for younger readers.
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