Review: Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig

From Goodreads: Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones. Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected. The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan. But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most?

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Elisa Ludwig’s Pretty Crooked was an entertaining story that I thought was relatively good while reading it. After reflecting upon it however, I realized that perhaps I overestimated how great it was.

The Robin Hood connection was what made me request Pretty Crooked; but I didn’t like how Willa chose to help the scholarship kids (aka the Busteds because they’re bussed in from a poorer neighbourhood) or her motivations for stealing from the Glitterati. Instead of standing up to her so-called friends, Willa steals from them and justifies it by saying they’re getting what they deserve for cyberbullying. She then buys outfits – yes, this is her way of helping the less fortunate! – for the Busteds and leaves them on their doorstep. Sure, having a flattering outfit can boost your confidence; but at the end of the day, it doesn’t solve the underlying problem of bullying. Also, considering that Willa only manages to buy one outfit for each person that she helps before she gets caught, her method of helping really doesn’t help in the grand scheme of things because I doubt the Busteds plan on wearing the same outfit every single day for the rest of the school year. (Personally, if someone bought me something fabulous to wear, the last place I’d be wearing it is to school.)

Although Willa was a bit stupid for thinking that she could help the Busteds by stealing rather than by not being a passive bystander, I can kind of see where she’s coming from. I think it would be easy for a lot of people to get sucked into the lifestyle that the Glitterati maintain and not want to give it up if they grow up poor and suddenly find themselves as one of the affluent.

Despite the outrageous plot, I actually got annoyed with Pretty Crooked near the end when there was just too much going on and not enough resolution. For example, throughout the book, Willa’s crush Aidan (who came off as a spoiled rich kid) is trying to get expelled and Willa's mom is secretly seeing a man. By the end, Aidan achieves his goal but how he does so remains a mystery – much like the role of the man Willa’s mom is seeing. I understand that Pretty Crooked is the beginning of a series, but it would have been nice if Ludwig had tied up some of those loose ends.  

A book that you can enjoy as long as you don't think about it too much, Pretty Crooked is released by Katherine Tegen Books today! 

Comments About the Cover: It doesn’t really give off a Robin Hood feel, but I still kind of like it because it represents a part in the book. The girl however should be disguised covertly rather than being dressed fashionably. 

In exchange for an honest review, this ARC was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via NetGalley.