(Above excerpt is from www.shelleyadina.com )

The Review

I started the series backwards and read Who Made You A Princess? first.  After all, it is the last book of the series and I was lucky enough to get an ARC.  After reading it, I wanted to read the entire series as soon as I could!  Thank GOD for Hachette!

As soon as I got the remaining three books to the series, I read and reviewed It’s All About Us, which is the also the title of the series.   Due to my exuding enthusiasm, I was fortunate enough to able to host a fabulous giveaway in which I was able to host a contest for 3 copies of Who Made You A Princess? and also the grand prize of the entire It’s All About Us Series.   

So, what was remaining on my shelves were The Fruit of My Lipstick (Book 2) and Be Strong and Curvaceous (Book 3).    I decided that I wanted to read them back-to-back so that I could get the full story line in my head all at once.  This week, I read them both.  Now, I have to do some Mommy bragging and tell you a little story.  I have been told that I’m a fast reader.  But, apparently, not as fast as my daughter Dee.  She read It’s All About Us last night in bed in just under a couple of hours.  She LOVED the book and is begging me to “hurry up and write the blog post” so that she can read the next two books.  As a Mommy and a Christian, I couldn’t be more thrilled!

In It’s All About Us, we started the story with Lissa and her friends.  This second book is the story of Lissa’s friend Gillian, a Chinese-American junior in the elite private high school they all attend in Northern California.  As aforementioned, Gillian is a genius and an incredible pianist.  Gillian is deeply committed in her relationship to God and hosts a weekly prayer circle for the students.  She also has a mad crush on Lucas.  Although, with my experienced eyes, I could see that Lucas wasn’t all that he was presenting himself  to be, poor Gillian was lost in her puppy-dog eyes for him.  She allows him demean her and starts to change who she is so that he will still like her and be her boyfriend.  (Examples:  Trying to lose weight at the expense of her favorite art class and toning down her personality to present more demurely.)  What her friends saw and Gillian didn’t is that she was fabulous just the way she was.  And, of course, you shouldn’t change who you are for a boy as he should like you just the way you are.

Lucas ends up being more of the “bad guy” than Gillian expected and displays violent tendencies.  When she breaks up with him, he lashes out and tries to frame her for some acts she didn’t commit.  Her friends, at the assistance of the Lord, rally to rescue her from Lucas’ attacks.  The ending of the story does not disappoint because, with God on your side, you’re going to end up A-Okay!

The content of this book is lighter than It’s All About Us, but the message is equally important.  Throughout the story, Gillian looks to God to help her find her center and make the right decisions that will honor him.  As I’ve stated in my other two reviews for this series, I appreciate Shelley Adina’s commitment to providing books that we can be proud to buy for our daughters!  These are stories that give mothers a platform to talk to their daughters about the peer pressures that they face or are going to eventually encounter.     

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

Dee (1st Book) and Colie (4th Book) have both told me how much they love these books.  I want to provide them good reading material that sends a positive message to girls that will honor their faith and our God.  Shelley Adina has provided me that opportunity!  I love love love this series and for my review of this Fiction: YA-Christian, I am going to rate this book a 9 OUT OF 10. 

My thanks to Hachette Books for this great experience!