Review: PRETTY CROOKED by Elisa Ludwig

Title: Pretty Crooked

Author: Elisa Ludwig

Publication date: March 13th, 2012

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

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?

Review: 

I had eyed this on my Goodreads to-read list for some time until YAY I passed by it in the library. Why I never thought to check the library system, I have no idea. But it's rare that there would be a book on my TBR list IN the library just waiting for me on the shelf. 

Willa has a single parent, her mother, who is an artist. They move around a lot, which Willa hasn't been too fond of. At last, though, her mother has sold paintings for the big bucks and they are on their way to Arizona. She's enrolled in the prestigious private school, Valley Prep, and now has an actual house. Not an apartment, mobile home, or car. She's quickly caught up in living up her new life and on her first day, Glitterati member Cherise runs into her. Literally. With her car, she accidentally runs Willa over while she's on her bike. 

The Glitterati is basically the popular group. While the stereotypical populars/top dogs in schools are the rich, beautiful kids, everyone in Valley Prep is rich and beautiful. So the Glitterati are the top dogs and the richest of the rich. 

She also meets Aidan Murphy, probably the richest kid in the school. Because his parents donate most of the money to the school and has the the most power, it's pretty impossible for Aidan to get kicked out. But he does try with pranks and stunts. Willa is instantly taken with him and I do see why she would be attracted, but I wasn't for it. He was a player in every way and while he did show a few soft spots, I couldn't root for him. Why couldn't she go for Tre? Such a better choice. 

After witnessing the scholarship getting bullied and humiliated, Willa is determined to help them. How? Oh, to steal from the richest kids and leave nice packages of clothes on the poor students' doors. 

Bill and I agree on eye-rolling.

I was excited about the thought of a modern day Robin Hood. It was just so stupid to me, the stealing very farfetched. I kind of get her line of thinking. She wants to equalize the field by giving the students nicer clothes so they won't be as teased as much. However, it just seems so juvenile. Granting people nicer clothes won't help their situation. She mentioned all their problems, but all she does is give them nicer clothes. HOW does that help? 

While Willa does show some guilt sporadically throughout the book, it was as if because Nikki and the rest of the Glitterati were so bad, it was somehow okay to steal. Sure, they are horrible teenage girls and I wanted to slap them for their horrible deeds. But that does not make it suddenly all right to commit a felony.

"He bullied me in my childhood so I will now MURDER HIS WHOLE FAMILY." 

So it might not be that extreme, but that's how I interpreted it. The whole time I was reading it, I tried to think of other ways she could have dealt with it. Also, while I get there's going to be other books in the series, there were just SO many loose ends. Aidan, her mother, her mysterious father, the FBI...and so on. It's okay to leave some things to be resolved in later books, but I just didn't feel as if anything got resolved. It was pretty frustrating. 

Although, I did like her writing style and Willa's voice. It was humorous, light, and I really enjoyed reading Pretty Crooked. Even though I had problems with the main plot point, I intend to read the rest of the series. I do want to know what happens and Willa was pretty charming, despite her decisions and silly actions. 

This read was charming and light, but also underdeveloped in areas and Willa portrayed bad judgement. If you can look past the things I stated, I say go for it. I'll be looking out for the second book, but having great hesitation with it. 

Verdict: Silly, disappointing, but oddly humorous and still makes me want to read the second book so I can find out what happens.

What do YOU think? Comment!