Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino [book review]

Book: Smile and Look Pretty

Author: Amanda Pellegrino

Published: March 8, 2022

Publisher: Park Row

Genre: Contemporary/Thriller

Pages: 368

Amazon | Bookshop

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Smile and Look Pretty book summary

Smile and Look Pretty is about four receptionists who are good friends. Every week they meet up where no one will really know about their bosses. This gives them the chance to talk about their bosses. This gives them the chance to talk about them without it getting back to them. It doesn’t help that they had to sign an agreement that they aren’t allowed to talk about what they do or say. So, this is why they meet up where they won’t be overheard and get things off their chest. But one day when things go too far one of them decides to create a blog under an alias to talk about what she went through and the others slowly join in with her.

What I thought:

I picked up Smile and Look Pretty because the concept grabbed my attention pretty fast. With me too movement and so many women coming out about their bosses and coworkers. I kind of figured the story would be a great revenge plot and empowering to those who have dealt with these circumstances.

There are a couple of things that I really enjoyed about this that I wish were a common thing in the real world. These women have someone to talk to about what’s going on even if it is with each other. It’s great that they believe each other too. One thing I loved is how one was romantically involved with someone and he believed her. Some probably wouldn’t. I wish there was more girl-on-girl support like there is here.

To me, that’s about as good as it gets. I went into the story thinking it was going to be kind of a thrilling roller coaster. Instead, the story is a little boring. Pretty much the entire story revolves around them putting women’s stories up on the blog and how it gains traction. That’s fine but a part of me was expecting something crazy to happen other than them adding the stories to blog posts. I get that in of itself can be a big deal though.

My expectation was that this was going to be more of a thriller. The fact that it’s not was a bit of a disappointment. I just hate going into a book with the expectations that it is something that it’s not. That’s a quick way for me to not really like the book. But like I said earlier I do love the girl-on-girl support. Too many people are quick to assume you are lying.

For me Smile and Look Pretty is a solid three-star book. Like I said the story is a little boring but I do like the message it sends out.

If you like books like this then you might also like The Herd.