leacallida's review against another edition
4.0
J'ai vraiment apprécié ! de l'humour à gogo et des personnages touchants, j'adhère !!
seul point négatif pour moi : la fin, trop simple !
à lire !!
seul point négatif pour moi : la fin, trop simple !
à lire !!
juliwi's review
4.0
It's not often that a book really lives up to its hype for me, but Piglettes is an exception to that rule. As far as YA novels go, I usually reach for the ones set in far off mystical lands or that adapt fairy tales and legends. Occasionally a contemporary romance slips in, but, while they do entertain me, they tend to bore me as well. So I was slightly apprehensive about starting Piglettes. Would I enjoy it as much as I was promised? Turns out that yes, I would be. Beauvais utterly charmed me.Thanks to Pushkin Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Pub. Date: 06/07/2017
Publisher: Pushkin Press
A wickedly funny and life-affirming coming-of-age roadtrip story - winner of France's biggest prize for teen and YA fiction
Mireille, Astrid and Hakima have just been voted the three ugliest girls in school by their classmates on Facebook. But does that mean they're going to sit around crying about it?...
Well, maybe a little, but not for long! Climbing onto their bikes, the friends set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris. The girls will find fame, friendship and happiness on their journey, and still have time to eat a mountain of food (and drink the odd glass of wine) along the way. But will they really be able to leave all their troubles behind?
Piglettes is a hilarious, beautiful and uplifting story of three girls who are determined not to let online bullying get them down.
Many books try to discuss the crushing weight of expectations on young girls, but not many do it with as much wit and heart as Beauvais does in Piglettes. Three girls find themselves crowned the top three "pigs" in their school for being ugly/fat/fill in any pejorative you can think off. Yet, unexpectedly, this ends up bringing these three girls together in a way that is unlike what I've read before. Piglettes strikes me as truly different from other YA novels in that it doesn't set out to get revenge on bullies or change these girls until they are accepted. Throughout the novel Beauvais makes it clear that although the girls are getting praise for their actions, there are also those who try and find any and every reason to bring them down, to criticise them or use their story for their own gain. So although their world doesn't change, Mireille, Astrid and Hakima do, and that is where the true brilliance of this novel lies. Yes, the way our world treats teenage girls and women needs to change, but just because it's doing so slowly doesn't mean we can't still grow and rise. Piglettes will fill you with a happiness and cheer that makes facing any challenge possible.
In Mireille Beauvais creates a stunning protagonist. Although the novel is about all three girls, it is really Mireille's perspective we get throughout. Her thoughts about herself, her friends, her family and the world are exactly those of a teenager, but Beauvais manages to avoid making her into a cliche. Perhaps no 15-year old is quite that witty or loquacious, but it is fitting. All three girls grow and mature throughout their journey but Beauvais manages to avoid the traps of the genre by not romanticising them. Mireille and Beauvais see those traps and then circumvent them masterfully. I was very intrigued by the characters of Hakima and Kader, the former who finds herself inclueded in the Pig Pageant in part due to her skin colour. Their stories are both drastically different and, in some ways, similar to those of Astrid and Mireille and one of my favourite parts of the story is the growing understanding these characters have of each other.
Clémentine Beauvais's writing throughout the novel is pithy, witty and emotive. The book is both light and heavy at the same time, a balance that is very difficult to achieve. Also, there is a meta-quality to the novel, with Mireille frequently addressing the reader and their potential expectations from her story. This allows Mireille to claim the story as hers in a way I enjoyed very much. Beauvais divides her book into three parts which function very neatly as the three acts in any play. There's the set-up, the juicy middle and the climax, each with its own resonance. Beauvais doesn't allow any too lofty morals or "lessons" to overshadow the fun of her book, but they are there and reveal themselves at the right time. Piglettes is definitely a modern novel. Beauvais intersperses her narrative with Tweets and newspaper articles as the girls travel to Paris, adding another dimension to her story. In the end, it is not the world that has changed but the girls who have grown. They realise that the goals they set for themselves at the beginning are perhaps not what they truly want, that people change, or don't, and that not everything is always as it seems. I was both surprised and impressed by the ending of this novel, which is what set it truly apart for me from other YA coming-of-age novels!
I adored Piglettes and its quick wit and heartfelt emotions. It's both funny and touching, both true and outlandish enough to change how you look at things. I will definitely be looking for more of Beauvais' work in the future. I'd recommend this to fans of YA and coming-of-age novels.
Pub. Date: 06/07/2017
Publisher: Pushkin Press
A wickedly funny and life-affirming coming-of-age roadtrip story - winner of France's biggest prize for teen and YA fiction
Mireille, Astrid and Hakima have just been voted the three ugliest girls in school by their classmates on Facebook. But does that mean they're going to sit around crying about it?...
Well, maybe a little, but not for long! Climbing onto their bikes, the friends set off on a summer roadtrip to Paris. The girls will find fame, friendship and happiness on their journey, and still have time to eat a mountain of food (and drink the odd glass of wine) along the way. But will they really be able to leave all their troubles behind?
Piglettes is a hilarious, beautiful and uplifting story of three girls who are determined not to let online bullying get them down.
Many books try to discuss the crushing weight of expectations on young girls, but not many do it with as much wit and heart as Beauvais does in Piglettes. Three girls find themselves crowned the top three "pigs" in their school for being ugly/fat/fill in any pejorative you can think off. Yet, unexpectedly, this ends up bringing these three girls together in a way that is unlike what I've read before. Piglettes strikes me as truly different from other YA novels in that it doesn't set out to get revenge on bullies or change these girls until they are accepted. Throughout the novel Beauvais makes it clear that although the girls are getting praise for their actions, there are also those who try and find any and every reason to bring them down, to criticise them or use their story for their own gain. So although their world doesn't change, Mireille, Astrid and Hakima do, and that is where the true brilliance of this novel lies. Yes, the way our world treats teenage girls and women needs to change, but just because it's doing so slowly doesn't mean we can't still grow and rise. Piglettes will fill you with a happiness and cheer that makes facing any challenge possible.
In Mireille Beauvais creates a stunning protagonist. Although the novel is about all three girls, it is really Mireille's perspective we get throughout. Her thoughts about herself, her friends, her family and the world are exactly those of a teenager, but Beauvais manages to avoid making her into a cliche. Perhaps no 15-year old is quite that witty or loquacious, but it is fitting. All three girls grow and mature throughout their journey but Beauvais manages to avoid the traps of the genre by not romanticising them. Mireille and Beauvais see those traps and then circumvent them masterfully. I was very intrigued by the characters of Hakima and Kader, the former who finds herself inclueded in the Pig Pageant in part due to her skin colour. Their stories are both drastically different and, in some ways, similar to those of Astrid and Mireille and one of my favourite parts of the story is the growing understanding these characters have of each other.
Clémentine Beauvais's writing throughout the novel is pithy, witty and emotive. The book is both light and heavy at the same time, a balance that is very difficult to achieve. Also, there is a meta-quality to the novel, with Mireille frequently addressing the reader and their potential expectations from her story. This allows Mireille to claim the story as hers in a way I enjoyed very much. Beauvais divides her book into three parts which function very neatly as the three acts in any play. There's the set-up, the juicy middle and the climax, each with its own resonance. Beauvais doesn't allow any too lofty morals or "lessons" to overshadow the fun of her book, but they are there and reveal themselves at the right time. Piglettes is definitely a modern novel. Beauvais intersperses her narrative with Tweets and newspaper articles as the girls travel to Paris, adding another dimension to her story. In the end, it is not the world that has changed but the girls who have grown. They realise that the goals they set for themselves at the beginning are perhaps not what they truly want, that people change, or don't, and that not everything is always as it seems. I was both surprised and impressed by the ending of this novel, which is what set it truly apart for me from other YA coming-of-age novels!
I adored Piglettes and its quick wit and heartfelt emotions. It's both funny and touching, both true and outlandish enough to change how you look at things. I will definitely be looking for more of Beauvais' work in the future. I'd recommend this to fans of YA and coming-of-age novels.
mororke's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a lot cuter than I thought it would be. The story follows Mireille, Astrid and Hakima, voted the ugliest girls in their school and their road trip to find happiness, and to learn to be comfortable in their own skin.
The unlikely friendship between the three girls takes them on a road trip by bike through France. I don’t want to give away their misadventures along the route, but I found the story heartwarming and brilliantly written. Instead of feeling poorly about themselves, the girls learn that it’s truly what is on the inside that counts, and that with good friends, anything is possible.
This was a quick and light hearted read that had me laughing out loud and excited to see how the story finished. It was a nice break from some of the heavier stuff I’ve been reading and was easy for me to get excited about and finish.
Enjoy my review? Read them all at the-pink-moose.com
The unlikely friendship between the three girls takes them on a road trip by bike through France. I don’t want to give away their misadventures along the route, but I found the story heartwarming and brilliantly written. Instead of feeling poorly about themselves, the girls learn that it’s truly what is on the inside that counts, and that with good friends, anything is possible.
This was a quick and light hearted read that had me laughing out loud and excited to see how the story finished. It was a nice break from some of the heavier stuff I’ve been reading and was easy for me to get excited about and finish.
Enjoy my review? Read them all at the-pink-moose.com
emisph's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
thechaoshour's review against another edition
4.0
Read for Popsugar's 2018 Reading Challenge #26: A book with an animal in the title
Actual Rating - 3.5
This was a fun story about three girls who are deemed the "ugliest girls at school" on someone's Facebook page. The main character, Mireille, is used to it by now since this is her third year in the top three. The other two girls, however, haven't experienced this kind of bullying so they end up turning to Mireille for help. She takes them under her wing and shows them how they don't have to listen to the bullies and they can get past this traumatic event. In a fun turn of events, they end up on a bike trip to Paris where they go to confront their inner fears.
It's such an inspiring story for young girls especially. Looks seem to be the first thing bullies pick on so it can be hard heaing that you're ugly every single day. It can cause some serious damage. I found Mireilla a greta character because she accepted her looks and could easily ignore the bullies. She had a fun and sarcastic sense of humour that made her narrating lots of fun to read. I found the whole voice of this book to be fun and quirky which made for a quick read. I didn't like it at first but I quickly got used to it.
This book isn't perfect by a long shot. I had a few issues, like how all their parents were ok with them biking to Paris, but I went along with it. Why not? There was also some issues like one character with an anxiety disorder and another who lost his legs in the military that the author probably could have touched on a little bit more. They were mentioned here and there but they could have used a little more depth.
One thing you should remember going into this book is that it's not super serious. It's meant to be a fun story about some young girls spending their summer going on a bike trip to Paris. On the way they grow up a little. They deal with the media, meet some new friends, and learn about each other. It was cute and fun!
Actual Rating - 3.5
This was a fun story about three girls who are deemed the "ugliest girls at school" on someone's Facebook page. The main character, Mireille, is used to it by now since this is her third year in the top three. The other two girls, however, haven't experienced this kind of bullying so they end up turning to Mireille for help. She takes them under her wing and shows them how they don't have to listen to the bullies and they can get past this traumatic event. In a fun turn of events, they end up on a bike trip to Paris where they go to confront their inner fears.
It's such an inspiring story for young girls especially. Looks seem to be the first thing bullies pick on so it can be hard heaing that you're ugly every single day. It can cause some serious damage. I found Mireilla a greta character because she accepted her looks and could easily ignore the bullies. She had a fun and sarcastic sense of humour that made her narrating lots of fun to read. I found the whole voice of this book to be fun and quirky which made for a quick read. I didn't like it at first but I quickly got used to it.
This book isn't perfect by a long shot. I had a few issues, like how all their parents were ok with them biking to Paris, but I went along with it. Why not? There was also some issues like one character with an anxiety disorder and another who lost his legs in the military that the author probably could have touched on a little bit more. They were mentioned here and there but they could have used a little more depth.
One thing you should remember going into this book is that it's not super serious. It's meant to be a fun story about some young girls spending their summer going on a bike trip to Paris. On the way they grow up a little. They deal with the media, meet some new friends, and learn about each other. It was cute and fun!
lauisreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
lucy_12's review
3.0
Perhaps it's the author's style, or the fact it's aimed at a YA audience, or maybe some subtlety has been lost in translation, but I found the narration a bit OTT at first.
Once I acclimatised however, this was enjoyable romp through rural France and a heartening tale of courage and friendship.
A few reviewers in here are complaining that many aspects are just not realistic, but isn't that why we read? To escape reality?
(Plus they have a few of their facts wrong. The girls bought most of the sausages from a market rather than make them all themselves, they did have a licence to sell food, they had a rechargeable fridge and several references were made to charging it, and they most certainly did not have perfect weather all the way. Hmph!)
Once I acclimatised however, this was enjoyable romp through rural France and a heartening tale of courage and friendship.
A few reviewers in here are complaining that many aspects are just not realistic, but isn't that why we read? To escape reality?
(Plus they have a few of their facts wrong. The girls bought most of the sausages from a market rather than make them all themselves, they did have a licence to sell food, they had a rechargeable fridge and several references were made to charging it, and they most certainly did not have perfect weather all the way. Hmph!)
nosialla2206's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.75
gargi's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know the word for perfect in French, but whatever it is, that should be used to describe this book. Piglettes is a wonderful story and was like a breath of fresh air in my reading list. I'm very thankful that the publisher offered a copy for review!