Withering Tights by Louise Rennison: Book review

Book title/ Author: Withering Tights by Louise Rennison

Publisher/ Year: July 8th 2011 HarperTeen

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #1

Pages: 351

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

*This review may contain spoilers!*

Synopsis

Hilarious new series from the Queen of Teen- laugh your tights off at the (VERY) amateur dramatic antics of Tallulah and her bonkers mates. Boys, snogging and bad acting guaranteed!

My review

Tallulah Casey is your average teenager: lack of experience with boys, feels like she doesn't fit in, and is just trying to figure everything out. So when she gets the chance to go to Dother Hall, a place where she thinks she'll finally fit in, she leaps at the chance.

Withering Tights is set in Yorkshire and there are certainly a lot of stereotypes about the North but also just Britain in general. Normally I would be a bit offended but seeing as it is coming from a British author, I actually really don't mind.

Although I haven't read any of Louise's books previously, I was intrigued by her title of No. 1 Queen of Teen and wanted to see why she had been named it. After reading Withering Tights, I can definitely see why she has been granted the title: it is because she writes relatable stories that cater towards a lot of teenage girls. It is also a book that you can fly through. Now I don't know if that is just from Louise's writing style or because her books aren't really the thought- provoking type.

I was a bit apprehensive to read this book as I didn't think I would like Tallulah in the slightest. I assumed she would be dorky, and not have much of a character. I thought I wouldn't be able to connect with her but I did a lot. One of the main reasons why I like Tallulah so much is because she's clearly not perfect, but she is extremely lovable. Another thing I liked about Tallulah is that when she got to Dother Hall, she was introduced to a few boys, all different, but didn't obsess over only one, and let everything figure itself out.

Speaking of Tallulah and her options, let's talk about the boys. Now first up is Ben. I'm sure he's a lovely boy, and he gave Tallulah her first kiss, but I just couldn't see anything special about him and I was glad to see nothing took off with him. And then there's Alex. I really thought he would be the main romantic interest, and it seemed as though Tallulah thought that too. He sees her as more of a little sister though, probably because she spends a lot of time with Ruby. I don't really mind about that, and I think he'll be better off with Lavinia anyway. Charlie is personally my favourite out of the lot, for being funny and really nice towards Tallulah. The way he left it made me wonder if anything will happen in Book 2.

And now let's talk about the stereotypical bad boys of this story. Cain, Seth and Ruben, all brothers and all members of the band The Jones. I'm really glad Cain was portrayed as a bit of an arse, instead of the love of Tallulah's life because it's refreshing to see a story that isn't about the good girl falling in love with the bad boy, for once.

The biggest negative part about this book is the lack of recognition on the big outcome of the story. What I'm talking about is how Louise Rennison made a lot of tension concerning whether or not Tallulah would be staying on at Dother Hall. Even though the outcome was fairly predictable, I felt as though it was skipped over, and instead I read about less important things.

However, if you want an easy-to-read, relatable YA contemporary, I highly suggest you try out  Withering Tights.

Izzy