Georgia Clark

Originally published in hardcover in 2016 by Emily Bestler Books/Atria.

A Novel

The Regulars

Three friends find their lives changed when they discover the Pretty, a magic tincture that makes them gorgeous.

Lauren Attaway

Interesting and Imperfect 

This book started strong and while it definitely lost me in the middle, I'm still glad I picked it up-the overall message is too important.

Lily

At the heart of this story is the idea the friendships , true friendships are truly something magical which we must value and protect, because when your whole world has turned to crap, it is true friends who will be by your side to help you figure out what happens next. The story focuses on three female characters (that's right 3 WOMEN I know shocker!) who are all in their early twenties and who are normal or rather regulars. They're not cover girl pretty no they are plain Jane-s trying to juggle their work life with their social life. I think that one of the things which got me invested in this book is how relatable Evie, Krista and Willow are. They make mistakes like we do, they get emotional and they have their vulnerable moments too. It's been a hot minute since I felt like I could really relate to fictional characters' struggles so kudos to Ms. Clark for that. This book also made me feel better about myself and it (as cliche as it may sound), made me realise how important it is to be true to yourself and to accept yourself as you are (like I said super cliche but it's the truth!). 
Disclosure: This book is not perfect, whilst the story is really good there are moments which had me cringing and/or facepalming but for the sake of not spoiling the book for future readers I will refrain from mentioning them in this review. However,as the story itself suggests nothing is perfect and we must truly come to accept that in all things. 
Have fun reading and if you ever need someone to talk to then hit me up :)

Jessica 

Review also found here at Booked J. 

“She was a road trip without a map.” 

This... wasn't for me. To put it simply? Not my cup of tea. I wanted to like The Regulars. So. Much. Because, the plot is utterly unique and magical, it relies on societies view of what makes someone beautiful and the lengths women will go to just to feel pretty; Georgia Clark's prose is great and everything about the novel had potential.

The problem was that everything just fell short. While I did find myself relating to bits and pieces, highlighting various portions of the narration, I found everything else to just be missing something. None of the characters are especially likable, not even in the unlikable way that circles back around to 'likable' and there were so many layers to The Regulars that bordered on problematic instead of social commentary or satire. 

Which felt sloppy and not very enjoyable. I'm not typically the type of person who has secondhand embarrassment in literature but there were so many moments in this book where I felt awkward about something. For example, trying not to spoil it, there's a scene with a, uh, trophy, that was--well, err... awkward. Further, a lot of the so-called feminism in The Regulars didn't quite feel like feminism and instead was just... out of place.

There were so many things about this book that just rubbed me the wrong way and I am not able to look past for one reason or another. 


  “We need role models who look like real girls.”
 Yes, there are a lot of things that need to be talked about in beauty and fashion. These unreachable goals, all the pressure. But we also need to not say things LIKE THAT. Because that only adds to the problem, in context and out of context. It invites people to, when they seem ultra thin girls or larger girls or whatever body type someone has, make unwanted comments about the physical attributes of our peers and opens an unwanted can of body shaming.

There are ways to address problems. There are ways to not.

While these flaws and elements could have been explored and, of course, redeemed, there wasn't much of that to be found by the end of the novel. We had Evie, Krista and Willow spend the entire novel essentially searching for themselves which could have provided an emotional depth to the novel but didn't.

One of the novels biggest problems, beyond its portrayal of beauty and feminism and self-love, was that it felt like it was trying to be upfront and raw. In its quest to be edgy, it felt awkward and utterly silly in the worst ways. I had a hard time getting through it which was an entirely different level of disappointment.

Overall, The Regulars could have been better. Not a single moment of this book was for me and I am still a bit annoyed with it for various reasons. However, I do have to give Georgia Clark a few props. The premise was nice. The writing wasn't bad. Somehow, combined, it was subpar and problematic.

The Regulars A Novel

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