Published: March 13th 2012

Synopsis: High school sophomore Willa and her artist mother move to Arizona where Willa starts attending an elite prep school after her mother finally sells some paintings, and Willa attempts to even things out by stealing from the rich students and giving to the poor ones.

Review: Oh I endulged so much in this book. What I thought initially was just going to be a light read was so much more than that. Pretty Crooked was entertaining and fun, and more to the point actually makes me look forward to reading the next book when it comes out!

Willa lives with her artist mother who has moved her from town to town her whole life. She never really settles anywhere before her mother moves her to a new town where there is more inspiration for her to come up with new art. But then after one of her mothers painting sells for a huge figure, they decide to settle in Arizona - for good. Willa is even going to a private school for the first time ever.

The school reminded me a lot of Gossip Girl.. I could just picture it. The rich kids pulling up to school in their Porches and Mercedes all dressed head to toe in designer labels, and even the gossip/hate website running reminded me slightly of the concept of Gossip Girl. Willa makes friends with the Glitterati, the popular clique in school. And to stay popular she has to try and keep up with the Joneses by taking money from her mother.

Willa sees such contrast at the school she attends… the rich kids who have never known any different to their trust funds, and the poor kids who ended up at the school because of their scholarships, and struggle juggling school and their jobs. Willa comes up with an idea… what if she took some of the money from the rich kids and provided the poor ones with designer label clothing to even the odds a bit?

Steal From The Rich To Give To The Poor..
Willa is a modern day Robin Hood really. Her idea whilst she honestly means well is still wrong at the very core. Is it wrong that I kinda love her for having the guts to exact some justice in this way though? I think she’s incredibly brave. I really loved the character depth to Willa, I felt like the way the story progressed, I could completely understand and even side with Willa as to her reasons why she did what she did.

Glitterati?
The mean girls, plastics, popular girls.. you know the ones. Oh these girls are so MEAN! Except Cherise, I actually admired that they did have one other girl in that group who wasn’t completely cruel. Cherise is a bit of a pushover though, she would rather stay friends with the mean girls as opposed to cut them off because she’s scared of retaliation herself. Nikki and Kellie are ultimately the ringleaders who post to The Buzz, which is ultimately a website where people ‘anonymously’ slam other VP students.

Aidan
Oh… the bad boy strikes again. I do have a weakness for the bad boy. Aidan sounds completely hot. He drives fast cars, is rich, good looking, flirtatious, and persistent. Doesn’t get much better than that! I actually thought Aidan really helped make this book what it was for me. His personality was fantastic, and his persistance towards Willa was great.

Add them all together and you have a big boiling pot of drama, hot boys and lots of rich kids to steal from.. all Willa has to do is make sure she doesn’t get caught.

I enjoyed this book a whole lot more than I even anticipated, and I am even happier knowing that this is the first book in a series - because I seriously have questions I need answers to! I was happy with the ending in some respects, but in others we’re left at the end of a big old cliff and I need to know what is going to happen!

Definitely a fun read, but it has a fantastic moral underlining to it that is suttle but noted. Worth the read!

Rating: 4 out of 5