Book Review: Material Girls

Book: Material Girls by Elaine Dimopulos

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group: HMH Books for Young Readers

Description:

In Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde’s world, teens are the gatekeepers of culture. A top fashion label employs sixteen-year-old Marla to dictate hot new clothing trends, while Ivy, a teen pop star, popularizes the garments that Marla approves. Both girls are pawns in a calculated but seductive system of corporate control, and both begin to question their world’s aggressive levels of consumption. Will their new “eco-chic” trend subversively resist and overturn the industry that controls every part of their lives?




Rating: 2 stars

Review:

I'm not quite sure what to think of this slightly futuristic book but I do like the cover. The story started out good but then the middle sort of tanked with trying to do too much and then the ending felt rushed, incomplete and unresolved.

Material Girls focused on so many different things and messages that it started to lose focus. It centered around a weird sexist society where once women get married and have children they no longer work, consumerism, the culture's obsession with celebrities, poor and unfair working conditions, child labor laws, environmentalism, drug use and so much more. This is a world where the young are the trendsetters and makers and also where corporations rule the world mass producing the latest trends. People are selected for their careers at the young age of 13 and if they are not chosen they flitter through life until something inspires them. However, it can't be anything in the creative field those jobs are only for the chosen ones but they can be writers, doctors, teachers, etc..

There were parts that were interesting and I could see what the author was trying to do but it just didn't work out well. The story is told from two alternating points of view, pop singer Ivy Wilde and fashionista Marla Klein. Both are 16 years old and are at the top of their careers. Ivy's music is at the top of the charts and with every one waiting to see what wild and crazy thing she will do next and not to mention what she will be wearing next. Meanwhile, Marla is a Superior Court judge for fashion house Torro-LeBlanc and she along with her fellow judges vote for or against designs they feel will be the latest trend.

When Ivy began to tire of the corporate machine controlling her life she starts to wonder if this is the life she wants. Marla's life took a new turn when she was demoted from her high status judge position for going against the grain of voting for a trend the others didn't agree with. She had previously been warned about doing that but she couldn't help fighting for a design she thought was too good to pass on. However, that was her finale strike. Marla was demoted back down to being a drafter (they're the people who actually sketch out the designs for the trends) a position she had not held in years. From there she got a reality check on how many in lower positions at the company were treated.

Marla and several of the drafters (Felix, Vivienne and Dido) came up with a plan to embarrass the Torro-LeBlanc fashion judges at the company's fashion show but the plan backfired with Ivy getting caught in the middle of it. Although, Marla initially got in trouble this lead to the two girls meeting and Marla getting a chance to create a new outfit for Ivy. This meeting also brought Ivy face to face with her old love interest Felix who no longer seemed interested in the corporate controled Ivy.

The new look Marla created for Ivy became a hit and sparked a growing lifestyle change for people to be more eco conscience. The look also gave Ivy a chance to change her bad girl image and start to make her own decisions. Spurred on by Vivienne's desire to change the system Marla and many of the other Torro-LeBlanc employees decided it was the perfect opportunity to go on strike. They held a huge demonstration outside the fashion company telling the media and the general public why they were protesting.

Ivy was enjoying her new found freedom but could it possibly last or does she really have no choice if she want to stay successful? Can the strike bring about real changes and give everyone an opportunity to live the life they want or will the status quo continue?

I can understand the concept of this story because the premise seemed different which had me interested in wanting to read it. However, the execution failed. The story tried to do too much and the characters voices got lost. As for the characters, Marla was okay and she had a little bit of character development while Ivy started out interesting but by the end her character development seemed to lose steam and the author didn't seem to know what to do with her.

I didn't find the romance in the story interesting because Felix certainly wasn't a good catch. He was a jerk quite a few times to Marla before he started to finally be nice to her. But to me he only seemed as if he was being nice as a way to get her to join the rebellion. I certainly didn't buy into the relationship between him and Marla that was too forced and they lacked chemistry. I get it he's frustrated that he hasn't been able to achieve his dreams with the way the system is set up but why take it out on Marla. He was also a jerk to Ivy and called her a slut because of the way she was being instructed by her handlers to "act" while she's doing publicity. I can't understand how the author thought this guy was so amazing that both girls would like him. I also couldn't stand the good girl (Marla) vs. bad girl (Ivy) aspects of this book although Ivy's "sexy" image was an act that she so wanted to change.

The ending was very disappointing and not just with the rebellion but mostly in regards to Ivy. She went through so much change in this story just to have her end up even worse than when she started.

My last point about this book is I commend the author for trying something different. I also like how the story started and I was actually rooting for both Marla and Ivy to fight for the changes but unfortunately the story fizzled out.