Story for the Week
Twenty years ago, Paramount Pictures released Mean Girls, the story of Cady Heron, the new girl in high school who recently moved back to the States after being home schooled in Africa. Immediately embraced by misfits Janis and Damian, Cady finds herself drawn in by the popular clique led by Regina George.
Janis and Damian believe this to be a fortunate turn of events because Cady can spy on the group they call “the Plastics.” In trying to fit in, Cady finds herself more and more drawn into the popular world and has trouble deciding where her allegiance lies. And then there’s the little issue of the crush she develops on Regina’s ex-boyfriend…and we all know that in high school, even exes are off limits among friends.
At the time, stars Lindsay Lohan (Cady), Rachel McAdams (Regina), and Amanda Seyfried (Karen, one of the Plastics) were newer on the movie scene than Lacey Chabert (Gretchen, the other Plastic), but the four made for a great ensemble cast. This look at how mean girls can be to one another in high school made a mark in the genre of high school comedy.
Fast forward to 2018 when the Mean Girls musical opened on Broadway. Reviews were somewhat mixed, but the show received 12 Tony Award nominations before it was forced to close in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, audiences relate to the show.
This year, Paramount released the Mean Girls musical in movie theaters. Lindsay Lohan makes a cameo appearance as a math competition moderator. Tina Fey (who wrote the screenplay) and Tim Meadows reprise their roles as teachers like in the original, but instead of having crushes on one another, they’re actually a couple in the musical version.
The new version likely won’t win any Oscars, but it made for a fun evening with Corinne and her friend Jakub, who immediately equated their friendship to Janis and Damien’s (I can totally see it). I also have a soft spot for movies that are set in Chicago or in the suburbs. And the creators did a great job bringing the film into the present in how teenagers communicate…texting, TikTok videos.
And the mean girls were soooooooo much meaner. Cady went from home-schooled girl next door to petty b*itch in a heartbeat.
What I liked the most though had nothing to do with the script or the characters or the music. The main four girls—played by Angourie Rice (Cady), Reneé Rapp (Regina), Avantika (Karen), and Bebe Wood (Gretchen)—all had way more relatable body types. I am not saying that these women aren’t in fantastic shape because they absolutely are. They are not, however, all stick thin. They have curves, and they look amazing.
I’m liking the body positivity movement. Now if only we could get the “mean” to go away.
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐½
3.5 Stars for Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering
344 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: March 5, 2024
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.
Publisher’s Description
On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It’s her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she’s just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering—with a jolt of fear—that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world.
Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood, no longer the inseparable pair they used to be in their small Hudson Valley hometown. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has recently become a mother, and is building a following as a lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind—including Billie, who is single and childless, and no longer fits into her world. But Billie knows the worst thing Cassie has ever done, and she will do whatever it takes to restore their friendship…
************
Main Characters:
- Billie West – 35-year-old luxury travel consultant, lives and works in New York, has just recently started dating Alex, best friends with Cassie since they were 12 until recently
- Cassie Adler – 35-year-old influencer and owner of a curated clothing boutique branded Cassidy Adler, new mom to Ella, married for a year to the very wealthy Grant Adler
- McKay Adler Morris – Cassie’s current best friend, she and Cassie met in college, Grant’s cousin, married to Tom, also a new mom
- Jane Falkenberg – Billie’s friend and boss, married to Sasha, owns the travel company where Billie works
- Alex Jensen – recently started dating Billie, a New York City police officer, working to make detective
Trigger warning: child sexual assault
Billie West and Cassie Barnwell met when they were 12, and a traumatic event, something they kept secret their entire lives, binds them. But as they got older, Cassie drifted, spending more time with the rich kids at Harvard in search of a rich man to marry. Now adults living in New York, Billie is happily childless and traveling the world as a luxury travel consultant, and Cassie is a new mom, happily married to a wealthy man, and running her own clothing boutique.
The story unfolds in alternating chapters between Billie and Cassie and with flashbacks to their childhood as well as their high school and college years. Their lives have been intertwined for a long time, but we as readers know long before Billie does that she is more invested in Cassie’s life than Cassie is in hers. But when Cassie discovers her newborn missing, Billie is the only person she believes can understand the trauma she’s experiencing.
There were a number of reveals over the course of the book—some unexpected, some predictable, some that I thought I guessed but was wrong about. But the reason for 3.5 instead of 4 or even 5 stars was that many of them took a long time to get to. Billie talked a lot about her ex, Remy, and a bad breakup that has influenced all of her relationships since, but we don’t get to the details of the breakup until three=quarters of the way through the book. By that time, I was kind of tired of waiting for what sounded like it was going to be a big reveal.
***SPOILERS*** SPOILERS***SPOILERS***
On top of that, both Cassie and Billie became so unlikeable. Cassie is completely obsessed with money and clicks and likes (she’s an “influencer,” after all, with 40,000 followers) but especially money. Billie is completely obsessed with Cassie. But once Cassie’s baby goes missing, suddenly all of the influencing doesn’t matter. She realizes how important the baby is and doesn’t care about Instagram or her boutique. Billie is elated by that because Cassie suddenly needs her again.
But when Billie admits to her friend and boss Jane that she is the one who took and returned Cassie’s baby, Jane covers for her! She just continues on with her life, saying that she doesn’t understand Billie’s friendship with Cassie but, of course, she has Billie’s back.
And when Billie is finally forced to come clean to both her boyfriend Alex and Cassie, Alex is angry at first but forgives her because the Barnwells aren’t pressing charges. Cassie tells Alex to tell Billie that she wants nothing to do with Billie (understandably) and that now they’re even. And then Cassie immediately goes back to her normal influencing life and her own obsession with being accepted by McKay, who couldn’t have cared less about Cassie until Cassie married McKay’s cousin.
The ending became so convoluted because there was so much detail packed into the end that could have been scattered throughout the story. And, honestly, the book could probably be shorter without losing anything. Overall, a little above average and could have been better.
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