I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Beatrice Maria Estrella Giovannini has life all figured out. She's starting senior year at the top of her class, she’s a shoo-in for a scholarship to M.I.T., and she’s got a new boyfriend she’s crazy about. The only problem: All through high school Bea and her best friends Spencer and Gabe have been the targets of horrific bullying.

So Bea uses her math skills to come up with The Formula, a 100% mathematically guaranteed path to social happiness in high school. Now Gabe is on his way to becoming Student Body President, and Spencer is finally getting his art noticed. But when her boyfriend Jesse dumps her for Toile, the quirky new girl at school, Bea realizes it's time to use The Formula for herself. She'll be reinvented as the eccentric and lovable Trixie—a quintessential manic pixie dream girl—in order to win Jesse back and beat new-girl Toile at her own game.

Unfortunately, being a manic pixie dream girl isn't all it's cracked up to be, and “Trixie” is causing unexpected consequences for her friends. As The Formula begins to break down, can Bea find a way to reclaim her true identity and fix everything she's messed up? Or will the casualties of her manic pixie experiment go far deeper than she could possibly imagine?

Short and Sweet

After dealing with the constant bullying through their high school years Beatrice and her friends Spencer and Gabe, are ready for a change during their senior year. Beatrice comes up with a formula that involves reinventing herself and her friends to become more popular and join the “It” crowd. But when a new girl takes Beatrice’s boyfriend away from her Bea thinks it’s time to undergo one more change, one that involves her becoming a manic pixie dream girl. While Bea goes through her transformation she’s learning that maybe these changes weren’t necessary.

My Thoughts

~ Bea and her friends were outcast and I liked seeing them make more friends, and Bea’s formulas were interesting.

~ While I was reading I noticed that Bea reminded me of Kevin from Mean Girls they both love math, I swear she’s a girl version of him.

~ I’m also glad that Bea learned that she didn’t have to chase after a boy who wasn’t worth it.

~ We see Bea grow a lot during this book she goes from changing herself to realizing that just being herself is enough.

~ It also taught me what a manic pixie dream girl is, thanks for that!

~ There’s a lot of diversity in this book which was nice, and we also get to see Bea’s life at home which is split between her mom and dad.

~ Bea, has some amazing friends, but I felt like sometimes instead of helping she made things worse for them.

Overall

I loved this book. I love all of Gretchen McNeil’s books! It was funny and adorable. The characters were enjoyable except for Jesse (he wasn’t worth it). Bea learns that she can be herself and that’s what people really like her for, she also finds a little romance along the way during her journey. Definitely read it if you want something light, funny, and romantic.