Legally Blonde

Anyone who knows me will be completely unsurprised at my reading choice this time around: Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown. Yes, the book on which the movie was based (which in its turn spawned a musical adaptation which I love). However, anyone who's seen the Reese Witherspoon film or the new musical will be surprised at how different the book is from its adaptations. It's not that anything is changed on a huge scale, but everything has been altered in little ways, so it's sort of a Twilight Zone feel. You know the story, but you sort of don't.

Well, for those of you who aren't women, I should explain the plot. Sorority girl Elle Woods is in her senior year of college and is totally expecting her boyfriend Warner Huntington III to propose. However, Warner is headed to Stanford for law school, and he needs a girlfriend who's more serious than Elle. But while Elle Woods might appear to be a ditzy blond Delta Gamma, she's got innate smarts and the passion to get what she wants. Wanting Warner back, she aces the LSATs and gets into Stanford herself. Of course, it takes more than showing up at Stanford Law to win Warner back. In over her head, Elle has to deal with a completely new lifestyle (shockingly enough, being Homecoming Queen does not win Elle instant popularity) and figure out what she really wants. However, with help from new friends and an internship with a prestigious law firm, Elle gets the opportunity to shine.

Anyway, one of the things I like the most about the Legally Blonde story is that behind its silly premise, there's actually a lesson to be learned. Don't judge people on appearances. You can be more than what everyone tells you you can be. Especially in the musical version, the story seems like an inversion of the Beautiful All Along trope; Elle's always smart (4.0 average, kickin' LSAT score), but it takes everyone a while to realize that because all they see is her blonde hair and matching outlook on life.

Anyway, Legally Blonde is a fun, breezy read. Short chapters, fast pace, nothing that demands intense concentration. It's just an amusing books that's put together well. If you're looking for a light, fun girl power book, this is it.

(Also, I need a better tagging system. I tried to go through and systematically tag everything, but it's tricky to know how to classify things.)