Smart Vs Pretty

by Valerie Frankel

Sibling rivalry, sex and caffeine - a lively novel that begs to be read in your local coffee-shop...Francesca Greenfield, a smart, urban professional is suddenly tossed out of her so-so career and into the business of selling coffee alongside her pretty, perky sister, Amanda. But selling coffee is only the start of their problems. The sisters have been thrown together in a last-ditch attempt to rescue the family business before it goes permanently down the drain and, as for the coffeehouse itself, well there's rarely a dull moment. Consider the piranha-minded next-door franchise and the brainstorms of one nearly psychotic marketing manager for starters. And who can forget about love? Or at least sex. Thanks to a promotional contest, it's not long before Amanda is looking to explore the aura of a butch mountain climber while Francesca considers shedding more than her inhibitions with a former model. The stakes are rising and it's time to find out whether smart or pretty knows best, whether the distinction really suits either one of them, and whether the Greenfield sisters are actually capable of living happily ever after.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Read For College, Comedy

Paperback

First published February 8, 2000

About the author

She's written twenty books (e.g., The Accidental Virgin and The Girlfriend Curse), and contributed to dozens of publications including the New York Times, Self, Allure, Glamour, Parenting and Good Housekeeping. Her memoir, Thin Is the New Happy, about overcoming bad body image after 30 years of dieting and self-loathing, was recently described as "Rueful, zestful and surprisingly funny," by the New York Times.

Reviews

[Sherri Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been languishing on my TBR pile for quite a while and is written by a new to me author. I enjoyed the premise of this story taking place in a coffeehouse. What the book description failed to convey to me was that when the story begins, Francesca aka Frank and Amanda are already running the coffeehouse and have been a while. Unfortunately, the business is failing fast and they are facing foreclosure and becoming unemployed as well as homeless.

Frank and Amanda are complete opposites. Frank is pessimistic and cynical. She’s been burned by love and is carrying huge quantities of guilt over the death of their parents. As the older sister, she feels she has to shoulder the responsibility of everything and she resents the way Amanda seems to stroll through life without a worry or care in the world.

Amanda is more trusting and accepting of strangers. She practices I Ching divination, tossing pennies on the table to advise her on matters of importance. Amanda doesn’t appear to be burdened with the stress that plagues her sister. She appears friendlier and happier, though it appears, at times, she is unable to separate business from pleasure.

As complex as they both are, I felt they complemented each other perfectly and I enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve and strengthen. This story had a lot of interesting supporting characters. Clarissa, the grad student who takes Frank and Amanda under her wing to help them save the business proved me right as someone who isn’t all they claim to be. Matt, the anti-social, anti-establishment outspoken employee surprised me. He comes across as a slacker but turns out to be that and so much more.

This story is about so much more than sisters and sibling rivalry. There’s romance, murder, mysterious coffee beans, unpaid debts, revenge, dishonesty and slander. It seems like a lot to juggle and understand, but the story worked. Some of the dialogue is choppy, but was easy to overlook once I got focused on the story and wanting to know what would happen next. There are better chick-lit books out there, but this one turned out to be a surprise for me. I recommend it and will be anticipating reading more from this author.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not good. I read it as a part of my goal to read the lowest rated books on my shelf and I definitely see why. This book is about sisters Amanda and Frank. They inherited their family's coffee shop but it is quickly dying. It doesn't help that a big coffee chain has gone in next door and stolen almost all of the remaining business. One day a woman named Clarissa comes into the coffee shop and offers to revamp their business. She is in school and needs to do a marketing project so this sounds like the perfect situation. The first thing they do is rebrand and create a Mr Coffee campaign but then Mr Coffee is murdered and the rest of this book is almost like a cozy mystery. They're trying to figure out what happened to him but they also both have romances so again this is one of those clustered genres that I don't really love. This book got so outrageous and silly I stopped caring about halfway through. The plot moved slowly and the characters didn't grow much so by the end I was really annoyed that I wasted the time.

[Rachel Schaaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book surprised me for a romcom. Overall enjoyed it but felt rushed in the last pages.

[Natalie Shawver · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started out like a book I'd enjoy. A tale of two sisters who were trying to save their family coffeeshop. One was the brains of the business; the other, the face of it. Both single, looking to mingle. Enter marketing intern who needs to a senior project and wants to help said sisters save their shop. Sounds promising for a chic lit book, right?

Sigh.

If only I knew that Francesca and Amanda's efforts would turn into a wild goose chase for the murderer of one of their employees I wouldn't have ever picked Smart vs. Pretty up in the first place. I thought about abandoning ship more times than I care to admit, but I'm too type-A to not finish something I start.

The saving grace of this over-the-top, ridiculous book was learning a bit more about coffee—how it's made, popular brews, etc. But in the end, I couldn't recommend this if you paid me. It was just too goofy. Too many random characters that entered and exited, too many plot holes, too many horrible dates that the sisters went on. It was like the girls from Sex and the City meets Gilmore Girls meets a cheesy episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Not my cup of tea (since I don't drink coffee).

[Sheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was surprised how bad this book was. I kept reading it because I kept thinking, "It has to get better, right?" The thought that maybe it would have some predictable plot points was the only thing I thought would save it. But it didn't-they weren't predictable and, in fact, the unpredictable plot points only made me scratch my head and resent reading the whole damn book.

The story arc was made even worse by the two main characters, sisters, who I can't even bother to name. They are opposites, but by the end, other than the author pointing out what one had learned from the other, I don't think they evolved enough for me to care about them. I was actually upset by the time I got to the end of this book. I rather give the one star to me than to the book. I deserve that star just for reading the stupid thing all the way through.

[Donna Halloran · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took too long to finish. I felt like I was enjoying it as I went but I would put it down and not care if I picked it up again sometimes for a week or two and then it must made it hard to almost restart. Overall, I liked it, I just think when it takes you THAT long, it is because it hasn't really captured you. The characters were simply less developed and more predictable than I would have liked - there was so little depth to them initially, they certainly grew as the story progressed which was actually nice but even that aspect of them was stated to the reader instead of the reader knowing from having experienced it that the characters had grown

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. Got about 100 pages in and wondered to myself why I was continuing on so I decided not too. There was just too much ridiculousness with this book. Someone walks in to a sister's failing coffee shop and offers to help them increase business for free. Then they get interior design, for free. And a whole bunch of other things, for free. The marketing campaign is to bring in good looking single men and the one they choose as "Mr. Coffee" dies the day after he is chosen. Where was this book going with all this? I'm not sticking around to find out.

[Marah Sepia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled to stay awake while reading this book. Everything about it was just wrong. The title is also very misleading. I picked this up to read something light after so many heavy reads but this was just annoying to get through. It was very convoluted and unrealistic. Mone of the characters were written in a way that you can grown to like them and overall it was a waste of time. I give it 1.5 stars.

[Luanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was cute. A little romance, a little mystery. The main characters (2 sisters) were well developed, if not overly neurotic. Supporting characters had less back story than I’d have liked, and some of the writing was, well, let’s just say, questionable word choices. That being said, if you’re looking for a feel good, happily ever after, who done it, this might be the book for you.

[Skittles Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more memorable books I read as a teenager. I don’t know why- I just loved this. I remember going to school bringing a hard paperback copy of this book and sneaking a page or two in between classes. That was how much I liked this. Thank you for giving me that experience, Ms. Valerie Frankel ❤️

[Janet Hamm · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun and quick read, with the bonus of learning a little about coffee. Similar to *The Smart One and the Pretty One*, but funny.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️s

[Aulaire Schmitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine, but it wasn't what I was expecting. The summary implies it's a comedic romp with romantic themes, but it's actually a light murder mystery.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very witty and quirky. I enjoyed the premise, plot, and characters' emotional arcs, with an interesting mystery to boot.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a dumb book and I hated reading it.

[appleggum · Rating 3 out of 5]

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[Keris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two sisters - one labelled the smart one (Frank) and the other pretty (Amanda) - are left running a Brooklyn coffee bar after the sad demise of their parents.

Unfortunately, a chain coffee house has opened next door and the cafe's finances are in dire straits. Enter Clarissa, a business studies student who offers to

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[Live the · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book because I was interested in one of Frankel's other books and I wanted to check her out. I thought this book was pretty pointless. It was like an unfunny early Janet Evanovich novel. The title didn't really make sense since the whole smart vs. pretty thing was rarely touched on and I didn't connect with any of the characters. I didn't really care what happened to them, and that is rare for me. I am very skeptical about trying the other book now.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this book for so long. I was mildly disappointed while reading it. The book was nothing like I thought it was going to be. I was hoping for more of a relationship between the two sisters. In my opinion the book doesn't really focus on their relationship, but focuses more on the two sisters co-existing in the book.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was by far the best of the 3 Valerie Frankel's I read. Apparently she used to write in magazines and reading her stories you can tell. She's a little choppy - trying a little hard to be ironic and punny. While I'm sure that this writing style is perfect for short stories or articles in magazines, it grows tedious in full length books.

[Stephanie Meyers Helms · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this one. It drew my personal attention as a smart girl. I did like the sisters' characters, but the plot was fairly predictable and I couldn't really bring myself to invest in the storyline. There were a few points at which I laughed out loud. There were some well-written and interesting passages - just not enough of them to make a very interesting book.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible, but I kept on reading, hoping it would get better. This book disguises itself as a light-hearted book about sisters when in reality it's a horrible attempt at a suspenseful/mystery/crime novel. The writing was also terrible and choppy and I rolled my eyes more times than I can remember.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one that I read with my sister. A definate must read for anyone with a sister. It is a very creative and hilarious book. Don't take anything at face value. There is usually more than meets the eye :)

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was definitely one that I would put into the beach book category. The writing was engaging enough, but the plot was uber predictable. I liked both main characters, and loved the setting (a coffeehouse), but other than that, it was just meh.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

All right, I tried. I really tried. I just could not like this book. I didn't even finish it. I enjoyed This Is The New Happy by Frankel, but this book was, to me, poorly written and not compelling at all. Not for me.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this one in my post-Tommy period, but it was even too weightless for me. The whole Smart vs. Pretty idea was lost somewhere in transit (which is probably a good thing), and the story had some twists that seemed fairly tangential. I enjoyed other books by this author more.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read this book, and while I remember enjoying it, there isn't anything that stands out overmuch a few months on.
I liked it and would recommend it as easy reading for sure.

[Trina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I groaned, eye rolled, and shook my head with disbelief. This book was frivolous and mildly insulting to common sense. If your looking for a palate cleanser you could use this book ... though there are better and immensely entertaining light fare on the market.. pick those!

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book and it's plot pretty simplistic. It wants to be many things, romance, mystery, comedy, relationship book but never really goes to any of those places. If you are looking for something mindless that requires very little concentration...this may be the novel for you.

[Jennie Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find this book kind of strange it's like Lifetime, the producers of Friends and HBO got together to do weird stuff. The first 50 pages are a snooze fest! The action starts when Chick dies and it ends like a sitcom. It's pretty good though, that chunk in the middle it's pretty good.