Review: The Taming of the Tights

The Taming of the Tights (Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #3), by Louise Rennison. The goodreads summary:

Gadzooks! It's another term at Dother Hall for Tallulah and her mates. But can they keep their minds on the arts with all those boys about?... After the thing-that-will-never-be-mentioned last term, Tallulah is keen to put all thoughts of Cain behind her. But that seems like that the last thing he wants. Their performing arts college may have been saved by Honey's mystery benefactor, but for how long is anyone's guess. So will Tallulah finally get to wear those golden slippers of applause or will Dr Lightowler swoop down on her glory days? And with Seth and Flossie forever snogging, Vaisey and Jack loved-up and Phil and Jo fondly biffing each other can Tallulah resist the call of her wild boy? Don your craziest tights and Irish dance your way to some surprising and hilariously unexpected answers...

I love this series. I really do. It’s pretty much become my go-to for when I need something that will make me laugh without requiring any brain power. Tallulah’s just so great. I love how un-angsty she is—she’s genuine and innocent and fairly naïve, and while those things don’t always work for me, they work for me here because Tallulah is straight up hilarious, and I adore her optimism and how she’s not the moody, annoying type of teenager. I cannot stop smiling when I read these books. Especially any scene that involves her knees (I know that sounds weird, but trust me, Tallulah’s knees are the best).

This third book is about the same quality as the second, which is to say not as good as the first book but still pretty great. In this book, Tallulah is sorting out her feelings about Charlie and Cain, while trying to figure out why Dr. Lightowler hates her. Not to mention she’s also still trying to redeem herself after the Sugar Plum Bikey fiasco. For the whole Charlie vs. Cain thing, I know I’m probably supposed to like Charlie the best, but really, I’m all for Cain. I mean, come on—Tallulah calls him the “Dark Black Crow of Heckmondwhite.” How am I supposed to resist that? Especially considering the fact that he opens up for a brief moment in this book, and we get to see a little bit of who he is behind that cocky bad-boy exterior.

Tallulah’s group of friends remains as awesome as ever, with Ruby, as usual, being my favorite of the bunch. How a 11-year-old can be so cool, I don’t know. But when I grow up, I want to have as much spunk and “Northern Grit” as Ruby.

Overall, a lot of fun. A good way to amuse yourself for a couple of hours when you’ve got nothing else going on.

Rating: 4 / 5