The friendship drama of Mean Girls meets the chaotic gay energy of Bottoms in Maggie Horne's wickedly funny contemporary young adult novel Freddie and Stella Got Hot.
Freddie, Stella, and Levi "were a solid unit... obsessed with each other" while attending their bougie private middle school. But when they got to Coral Cove, an even "bougier private" all-girls high school, Levi left Freddie and Stella behind. As homecoming queen and the school's "lesbian teen Jesus," Levi is on track to win the prestigious Beaumont-Gardiner Award, which offers the recipient "a full-ride scholarship to the school of their choice." Freddie and Stella know that if Levi doesn't win the BG, "it would crush her." But Stella wants revenge and convinces Freddie to join her in trying to get the BG themselves. There's only one problem: "the girls who win the BG are... invariably, inevitably, consistently hot." Freddie and Stella hatch a plan to get hot ("hot girls work out," "hot girls do brunch," and "hot girls help their community"). As the girls work toward their goal, Stella becomes increasingly power-hungry, and Freddie realizes she might need Levi to stop this newly born "supervillain mastermind."
Author Horne (Don't Let It Break Your Heart) revels in the messiness of the novel's scheming, sharp-tongued protagonists: "California girls with new-money parents" who are "bored and unsupervised," but "sad underneath it all." Freddie's self-conscious and sarcastic narration of her evolution from Stella's "quirky sidekick" to a young woman pursuing her own desires--including Levi--hits all the satisfying notes of a coming-of-age comedy. Fans of Casey McQuiston and Dalhia Adler should enjoy this banter-filled romp. --Alanna Felton, freelance reviewer