I really thought this would be a good fit for me, but I was incorrect. I can see why other’s would enjoy it as it is very well written, but it just wasn’t my kind of story.

Just ok. The MC was a little much sometimes and it was a pretty predictable story. That said, it was fine. The story moved along, the characters were good, and I liked the family dynamics.

Jolie is a character I can really relate to. While I’m not typically a paranoid person, there was something about Jolie’s fears that felt so real and certain. Loved the book and all of the characters.

I am kind of unsure how to feel about this one. It wasn't bad, but it also didn't blow me away. I think I set up expectations and then that put me in a slight state of confusion for the first little bit. I, for whatever reason, kept thinking this was a middle grade novel. It was jarring to learn that the MC was 17 years old. Definitely not a middle schooler. However, what was a little more jarring is that the MC, Jolie, kind of does read that young at times...kind of a lot. She's definitely not the most likeable of characters. She's very self-absorbed. What I did like about this book despite not really liking Jolie for most of the book was Derek and Evelyn (Jolie's best friends) and Jolie's family. I am loving the YA families that are being portrayed nowadays. Also the writing style was great. It was so easy to read and enjoy. If it didn't have good writing, I probably would not have finished this book. Jolie does redeem herself from all her character flaws that I don't particularly care for, so there is also that going for it :)

Jolie's dilemma was a unique one to me. I found it interesting learning about under bites and the pain that is involved with living with this condition. The author drew on her own experiences with this and it shows in Jolie's voice. I also enjoyed the diversity in the story. It was nice to see an interracial couple be at the heart of this story. I also loved how that wasn't the main focus of their relationship. I enjoyed the dynamics of Jolie's relationship with family and friends. Her family was entertaining and cool. And Jolie herself was a pretty relatable character. I wanted to strangle her for not seeing past her physical issues but I understood where she was coming from. All in all a good teen read.

Rating is closer to 3.5 stars than 4. Definitely higher than 3, however. Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It was a cute fluffy read. I enjoyed the characters and I especially enjoyed that the focus of this book was more on family and self-worth than romance, though of course there was the romantic subplot. I especially liked Jolie's relationship with her sister and mother. I thought the relationship between Jolie and her friend Evelyn could've been fleshed out a little more, and there were some cliches throughout the book that brought it down for me a little- it was certainly not bad, though, and I'm glad I read it.

Sixteen year old Jolie Peterson is suffering from mandibular prognathism, also known as severe underbite. She has to go a surgery to fix her face, that will get her rid of headaches and which makes that she can finally chew normally. And most of all, make her look more normal. But there is a''but'' to this surgery. There is a small change that the surgery goes wrong and she might die.

Together with her two best friends since kindergarten Evelyn and Derek they make up a bucket list, just in case something goes wrong on the surgery table: A Things Jolie Needs To Do Before She Bites It (Which Is Super Unlikely But Still, It Could Happen) list. Things like: eat every appetizer on the Applebee’s menu and kiss her crush, Noah Reed.But most of all: audition for the high school musical, even though her face doesn't look normal yet. And guess what? Not the most popular girl in school is picked to play the lead, but Jolie! Then there is also something else going in her home life; her sister Abbie is pregnant, and because her boyfriend has left her, Jolie is the one to join Abbie at the childbirth classes Abbie is attending, which leads to funny situations. Will Jolie's surgery succeed?

Jolie is totally someone that you might have known in high school. It was really cute that she was going to the local Applebee's with her two best friends in many scenes, I can totally imagine the three of them sitting there with their appetizers.Evelyn is struggling in school and dealing with the reality that she may not get into college to pursue her fashion design dream, while Derek is still reeling from his father’s death four years prior. All of the characters have their own issues beside Jolie, even the popular girls who Jolie things are perfect have their flaws, she finds out during the book. And I loved the everything about the musical she was starring in. She finds it scary at the beginning but slowly on, even with all her facial issues, she starts to get good at it, which was very entertaining to read.

Overall, a very good and funny book with some laugh out loud moments, but also some serious moments. I recommend it!

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

I didn’t know what to expect from Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It. I was a little scared, to be honest, that it would have negative beauty stereotypes and bad reputation. But that is not what it had at all.
Jolie has an underbite that she’s self-conscious about. She thinks she needs to be ‘fixed’ with surgery so that she looks normal. It’s an internalized struggle – no matter how many people tell her she’s beautiful, she can’t believe it. The thing is: I got it. I felt Jolie’s pain and fear. She’s real. She’s raw. And she’s a teenage girl with a facial difference that makes her want to disappear, not shine.
Over the course of the book, Jolie has to learn about accepting herself. I loved that she realized that the surgery wasn’t about fixing her face and making her pretty. I loved that she realized she was already pretty, and would still be pretty post-surgery.
Aside from Jolie, I loved the representation. I’m always on the lookout for positive body rep, especially with plus-size characters. Jolie’s friend Evelyn is plus-sized and she loves her body, loves fashion, and is all around an awesome character. Healthy, body-positive characters are important and this book is full of them!
The romance is swoony, the relationships between friends and sisters are heartbreaking and real, and I cried so much my head hurts. Overall, this book is a win, and I’m so glad I read it.

With an underbite so bad it needs correction from birth, Jolie truly believes that she is ugly, and can't wait for the day she'll get surgery and be perfect. But as that day comes closer, Jolie realizes that she's never actually lived her life, so the possibility of dying in surgery has her rethinking her senior year. Jolie thinks she's preparing for the worst, but what she's really doing is finding out all the best about herself and her friends.

BOOK REPORT for Things Jolie Needs To Do Before She Bites It by Kerry Winfrey

Cover Story: Montell Jordan
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Straight Up
Bonus Factors: Deep Dive, Theatre Kids
Relationship Status: Kiss Me

Cover Story: Montell Jordan

Heck to the yes, y'all. I know it's only July, but I feel pretty strongly that this might be my favorite book cover of the year. It's SO COOL and also gets its point across using simple design. No Big Faces of Bad Stock Photography needed.

The Deal:

Her entire life, Jolie has dealt with having mandibular prognathism - the medical term for underbite. It means chewing can be difficult, she's prone to headaches, and, probably most importantly to Jolie, it means she is not and never has been pretty. But that's all about to change, because after the end of junior year, Jolie is undergoing surgery to fix her underbite for good and she'll finally have a "normal" face.

Unfortch, her mother and pregnant older sister love nothing more than sitting at home watching worst-case-scenario TV shows - you know, the true crime/hospital docu-series about doctors who leave towels inside their patients after surgery and the like. Jolie, suddenly afraid of the worst happening under the knife, enlists her best friends Evelyn and Derek to help her create a bucket list of things she needs to accomplish in case she doesn't make it out of surgery alive. Things like ride in a convertible and kiss her crush, Noah Reed. But as Jolie starts to think long and hard about what she wants to do before she dies, she begins to realize her priorities aren't quite what she thought they were.

BFF Charm: Big Sister

Despite being a totally cool, fun chick, Jolie needs some major confidence boosting. She has this idea in her head that she's hideous because of her mandibular prognathism, and that she should do everything she can to blend in. She wears stylish but neutral clothing and has a good haircut, and she keeps mostly to herself and only hangs out with her two best friends. But it is CRYSTAL CLEAR to everyone around her that Jolie is not nearly as hideous as she thinks - and even if she were, she still so fun and cool that it wouldn't matter. I wanted to sit her down and give her a big sister pep talk multiple times. Luckily, she already has a big sister to do it for me.

Swoonworthy Scale: 6

One of the biggest items on Jolie's checklist is to kiss her crush, Noah Reed, and when Jolie gets cast in the school musical with Noah, she gets the opportunity to grow a little closer to him. It's cute and sweet, and Noah is totally deserving of being Jolie's crush, but lately, Jolie's been noticing her lifelong best friend Derek. Has he gotten sort of....hot all of a sudden? And is she possibly....attracted to him? And more importantly, is Derek....maybe....attracted to Jolie? And what does it mean for their friendship?

The unfolding of these questions, and the way the answers come rolling in one by one, is a wonderful sort of slow-burn swoon that will have you both hoping that Derek and Jolie get together and also scared of what might happen if they do.

Talky Talk: Straight Up

Kerry Winfrey always delivers books that are extremely readable, characters that are extremely relatable, and stories with just the right amount of heart and humor. Things Jolie Needs To Do Before She Bites it is no exception. Winfrey used to write about YA for Hello Giggles so she knows her audience, and writes contemporary stand-alone stories that are consistently enjoyable.

Bonus Factor: Deep Dive

Jolie's best friend Derek hosts a podcast called Deep Dive, in which he chooses a random, sometimes obscure topic and does all the research he can on it. The whole time I was reading about it, I kept thinking that was a podcast I wanted to listen to IRL.

Bonus Factor: Theatre Kids

I'm always here for a story about a girl trying out for the school play, because I love the way the build-up to opening night adds a bit of nervous tension and forward momentum to a story. Also, theatre kids are brilliant weirdos and my mom was a high school theatre teacher, so I grew up in the wings.

Relationship Status: Kiss Me

I had such a fun time with you book. Things might not have been hot'n'heavy between us, but you were a super fun summer fling nonetheless. And now that you've had your corrective surgery, pucker up baby!

FTC Full Disclosure: I did not receive money or Girl Scout cookies of any kind (not even the lame cranberry ones) for writing this review. Things Jolie Needs To Do Before She Bites It is available now.

This is a pretty touching book! I mean, take a look at these quotes:

"It's like I'm always looking at myself from the outside, always imagining how other people see me, always looking at myself through the lens of judgement."

"After a lifetime spent making sure no one sees or hears me, it's weird to realize that maybe I do actually deserve to be heard after all."

How can we not love a character like this- someone who shares what I'm sure a lot of us have felt before, whether it is from an underbite or something else! Obviously, I love the message that was being developed in this book. Struggling with personal image and self-esteem is relatable, and I love that Jolie dealt with this issue both internally and with the help of friends and family.

I gave it 4 stars though because I felt that the plot moved a bit slowly and some of the thought points were repeated too much, making the tone a bit childish at times. Despite this, I loved the message, the character development, and the relationships between the characters. The book was realistic, funny, cute, and had the perfect amount of drama and romance.

I absolutely loved this one. Kerry Winfrey has done it again. Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It is a refreshing, feminist take on high school. It felt like Jolie was my friend and I was watching her life unfold, rooting for her the whole time. I wanted her to get what she wanted but overall I wanted her to love herself.

Loving yourself, with or without a severe underbite, isn't an easy thing to do. We get to tag along with Jolie on her journey to start loving herself just a little bit and accepting who she really is. From boy trouble, to finding the spotlight for the first time, Jolie's story is funny and heartwarming. The secondary characters held their own and each one brought a unique twist to the story. From her loud, fat feminist best friend who isn't afraid to chase after her dreams (even if that dream is a girl she never knew she was attracted to), to her black best friend who Jolie may or may not be in love with. There's nuances of race dealt with on page but also feminism, body positivity, teen pregnancy and queer representation.

The family dynamic is this book added another layer or realness to the story but also brought a few valuable lessons into the mix. I loved that we saw a teen with a loving, supporting family. They were far from perfect but they were much better example of parents to let teens see. Even if there parents don't behave this way, it gives them a look at roll models they should strive to find in their lives or strive to be one day if they have kids of their own.

Her friends and family also supported Jolie and the overall message was that there was nothing wrong with her. She didn't need fixed. I loved that message because Jolie wasn't lesser of a person because of her underbite. Her surgery wasn't to fix her but rather to make her life easier now, and down the road. I think this rhetoric is what people need to here and I love that teens get to see a whole cast of people supporting Jolie.

Jolie had been dealing with her mandibular prognathism, aka underbite, her whole life. There were braces, pallet expanders, and more braces. There were also headaches, jaw aches, a lisp, and foods she could never eat. Finally, Jolie was old enough for corrective surgery, but after one too many "true story" TV shows, she was convinced something could go wrong. Thus, the list was born.

• Pro: Jolie captured my heart. She was that girl, who didn't see what other people saw when she looked in the mirror. She fixed her make-up to draw attention from her jaw, she arrange her hair to hide her jaw, she wore bland and plain clothing to keep herself in the background. It all sort of broke my heart, because she was such a smart, wonderful, and talented young women, and I was glad she learned to see herself a little differently by the end of this book.

• Pro: I love that Winfrey challenged the beauty standard. She also included a secondary storyline, which served to show us how even the "beautiful" ones are not without problems in their lives.

• Pro: The emotions Jolie experienced regarding her mandibular prognathism felt so real, and I am sure it is because Winfrey also had an underbite in her youth.

• Pro: The list was precious, and just writing the list pushed Jolie out of her box. She found out there was a lot more to her than her underbite, and she was able to shine even before they "fixed" her face.

• Pro: There is a lot of family focus, and Jolie's sister was dealing with a pretty big life change. Seeing her family banding together to support her was very touching.

• Pro: Evelyn and Derek were fantastic friends. Jolie was lucky to have so many positive people in her life, who genuinely cared for her.

• Pro: Speaking of Derek, I totally loved him. He was a pretty interesting guy with his podcasts and academic team clout. It was very touching watching him work through his grief, as well as his feelings for Jolie.

• Pro: The characters in the book had really fun quirks. Everyone should have a "terrible movie night", and Jolie's family's obsession with true-crime stories was very amusing.

• Pro: This book was funny, but packed with feels. It was sits on the lighter side, but has plenty of substance.

Overall: Another reminder, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I loved being there as Jolie learned to love and appreciate herself. You will laugh with her, and maybe share her heartache, but you will definitely cheer for Jolie to see her inner beauty.

Strength, courage, growth and self acceptance are themes that run through this novel. Well written and full of heart, I feel like the author does a great job dealing with a topic that I haven't really read before. enjoyable book and memorable characters

I received a free copy from netgalley an honest review. Thanks Jolie needs to do before she bites it is it typical ya novel about a girl who wants to complete her bucket list however the likelihood of Jolie dying is it be very minimal because she is having surgery to correct her jaw. The actual risk of dying makes us more of a light-hearted read than this typical story about cancer. And of course Jolie breaks out of her shell a she completes this list and learns valuable life lessons like every ya novel. I like this book for the most part however it did get tedious how frequently Jolie complain about how she looked. While I completely understand having that part of your body that you dislike and that's all you can focus on it got really irritating towards the end of the book. Overall this is a quick fun read.

4/5 stars for this book! Jolie has an underbite and sees herself as ugly and not "normal". There is a surgery that she is going to have done that will fix the underbite so that she doesn't have more complications in the future. Because she is having this surgery she makes a list of things she wants to accomplish before and that's where we get taken into the adventure that Jolie goes through. She finds out important lessons about herself and what self love should actually be.

I didn't intend to read this today. In fact, I don't really know when I intended to read this, but for some unknown reason I just started. Maybe I was only going to read a few pages and then stop or maybe a chapter or two. But once I started, I couldn't stop. Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It is just so enjoyable.

Jolie has an underbite, but she's getting it surgically fixed soon. Until then, all she has to do is sit back and wait until she can finally become beautiful and confident. But when an ugly thought worms her way into her head, that she could, possibly but probably not, die on the operating table Jolie panics. Refusing to possibility die without experiencing anything she and her two best friends, Derek and Evelyn, construct a list of things for her to do before her surgery. And at the top of the list is kiss hunky Noah Reed. But the path to beauty is paved with insecurity and Jolie is forced to confront some harsh truths about not only her relationship with her face, but with her whole constructed notion of beauty.

I think what makes this story most enjoyable is that it's not necessarily "serious." There's a lightness to the story that creates an easy reading experience. Even though Jolie fears dying under the knife, we the audience know that that possibility is so far removed for possibility it's easy to submerge yourself in the story. And that's a good thing. Winfrey chose, smartly, to not make the possibility of dying a source of tension in the book, instead focusing on Jolie as a character and her relationship with those around her and to herself.

There are two overarching plotlines in this story. The first is the obvious one, Jolie's desire for a kiss. Specifically with hottie Noah Reed. To get such a kiss she auditions for a background role in the school musical only to be cast as the star due to a wonderful audition. This is important because it leads into the other plotline, Jolie and her self-confidence. I like the way Winfrey depicted Jolie. She's self-conscious, but not overly so. The audition scene is a particular favorite of mine because ti shows Jolie as herself, unburdened by the weight she puts on herself due to her underbite. Jolie isn't ruled by her insecurities, she has them and that's why I enjoyed this book so much. It shows that insecurity isn't about being self-conscious every second of everyday, that there are times where you won't think of them at all. It also shows that overcoming them isn't easy and that you have to put in the work to change. You have to be driven and determined to face them and that there isn't one singular way to make them all go away. Jolie was confident and talented before her surgery, but she could never believe it because she spent so much time obsessing over her underbite and what she believed it did to her. Jolie's insecurities are of her own making, as are most if not all insecurities, and working to fix them takes time. And I thought this book demonstrated that wonderfully.

There's also a great deal of friendship in this book. Derek and Evelyn were great character's in their own right, and their interactions as a group and with Jolie were excellent. However, I do find myself wishing that Derek and Jolie had remained best friends instead of becoming the "friends to lovers" trope. But that's a personal opinion because I just want a heterosexual boy and heterosexual girl to be best friends and not fall for one another. Is that too much to ask? But their relationship was very realistic and their banter spoke of a genuine connection between them. I bought they were best friends and not just "best friends" because Winfrey wanted unnecessary tension or a love triangle. They cared for one another and I found it adorable.

Things Jolie Needs to Do Before She Bites It is a book about beauty, confidence, and overcoming what you fear most. It's light, it's funny, and it's a perfect pick me up book with a surprising amount of weird fact podcasts that just added to it's all ready immeasurable charm.

Jolie is a teen with a loving family, great friends, and a severe underbite. While Jolie is aware that she does not look like her peers, she is a well-adapted teen. At the age of 17, she will finally be able to undergo surgery to correct the physical deformity that causes her so much pain. As she gets closer to the date of surgery she becomes obsessed with the possible side effects that could result. She makes a list of things to do before the surgery date and begins to check them off. She will discover new things about herself and her inner strength and possibly find that what she wants was right in front of her face the entire time.