ARC, 384 pages
Release Date: February 5, 2019Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: February 5-February 7, 2019Companion to Love, Life, and the List & an untitled bookSource: Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: N/AFor fans of: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Movies, DEAR, Diverse Authors, Romance, YALacey Barnes has dreamt of being in a movie for as long as she can remember. However, while her dream did include working alongside the hottest actor in Hollywood, it didn’t involve having to finish up her senior year of high school at the same time she was getting her big break. Although that is nothing compared to Donavan, the straight-laced student her father hires to tutor her, who is a full-on nightmare.
As Lacey struggles to juggle her burgeoning career, some on-set sabotage, and an off-screen romance with the unlikeliest of leading men, she quickly learns that sometimes the best stories happen when you go off script.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I can honestly say writing this review almost physically hurt me. I am a HUGE fan of Kasie West’s and I normally love all her books. But this one I just couldn’t connect with. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it right then, IDK, but this one just didn’t click with me.
Lacey Barnes has her first large acting gig and she wants everything to go perfect. Unfortunately, she doesn’t include school, her overprotective dad, and a bunch of mysterious mishaps in her vision of perfect. And that’s what she gets. Then a romance brews out of nowhere which shows her chemistry is never forced.
I was SO excited for this book. I used it for a WoW and everything, but when I finally got around to it, I could not stay interested. And the number one reason why…. Lacey. I’m normally ok with brat like teens, but I just couldn’t get over her. She claimed she missed school and some aspects of being a teen, but she wouldn’t do her homework. And I agreed with Donavan, she got whatever she wanted and STILL complained. I pictured everything she said in a whiny voice and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I finished Love, Life and the List when I didn’t care for someone in that book too, and for that reason I had to go ahead and DNF this one. I’m done reading about characters I don’t like. And when this person popped up in this novel too, it made me not like it more.
The other thing I wasn’t a fan of was the mystery. That was really the only reason I got as far as I did. (I normally DNF around 60-100 pages, but for this one I lasted until page 220.) I wanted to know who was causing all the small mishaps and what was going on, but it’s not the forefront of the story, so I really didn’t care to know how it all played out. I ended up just skimming the end and seeing how they ended up and that was that. (Speaking of, do I get to consider this read if I skimmed it? Asking for a friend…)
The only reason I still skimmed the end was the love interest. I was so interested in that person and I wanted to know more about them. And one of their hobbies reminded me of one of mine, so I wanted to know more about them. They were the one bright spot about this story that made me interested in knowing more.
Although I have loved all West’s other books, this one is ultimately not for me. I can see where this young actress getting her lucky break and not having to attend school could be of interest to others though. I definitely encourage you all to give it a try and read it for yourselves. In fact, I’ve seen some people that have either really loved this one or really didn’t care for it. I hope you all read it to find out where you stand.
DNF @ PAGE 220