Review: Party Girl by Anna David

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS.COM:

Celebrity journalist Amelia Stone is the quintessential L.A. party girl. She goes to Hollywood's most exclusive, star-studded events, where she rubs shoulders (and occasionally more) with celebrities, stays out until all hours of the night, and indulges in the ultimate sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll existence. In short, she's got everything a party girl needs: the looks, the job, the lifestyle. And oh, yes, the out-of-control coke habit.

But it's hard to keep topping your own outrageous exploits, and after losing her job, her friends, and much of her mind (not to mention waking up in the hospital after combining five Ambien, four lines of Special K, and an inestimable amount of cocaine), Amelia makes the drastic decision to end her drug abuse. Sobriety, she finds, has its rewards: she starts seeing the man who could be her Mr. Right "and" gets hired by a big-name magazine to write a column detailing her wild adventures with the celebrity party crowd. And who could write it better? After all, she has plenty of experience to draw on.

There's just one little problem. Overnight, Amelia Stone has become the new face of Hollywood nightlife, and her editors--who don't know she's come clean--want her to play the part. As her popularity skyrockets and the film and TV agents start calling, the lure of her former fast-and-furious lifestyle begins to pull at her. Faced with the most exciting opportunity of her career, she must now decide to either save herself--or salvage her reputation as the ultimate party girl.

Acidly hilarious and achingly honest, "Party Girl" is a harrowing ride through the world of Hollywood excess with a heroine who's deliciously flawed. Whether snorting cokeor crying in rehab, hooking up or breaking down, Amelia Stone makes her way across the treacherous grounds of addiction, self-destruction, and recovery without ever losing her sharp wit, unapologetic candor, or odds-defying optimism.

MY TAKE:

I'm not a junkie or a party girl but this book definitely sounded interesting.

Party Girl tells the story of Amelia Stone. She's a celebrity journalist, party girl and cocaine addict. It's the stuff of tabloids and it's just as juicy.

Amelia Stone is the cocaine-addicted version of Carrie Bradshaw, minus Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, of course. Although, Amelia does have three friends who see limited screen time.

This book is fascinating not only because of Amelia's party girl antics, but also for the very realistic portrayal of her addiction and recovery. Her voice is also so genuine and you can tell that the author is speaking from experience and not just research.

THE GOOD:

1. You see the underbelly of L.A.
2. The portrayal of drug addiction is very realistic.
3. It's a fun but dark read.

THE BAD:

1. Amelia gets a little bit annoying sometimes.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

The entirety of my knowledge about modeling has been culled from America’s Next Top Model, but one thing I’m positive of is that I love having my picture taken.

READ IT IF:

1. You like Hollywood.
2. You're a party girl.
3. You're looking for a realistic but not depressing look at drug addiction.

RATING:


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Review: Every Boy's Got One (Boy #3) by Meg Cabot

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS.COM:

To: Jane Harris Fr: Claire Harris Re: You

Hi, honey It's me, Mom. I know it's a big secret that your friend Holly and her boyfriend Mark are eloping in Italy, and that you and Mark's friend Cal Langdon (the handsome New York Journal reporter with the big book deal) are going, too, as their witnesses. But I just saw Holly's mother at the Kroger Sav-On, and I thought I'd warn you: She doesn't seem to like Mark very much at all. Just wanted to let you know.

PS I don't understand why you don't like that nice Cal Langdon He seemed so smart when I saw him being inte viewed on Charlie Rose. And so handsome

PPS Don't forget to wear a sweater

Cartoonist Jane Harris is delighted by the prospect of her first-ever trip to Europe. But it's hate at first sight for Jane and Cal Langdon, and neither is too happy at the prospect of sharing a villa with one another for a week--not even in the beautiful and picturesque Marches countryside. But when Holly and Mark's wedding plans hit a major snag that only Jane and Cal can repair, the two find themselves having to put aside their mutual dislike for one another in order to get their best friends on the road to wedded bliss--and end up on a road themselves ... one neither of them ever expected.

Meg Cabot was born in Bloomington, Indiana. She is the author of seven historical romances under the pseudonym Patricia Cabot as well as Boy Meets Girl, The Boy Next Door, She Went All the Way and the bestselling young adult fiction series The Princess Diaries. She lives in New York City with her husband.

MY TAKE:

I liked Meg Cabot's Boy Meets Girl so I was definitely curious about this book.

Every Boy's Got One is about cartoonist Jane Harris and what happens when she accompanies her best friend who is eloping with her fiance to Le Marche, Italy.

I like the use of e-mails, travel diaries and other stuff to tell the story. It takes a lot of creativity to make sure that there's a smooth segue between the emails and other materials. I also like that there are menus and receipts included too so it has a scrapbook feel.

Jane makes me think of Bridget Jones and Cal Langdon is like Mark Darcy. :D

It's a little bit formulaic and obvious where the story is going, but it's chick lit, so what do you expect? What's important is the journey is fun and entertaining, and Every Boy's Got One is definitely that.

THE GOOD:

1. It's a fun, feel-good read.
2. Hilarious one-liners.
3. Awesome descriptions of Italy.

THE BAD:

1. It's mostly formulaic.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Anyway, my room is so adorable, a tiny little blue-and-white thing with gold curtains that, when I opened them, turned out to be for a window that looks out over the most beautiful courtyard, with white doves flying around it, and bougainvillea spilling from window boxes all over the place, and a sky stretched over it that, I swear, looks bluer than the sky over Manhattan, somehow.

READ IT IF:

1. You like chick lit.
2. You like Bridget Jones' Diary.
3. You like stories wherein the lead characters have a love-hate courtship and relationship.

RATING:


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Review: Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS.COM:

Now with this striking new adult novel from author and creator Francine Pascal, millions of devoted fans can finally return to the idyllic Sweet Valley, home of the phenomenally successful book series and franchise. Iconic and beloved identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back and all grown up, dealing with the complicated adult world of love, careers, betrayal, and sisterhood.

MY TAKE:

Like most girls who grew up in the '90s, I was a fan of the Sweet Valley series. I loved the Sweet Valley Kids, Twins, and Senior Year series, in particular.

For the uninitiated, the Sweet Valley series revolves around identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica and their friends. Elizabeth is the bookish, smart and responsible twin, while Jessica is the popular, sociable and more irresponsible twin.

Like most women who grew up on these books, I was looking forward to this book, if only because, well, I grew up and I wanted to see what happened to these girls I grew up with. So what happened?

Well, Elizabeth is in New York, like I imagined. Everything else, though, was not. After a betrayal by Jessica (shocker, I know), Elizabeth runs away to New York and tries to start a new life. She's a writer at a small "Zagat-style" paper for Broadway. Definitely not glamorous, but she has settled in to that world.

Meanwhile, Jessica is still in Sweet Valley, and uber successful and contented, except for the guilt caused by hurting her sister. It seems, actually, that most of the Sweet Valley characters still live there. Hmm... Anyway, after Jessica's ultimate betrayal, I thought that there would be a lot more friction between the other characters and Jessica. No such thing. Or maybe it just wasn't mentioned. In any case, it makes it seem like everyone was okay with what she did, which I don't understand. I mean, seriously? Seriously?

The bulk of the book is mostly about Elizabeth plotting revenge and Jessica feeling guilty. Anxious Jessica is not really fun to hang out with but angry Elizabeth was quite entertaining. :P

Anyway, like most Sweet Valley books, this ends sort of happily. I mean, I'm not thrilled with the ending, but I don't know, I guess nostalgia made this book better for me.

THE GOOD:

1. We get to see what our favorite characters are up to. Some have changed for the better and some for the worse, sometimes uncharacteristically so.

2. They're adults now, so you know what that means. :P

3. There's an unexpected plot twist!

THE BAD:
1. Lots of inconsistencies within the book and with the rest of the canon.

2. Lots of out-of-character characters.

3. Why, Jessica, why?

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

The room was still. And silent. Until she hit the replay button on the answering machine.

“Lizzie. Pick up. Please. I really need to talk to you.”

Never!

READ IT IF:

• You're a Sweet Valley fan.
• You're looking for an easy read.
• You're bored.

RATING:

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