Almost a five star.

American Superstar: Set the Stage by Shay Paris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Set the stage is an interesting, well written tale about two young musicians involved in a “reality TV” program called American Superstar.

Lennon is serious about her music, her streaming channel is pretty successful and she has a faithful following on social media. What she wants is a record company to sign her on. Her best friend and “manager”, Jesse, persuades her to enter into American Superstar.

Camila has been made a star by her fame and money hungry mother, but at some point the expectations, the fame and the money have got into her head and she went off the track and on drugs. Working on the revival of her career with a new manager her record label has promised her artistic freedom for her come-back, if she successfully finishes a stint as judge on the show.

Both are lesbian, but Camila is out and Lennon is not and afraid of her parents judgment, who are members of a new “conservative” sect, and was subjected to reformations camps, disguised as summer camps, run by her uncle.

From the beginning there is a strong attraction between the two. The romance is well credible and beautifully written, but what I was missing was more information on the two as to their musical background. Did Camila write her own music or her own texts or was it her ex, Helena, who wrote their music or both? Did they perform music someone else wrote (or partially as in someone’s music but their own lyrics or vice versa)? The same question bugged me the whole time about Lennon’s stream. She comes across as an excellent full blooded musician and there are so many songs on her stream, are they all just interpretations? Hard to believe given her talent.

Being an old roadie and equipment designer for Rock shows those questions bugged more and more towards the end of this first volume of the series, hence only 4 stars.



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