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Dress Rehearsal
‘This term we’ve had a bank robbery, an abduction and this crazy show. You kids are running wild, Lara. It’s too much.’
Lara Pearlman has an appetite for life.
She loves acting, vintage clothes and her best friend Oggy. She flirts with Nathan but really likes Blake. She devours muffins with cream and chocolates by the box. Lara’s mum says big girls shouldn’t eat cream, but if rules are made to be broken then Lara’s the girl to do it.
Lara Pearlman has an appetite for life.
She loves acting, vintage clothes and her best friend Oggy. She flirts with Nathan but really likes Blake. She devours muffins with cream and chocolates by the box. Lara’s mum says big girls shouldn’t eat cream, but if rules are made to be broken then Lara’s the girl to do it.
269 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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91 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 18, 2011
After reading the first five sentences, I was instantly hooked to Dress Rehearsal. The story started out as light and hilarious then it became conflicted, sadder and darker. This twist was intriguing and surprising. I never expected it to turn out that way. But I love surprises especially the ones in contemporary novels. The writing was marvelous. It brought out the beauty of ordinary things and even ugly things. I don’t usually read contemporary novels but I enjoyed this one. I laughed, hurt, groaned and smiled at the scenes. It was the kind of story that was easy to read, easy to like and completely enjoyable.
Lara had an appetite for life. She was wild. There was a burning flame inside her, something that ushered someone young as her to do the things she did. She was uncontrolled and free – as free as she could be. Theater was a part of her. But Oggy, her bestfriend, was a bigger part. She adored Oggy and she would do almost anything for her. She was best friends with Nathan, the reliable and comfortable shorter guy who was always looking out for her. She had always wanted Blake, the top drama student at her school and the guy that every girl wanted. She craved for him, wanted his attention like any other girl.
The characters were bright, fiery individuals in the beautiful landscape of Dress Rehearsal. They filled the pages with drama, chaos and emotion. Some of them were easy to relate to while some of them were not. There were a few who were extremely hard to understand and to like. But that worked out with how the story progressed. Each character had something to deal with. I may not like how they chose to solve their problems but their decision and the results of those made this realistic. They suffered the consequences of their actions. Sometimes they were strong enough to face it, sometimes they were not. I liked how it became a domino effect. Each action, each decision of one character affected the other characters, until all of them were affected one way or another.
The family dynamics in this novel would appeal to teens. There were two of them, both imperfect. One had a brilliant disguise but underneath it was in tatters, ruined and splintered. The other one was better – firm but it had sutures in the middle. Lara’s friendship with her two best friends would be tested. Could she make it up to both of them before it’s too late? I loved how this novel showed how fragile relationships could be and how these could affect a person. It’s like a wake-up call for everyone to see what we mostly take for granted.
Dress Rehearsal is a humorous, fun contemporary novel that readers will love. It’s a reflection of youth, passion and flaws told through Lara’s witty voice. This is a work of art and I appreciate every page of this novel. This is the kind of novel that does not spell out everything for the reader. I loved that I needed to fill in the gaps with my thoughts, my realizations about the story. I recommend this to everyone!
Lara had an appetite for life. She was wild. There was a burning flame inside her, something that ushered someone young as her to do the things she did. She was uncontrolled and free – as free as she could be. Theater was a part of her. But Oggy, her bestfriend, was a bigger part. She adored Oggy and she would do almost anything for her. She was best friends with Nathan, the reliable and comfortable shorter guy who was always looking out for her. She had always wanted Blake, the top drama student at her school and the guy that every girl wanted. She craved for him, wanted his attention like any other girl.
The characters were bright, fiery individuals in the beautiful landscape of Dress Rehearsal. They filled the pages with drama, chaos and emotion. Some of them were easy to relate to while some of them were not. There were a few who were extremely hard to understand and to like. But that worked out with how the story progressed. Each character had something to deal with. I may not like how they chose to solve their problems but their decision and the results of those made this realistic. They suffered the consequences of their actions. Sometimes they were strong enough to face it, sometimes they were not. I liked how it became a domino effect. Each action, each decision of one character affected the other characters, until all of them were affected one way or another.
The family dynamics in this novel would appeal to teens. There were two of them, both imperfect. One had a brilliant disguise but underneath it was in tatters, ruined and splintered. The other one was better – firm but it had sutures in the middle. Lara’s friendship with her two best friends would be tested. Could she make it up to both of them before it’s too late? I loved how this novel showed how fragile relationships could be and how these could affect a person. It’s like a wake-up call for everyone to see what we mostly take for granted.
Dress Rehearsal is a humorous, fun contemporary novel that readers will love. It’s a reflection of youth, passion and flaws told through Lara’s witty voice. This is a work of art and I appreciate every page of this novel. This is the kind of novel that does not spell out everything for the reader. I loved that I needed to fill in the gaps with my thoughts, my realizations about the story. I recommend this to everyone!
July 21, 2011
The first book I've ever won through First Reads, so firstly I'd like to thank Zoe Thurner.
Dress Rehearsal was like a breath of fresh air. I don't normally read contemporary fiction; I've recently realized that most of the books I read are the usual paranormal crap. Lara is instantly likeable, and I was hooked by her honest and straightforward telling of her life. Thurner flawlessly shows the angst that come from being a teenager.
The story starts of innocent, but progresses towards deeper themes. The main undercurrent running throughout this book is Lara and her relationships towards her family and friends,and how they change as she refreshes her look on life.
Dress Rehearsal was like a breath of fresh air. I don't normally read contemporary fiction; I've recently realized that most of the books I read are the usual paranormal crap. Lara is instantly likeable, and I was hooked by her honest and straightforward telling of her life. Thurner flawlessly shows the angst that come from being a teenager.
The story starts of innocent, but progresses towards deeper themes. The main undercurrent running throughout this book is Lara and her relationships towards her family and friends,and how they change as she refreshes her look on life.
May 6, 2012
I was tossing up between giving this two and three stars, and I feel bad for eventually going with two but... I just didn't love it all that much. I was hooked in until the end and never skimmed, but I wasn't overly enjoying myself or anything either. I guess my problem was that I didn't really like any of the characters. I didn't dislike Lara, Oggy or Nathan, but I didn't care greatly for them either. Actually I think I did start to dislike Oggy as the book went on. Things like the bank robbery and the abduction, I didn't find them as exciting as the idea of them sounded either. And with allll the focus on getting with Blake, on getting with Nathan, on how cute Dan is - I suppose this just wasn't my kind of book ;) If I went to that school, those girls wouldn't be the ones I'd be hanging around with.
May 6, 2012
Dress Rehearsal is a bittersweet novel of secrets and friendship. Lara wishes she felt confident about herself, her friends, and her school activities, but that’s hard when her mother criticizes everything Lara does. But when a serious of incidents happen, Lara starts to realise just how loved she is. Can she get the confidence she needs to move on and be happy with her life?
May 23, 2012
The main problem with Dress Rehearsal was how much was going on at once.
A lot of authors can get a million plotlines and somehow make all of them equally entertaining, but this book just didn’t fit in the criteria.
The minute I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be 4-5 stars, because I loved Lara’s narration and her strong, crisp voice which I don’t see much in YA. I also love how, despite being a big girl, she still has confidence in herself.
But then the narration began getting repetitive, and I found myself skimming wide-eyed for double-quotes just so I could get some dialogue among the zillion words of useless narration. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it as first: but then the narration began getting longer.
And also, there are so many things going on at once, it’s hardly long enough. I didn’t care about any of the characters or their problems, meaning I began hating the main character and found her tedious.
I love how this doesn’t end as a fantasy book, or how everything seems heartwarming and realistic. Thurner would be a blast at writing mystery fiction, believe me, so I might pick up some of her other books.
A lot of authors can get a million plotlines and somehow make all of them equally entertaining, but this book just didn’t fit in the criteria.
The minute I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be 4-5 stars, because I loved Lara’s narration and her strong, crisp voice which I don’t see much in YA. I also love how, despite being a big girl, she still has confidence in herself.
But then the narration began getting repetitive, and I found myself skimming wide-eyed for double-quotes just so I could get some dialogue among the zillion words of useless narration. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it as first: but then the narration began getting longer.
And also, there are so many things going on at once, it’s hardly long enough. I didn’t care about any of the characters or their problems, meaning I began hating the main character and found her tedious.
I love how this doesn’t end as a fantasy book, or how everything seems heartwarming and realistic. Thurner would be a blast at writing mystery fiction, believe me, so I might pick up some of her other books.
July 23, 2013
4.5
Life is what you make of it.
The book is a blend of a play, finding about yourself, and knowing that being a teenager, is the whole process of growing up; all in a perfect confection.
Being a teenager, Lara is wild, a bit rebellious, and her own self--whatever she takes it. She takes everything everyday in strides, flawedly, and with a bit of chocolate.
I couldn't seem to pinpoint what the book was about throughout the time I was reading it. But that's how life is, there are no summary to pinpoint it, it's just a series of events strewn together in yarn and what you make out of it.
Life is what you make of it.
The book is a blend of a play, finding about yourself, and knowing that being a teenager, is the whole process of growing up; all in a perfect confection.
Being a teenager, Lara is wild, a bit rebellious, and her own self--whatever she takes it. She takes everything everyday in strides, flawedly, and with a bit of chocolate.
I couldn't seem to pinpoint what the book was about throughout the time I was reading it. But that's how life is, there are no summary to pinpoint it, it's just a series of events strewn together in yarn and what you make out of it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews