Reality Chick

by Lauren Barnholdt

All-hour study fests . . . all-night parties . . .

Going away to college means total independence and freedom. Unless of course your freshman year is taped and televised for all the world to watch. On uncensored cable.

Sweet and normal Ally Cavanaugh is one of five freshpeople shacking up on In the House, a reality show filmed on her college campus. (As if school isn't panic-inducing enough!) The cameras stalk her like paparazzi, but they also capture the fun that is new friends, old crushes, and learning to live on your own. Sure, the camera adds ten pounds, but with the freshman fifteen a given anyway, who cares? Ally's got bigger issues -- like how her long-distance bf can watch her loopy late-night "episode" with a certain housemate. . . .

Freshman year on film.

It's outrageous.

It's juicy.

And like all good reality TV,

it's impossible to turn off.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Teen, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2006

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just really problematic. And I really hate that because I completely loved the concept. I thought it was so clever to combine a book about starting college with a reality TV - I mean that's right down my alley (haha get it?). But this just didn't live up to how awesome the concept was at all. It started off engaging enough with the whole now and then (which in retrospect was just really pointless and didn't actually add anything to the story), but the first instance that made me kind of go "huh that's not quite ok" was during the interview when Ally went on her whole "if you stop making a big deal about your race so will other people" thing. That just didn't quite sit right with me. And then when Jasmine was introduced she was described as "exotic" which made me a little uncomfortable.

The main thing that I think is worth talking about here though, is how utterly awful all the characters are. Well, except for maybe Jasmine. They were mostly just painfully bland stereotypes and incredibly underdeveloped to a point that they didn't feel real at all. The whole thing between Kelly and Ally I also saw coming a mile off. Which brings me to, Ally who was literally the most dramatic idiot there could be. I mean I don't understand how she could be so utterly and completely ignorant and clueless of what was going on in most situations. It frustrated me to no end. On top of that, in her narration of "before" she kept foreshadowing that she was "set up" and she should have "seen it coming" when her breakup with Kory was literally the cleanest thing and ended on good terms with virtually no drama.

Overall, while I loved the idea behind this (which is the only reason it's getting 2 stars) the characters were awful, the plot predictable, and the writing painfully cheesy and cringe.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was definitely cute and what I needed right after the feelings that my last book I read left with me but there wasn't anything that really stood out to me throughout the novel and I wasn't a fan of the format that the author chose to tell her story in.

I did love the story however and that it was very cute! A fun, quick, read! :)

Longer review to come!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Julie T. for TeensReadToo.com

Being a college freshman is hard enough. There's homework to worry about, the dreaded freshman fifteen, guys, parties, and a lot of other things. When Ally Cavanaugh starts college she has one other thing to worry about, that most don't have to: cameras.

Ally's every move during her first semester at college is taped for the popular reality show, In the House. At first, it seems like a dream come true. Ally's show is being broadcast nationwide; she's practically a celebrity! She gets to live in an awesome house with her roommates, who don't seem too bad.

But soon, things start to turn around. Ally's faraway boyfriend is acting really distant, and she thinks that she may be developing feelings for her hunky roommate. Her escapades at a fraternity party are recorded for the entire world to see, including her parents!

In the House is Ally's reality check; how tough life can be sometimes, but to take it in strides. You never know what great things are in store for you around the corner!

REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt was a fantastic read. It was fun, fresh, and fabulous, with a great concept and flawless reality. REALITY CHICK is a must read for those looking to lighten up the new school year!

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the main thing I like about Lauren Barnholdt's books is her characters' tone and voice. They seem so real and fresh and like the kind of people you'd want to just keep talking to you. This one is no exception. There are no huge plot explosions or twists, nothing crazy happens, although there is plenty of emotional uproar and drama. The side characters are fun and fleshed out (Grant, especially), and it's fun to root for Ally as she makes her good and foolish choices. A great way to spend a few hours.

[Julianna Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it really the holidays if you don’t reread a YA book from middle school / highschool at your parents house??

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically an MTV show in novel form. In fact, I'm surprised there isn't a reality show that looks like this already, unless I just missed it. It's not really trashy in terms of vulgar content, but definitely counts as a "junk food" novel.

ORIGINAL/IN-DEPTH REVIEW: Once upon a time, I wrote a list called "How to Write a 21st Century YA Novel," based on several trends I had seen in all the new books. One of the top numbers was "drop pop culture references like mad. This will show your young readers that you are just as hip and trendy as all of them, and you know what the teens these days like!"

The plot of Reality Chick in a nutshell: college freshman gets onto a reality show which consists of her and four other people sharing a special house but otherwise going about the normal routine of a college freshman. With cameras recording every aspect of their life, to be broadcast nightly on TV.

The library is full of glossy-covered books like these, and for lack of anything better I gravitate towards them because they entertain me, even though they have about as much substance as that shiny red apple that looks so nice in pictures, but when bitten into will be made of mush.

As far as the pop-culture references go, they’re usually somewhat reasonable. I wrote about TV shows and the like in my journal, so the occasional comparison is to be expected when written in the voice of a teen girl. However, in this book, I didn’t even get past page 1 before the author described how the media loves scandal by using an example with Madonna and Courtney Love on MTV. Right then, I knew it was going to be one of THOSE books.

And that's what I'll be focusing on today.

One example of "shortcut writing" in this novel is when a character in the book is describing how she and this other girl both wore the same dress to Prom. Rather than use any adjectives, the author's entire description was as follows: "To understand the seriousness of the situation, you have to know what she looks like: Picture Scarlett Johannson’s face with Eva Longoria’s body." And that was it. The character’s boyfriend is also a central figure in this book. The sum total description surrounding him? He’s an extremely talented basketball player who "looks exactly like Chad Michael Murray."

Nope, that will never get dated at all! When I mentioned this depressing phenomenon to an English teacher, she agreed and described how books are now often perceived as "disposable" rather than with the expectation that they will stand the test of time. They can hyper-focus on the "now" because there won't be a later. But why is that OK?

So I went through and I made a list of every single celebrity, brand name, TV show, etc that the author used. It's not the first time I've done this to a book, but it's always a fun game to play. This time, I decided that if the same name was used several pages apart in a different context, it counted as a separate reference. Now admittedly, some of these are perfectly acceptable (it would be more awkward to NOT just say "Oreos," for instance), but when I’m revved up, anything that requires capitalization gets on the list. And for Reality Chick, we have:

Courtney Love, Madonna, MTV, Dave Matthews, Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, Desperate Housewives, Nick Lachey (2x), Jessica Simpson (2x), Teen Vogue, The Apprentice, Dawson’s Creek, A Cinderella Story, Scarlett Johannson, Eva Longoria, Chad Michael Murray (2x), Girls Gone Wild, Nelly, Saturday Night Live, Justin Timberlake, Eminem (2x), People magazine, Teen People, Ashlee Simpson (2x), the Zone diet, Lindsay Lohan, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde (2x), Katie Holmes (3x), Tom Cruise (2x), First Daughter (3x), US Weekly, Hooters, Alias (2x), Viagra ads in email, Google.com, Paris Hilton, ESPN, the Lifetime channel, Dr. Phil, Seth and Summer (as in “Nobody goes out of their way to say someone’s a “friend” unless they’re really not. Look how long Seth and Summer were “just friends”), Mary Kate [Olsen], Brittany Murphy, “in that one movie where she played an insane girl” (couldn’t get copyright clearance for that one?), On Demand, Pay-Per-View, Creature of the Black Lagoon, the Halloween movies, Jay Z, the WB, The O.C., Seventh Heaven, Debbie Downer, Sorority Life, John Travolta, Dateline, The Amazing Race, Seventeen magazine, Judge Judy, Ruby Tuesday, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, and advertisement for Oreos and Diet Coke With Lime as well as Nike, K-Swiss, Abercrombie, and The Gap.

SUM TOTAL: 77, or an average of one reference every 3.5 pages. I'm not saying the book wasn't entertaining, I'm just wondering if there was a point to all of those. Is there a code to crack that allows you to read a secret message? (fingers crossed, because that would actually be pretty cool)

[Louis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the book on CD version of this title. When I typed in this title and author, another book "Reality Chick" came up that seemed to have the same plot details. I didn't have the interest to investigate further.

Listening to this book was a little bit tricky. The protagonist, Ally, often thinks during her verbal conversations with others. So I had to pay attention to discern when she was speaking aloud versus having internal thoughts.

Ally has positive qualities as a character. She is clearly smart as she is taking a psychology class, got into college in the first place, is faring well in her photography class, gets invited to join the photography program, and spends a lot of time in the library studying as a way to avoid all of some of her roommates.

Yet this is not the characteristic that is emphasized in this book. Ally is portrayed as self-destructive in several ways. First, she prejudges everyone she meets and allows this to guide her decision-making only to discover that she misjudged people. This repetitive activity became very predictable and boring.

Second, Ally is the world's worst communicator. She makes assumptions about situations and then acts on them. She could actually communicate with people in an open way and clear up her assumptions, but instead she just barrels ahead and makes her life and others' lives miserable. In order to avoid communicating, she engages in avoidance behavior or, at one point, becomes a slob/deadbeat for a week until her roommates stage an intervention. This lack of communication reminded me of several romance novels I have read where, if the 2 leads would just talk, they would be together in 2 chapters instead of 20.

Now an author has a right to portray a protagonist as they see fit. What I am saying here is that this continuing self-destructiveness made Ally a tiresome and uninteresting character.

Other problems that I had with the story include the unbelievable way that Ally gets tired of being filmed all the time. The book is inconsistent as well since there are passages where she doesn't notice the cameraman anymore and then later wails about having no privacy. This from a person who had watched this reality show for seasons and actively applied to be on.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

Another plot development which I believed stretched credulity was the breakup with her boyfriend. They had been dating for two years. Within the space of 2 months of being in college, they have broken up. This from a couple who allegedly shared everything, IMed each other constantly, and talked on the phone all the time. Ally was not allowed to IM from the house, but there is a phone for heaven's sake. And what about e-mail? Instead they fail to communicate in the aforementioned ways, each making assumptions and failing to clear them up. This did not seem believable. I admit that changes going to college were inevitable, but in two months time they change so much that she breaks up with her boyfriend of 2 years. The dialogue between them did not ring true for a relationship of that long standing, even one from high school.

The supporting characters are an interesting batch. The parents and brother are predictably ciphers with only stereotypical things to say.

Her best friend Grant is somewhat interesting, but is not in the story often enough to learn much about him. He is somewhat dysfunctional in his own way too, which may be why he is friends with Ally, who seems to be an emotional disaster zone with limited emotional intelligence.

Of the roommates, the author does a good job with Simone and Jasmine. They and their stories made this novel interesting. It made me think how much better this book would have been told from five perspectives, instead of just one.

But the boys in the house, even Drew, are again ciphers for the most part. What Drew does all day is a complete mystery even to the end of the book. We know that he goes to the gym, is buff, and goes to school. But for all we know he is flunking out or majoring in basketweaving.

James is another stereotype, a jerk who uses women to have sex and dumps them. I don't recall that he is described as having one redeeming feature, save for the fact that he is nice to Simone until he has sex with her and then dumps her.

All one can hope by the end of the book is that Ally learns to communicate to make her life easier and that she learns to stop making prejudgments and assumptions about things.

[Amy Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books by author Lauren Barnholdt are always hit and miss for me. I love some of her books, but others tend to fall flat for me. In the case of Watch Me, this is not one of my favorites. While I liked the idea of the whole reality TV show, the execution of it in this book was not well thought out.


Ally decides on a spur of the moment to try out for a TV reality show. When she is accepted as one of the college roommates for the show, she has no idea how it is going to change her life. She is in a dorm with several stereotypical housemates that are chosen to create some drama for the show. Ally is also dealing with the fact that her boyfriend of two years, Corey, is also away at college. Long distance romance proves to be hard, but also being on television all the time proves to put the biggest strain on their relationship.


I don't know what to say about Ally. When she was around her other roommates, she seemed to actually care about their feelings. Yet, at other times I felt she was a snob and not worth reading about. I did like the character of Drew, but we didn't really get to see him interact that much with Ally and the rest of the cast. Their budding romance that is suppose to happen in the book felt forced and didn't have much substance for the reader to grab onto and enjoy. The reality show is also like an afterthought in the story. The author throws it in whenever the story starts to drag in hopes that it will help.


Overall it is a quick and easy read, but not one to get your hopes up for. Like I said, her books are hit and miss for me so this might be the hit for you.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

My full review is up on my blog:
http://nicolehendersonreads.blogspot.ca

This book was a very quick and entertaining read that I liked but didn't love. I have read books by Lauren Barnholdt before, and for me I have a hit and miss relationship with them. So as a result, I have loved some of her books (like a lot), but there are others where they are very flawed and I just don't enjoy them as much. The number one thing I didn't like about this book was the main character. She was just annoying and naive, and it made me enjoy the book less. The concept about reality TV was interesting, plus the other supporting characters were decent and that's what kept me reading (honestly). Overall, it was just an okay read for me, it wasn't the best book by her but I would still recommend it if you want something light and quick to read.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice quick read. Would have received 5 stars but I didn't like how it seemed to have ended so quickly. Like so much happens right at the end and then it's over.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

fluffy romance, snarky drama

fat shaming and bi erasure

[Allison Minke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very hard to keep up with the format of this book. Every chapter was Then, Now, Then, Now. Too much work for me to keep up.

[mrs.hotzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is only one thing that will make me absolutely hate on a book: when my time has been wasted.

Okay, so it's been some time since I've read YA, and this is a bit of an older book in the genre, but the concept seemed cool - quirky girl spends her first year of college on a reality TV show kind of like Big Brother or Love Island or something like that for teens. Sold me.

Buuuut...this book sucked. SUCKED!

A lot of other reviewers have gone more in depth with it, but here's what pissed me off about it.

Number one, Ally is super annoying. Super annoying. Not only that, but she's also one of those girls that hates girls...just because. (And this isn't just me reading into things - there were instances were lines like, "I should have known that's what came with being friends with girls" were just tolerated. Said as if that's an okay thing to say in a society where girls need to be helping girls. Things like, "People must hate her because she's pretty." See what I mean!?) Anyone who knows me in real life knows that girl against girl hate PISSES me off. Her voice and actions were immature, naive, flighty - annoying.

Second, the romance in here was absolutely unconvincing. We saw Drew for what, two chapters? Sure, he was nice and all that, but it was literally just Ally being all like, OMG he looked at me, I want to kiss him now. There wasn't chemistry, sparks - there wasn't ANYTHING!

Third, the only LGBTQ character was represented in a stereotypical "gay best friend" way and the author felt like she had to spoon feed us his gayness - every time we saw him, he was making some boy-crazy remark that Ally would ignore or brush off. Here's the thing, I'm not usually the diversity police, but I've got to call out people who add a "quirky gay character" just for the sake of "representation" and "diversity;" and then on top of that, have main characters like Ally who think gross!! when she thinks about the fact that Grant bones boys. So what? You didn't have a problem with the other girls hooking up with guys!

Gah. This book was a WASTE of TIME!

[Jenessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watch Me is a great book for people who like romance but also want to think about real life situations. The main character is Ally and she is just starting college. Ally decides to get an interview to be on a reality tv show while she is in college and live with random people that go to the same college as her. She finds out later that she's gonna be on the tv show. She lives with 4 other people: Drew, James, Jasmine, and Simone. Her long time boyfriend goes to college in Florida so Ally and Corey don’t see each other as much. Ally starts getting close with all her new roommates.
In this book there wasn’t as much romance as I thought there would be. At the beginning of the book they talk about how she is in a long term relationship with Corey from high school and how they were inseparable during high school. Then they tell you Corey goes to college in Florida and Ally goes to the University of Wisconsin. Throughout the book the author wrote more about college life and what was happening in the house and not so much with Corey and Ally. She would put in phone calls with Corey because he never came to visit till the end of the book.
This book had more of the college life situation more than romance. In the book they had a message board online to see what people were saying about them. Like “Ally’s pathetic. She should stop whining so much and get to the gym. -turbol”. They would have to deal with mean comments and people disliking them and being fake to them. So I related that to real life because people could post mean things or not like you and you would have to deal with those things in life. Another was this book is more of a real life situation is in the book she hasn’t decided a major but she had to take a photography class for a credit. But it turns out that she decides to major in photography.
These are all examples of why I think this book is more of a real life situation than a romantic book. But not by much there is still romance in the book more at the end of the book. The beginning of the book is more about real life college problems. I really like how this book was written over all. Lauren Barnholdt is a really good author

[Christine M · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the things you hated about the 00's rolled into a book: ultra low rise pants, obsession with celebrities, body shaming, slut shaming and so much more. The MC was insufferably judgmental, hypocritical, and arrogant. I kept waiting for her to have some kind of evolution, but nope. She was still all those things at the end and somehow everyone adored her. More page space is devoted to describing outfits and hairstyles than character development. Maybe this read differently back when it was first published in 2006 under the title Reality Chick, but it hasn't aged well -- and not just because of the overload of pop culture references.

Representative Quote:
"I can't believe that the thought of people talking about me online hasn't crossed my mind. ... With no instant messenger access I haven't really had much interest in the computer. But now I start to imagine all these fan sites and message boards dedicated to me - sites done in pink and aqua since I put those down as my favorite colors on my application - that say things like 'Welcome to the fan site of Ally Cavenaugh, In the House: Freshman Year.' Then they'll have all these nice things about me, like about how it was so generous of me to go to the strip club with Jasmine on our first day even though I knew my family probably wouldn't approve. They'll also express their displeasure for the student body of Syracuse College for being so mean to me and not making an effort to get to know my wonderful, fabulous self. These sites will be run by the girl fans, but a few guy fans will have them, too. On these sites I'll be called a 'hottie with a body' and boys will bemoan the fact that I have a boyfriend and call Corey mean names."

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd actually give this novel a 3.5 out of 5 stars. This novel was very quick to read, and very entertaining. The part I didn't really enjoy about the novel was the then and now portions....because there didn't really need to be a now. This novel is basically the Realworld TV show meets college students in school. The part I enjoyed the most about this book was Ally's relationship with her female roommates. It felt like she finally found genuine girl friends that she could trust and confide in. There was also one character twist I didn't see coming. And I will say a lot of her inner monologues about issues with school and boys ...is what I feel like really happens in life (or at least to me). I get nervous and second guess things, and when I was younger this definitely happened a lot more. I really enjoyed the school atmosphere and showing that not everyone goes into college knowing exactly what they want to do, sometimes it takes a minute to figure it out. Will definitely read more by this author!

[Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ally and her boyfriend are ready to go off to college. Ally is going to Syracuse University while her boyfriend Corey goes off too Miami University to play basketball. They have been together for two years and have a healthy relationship and distance won't stop them from loving each other... or so they think. Ally decides to go onto a reality TV show to give her something to do considering her boyfriend is away at college, and Ally is not really the type to have a lot of "girl friends". Ally thinks there is nothing that could possibly happen considering she has nothing to hide. However, rumors say different about her boyfriend Corey. This makes Ally question and think twice about everything with Corey. Ally and Corey become distant throughout the book. As her and Corey's relationship become weaker her and someone else in the house become closer. This book was very entertaining and a book I did not want to put down. The book had drama and humor. It made it seem like I was reading about an actual reality show and I could not get enough.

[pageswithpayten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another thrifting throwback book done!
Lauren Barnholdt’s Two-Way Street was one of my favorite junior high books. I still have my very beat up original copy that I read when I need a fast palate cleanser.
I grew up watching The Real World with my mom (helllllo CT) so when I read the synopsis of this on I knew I needed to read it! This was my first book involving a reality show in a house setting and I thought the idea was super unique, bur could go really well or really bad. I was surprised when I finished this and felt like Lauren Barnhardt managed to write this right down the middle. This was just okay, readable, enjoyable for the most part, but I won’t remember the details in a week or two.
Something I always find interesting in how books “age”. The words ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ came up on just about every page and while the usage of those words don’t always bother me, I found myself cringing every time one of the characters exclaimed it. Sometimes the dialogue came off as immature and honestly a little trashy. BUT, it wouldn’t be fair to say all of that without again pointing out that this book was written in 2010 and things have definitely changed a lot!
What was the last throwback book you read that didn’t age well?

[Tara H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Lauren Barnholdt read. I chose this for exactly that reason, you know EXACTLY what to expect. No disappointments.
Ally starts her very first semester of college as a cast member on a reality show set on campus; think Real World or Jersey Shore. Her boyfriend of 2 years is miles away at university dealing with his own pressures. Ally’s sure they will remain a strong couple and can last despite the distance or even the show. What Ally doesn’t take into account are all the changes that come with college, being away from home and your boyfriend and especially being filmed 24/7. The pressures start to add up and it all makes for very entertaining programming.
At first I found Ally annoying and very naive. Yet, as the story continued she grew on me as she navigated college and her relationships.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have to give this more of a 3.5 because I actually did enjoy reading it. It was such an easy read and it was really lighthearted, with a little bit of angst to change it up.

I wasn’t quite sure if I’d like it at first because i’m so used to reading books where I have to sit and think about what happening and that I get so attached to the characters, but this was just a book that I got through so fast and I loved all the characters (except for Kelly)

Even though Corey and her broke up, I’m still glad that they’re friends and they didn’t break up because he found out she liked Drew or that the rumor of him hooking up with Jen could have been true. And then when Ally found Kelly in Drew’s bed and he was so scared that she was mad at him... MY HEART

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

She thinks she has nothing to hide…

Ally has everything under control. She’s about to move into a house full of strangers and have her life broadcast to the world, but as long as she still has her long-distance boyfriend, Corey, nothing can go wrong. Nothing, that is, until Ally starts spending time with her housemate Drew, the hot and sensitive guy who always seems to be around when she needs someone the most.

As suspicions and lies start pulling Ally and Corey apart, she’s not sure if she can trust anyone, not even herself. Ally is about to learn the hard way that life is what happens when everyone is looking, and it doesn’t always capture her good side…

[Meghan Kennedy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping this would be an easy breezy book to read between more detailed and in depth reads. It was definitely an easy quick read. But not very enjoyable, I continued to read only hoping it would get better. The character development in this book was stereotypical (especially for the few characters of color) and superficial. The main character was very unlikeable and the descriptions and stereotypes used to reference and create 4 characters of color was problematic. I was overall disappointed with the book.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought this was going to be an interesting, fun, cute read... I was wrong!

Everything just fell flat for me. I didn't feel like Drew was even in the story enough for me to really feel anything for him, Corey was just a jerk, the whole reality tv aspect wasn't even realistic at allllll, and I felt like the whole time I was waiting for something more to happen.

Oh, and I had to start skimming the last 1/4 of the book just to finish.

[JustJay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a few Lauren Barnholdt books now and I feel like each one has gotten worse. The good thing that is consistent through all her books is her writing style and pacing. They are always quick and fun reads. But there are just things in the book that I had issues with including an Asian character during the main character's audition process and her choice of words when describing some characters. Just kind of generally problematic verbiage. Not my fave.

5/10

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a college freshman who decides she want to participate in a reality show that will document her every move and every word as she lives in a house with 5 roommates during her freshman year. As expected, things go wrong. There are betrayals, roommate problems, and new loves, things that are quite normal for a freshman college year, but which are magnified by the fact that everything is shown on TV as a reality show.

[Elyse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay but I think it had a lot more potential. Ally is picked for a reality show. She comes into the show having a boyfriend, but winds up liking one of the guys in the house. The books premise is following all of the characters in the house and filming their every move. Ally breaks up with Corey her boyfriend, and at the end gets with Drew the guy from the house.

Was an easy read but I felt it could have been a better story line.

[D. Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to make it through this. The main character was really frustrating. She complained the whole time about being on the show and talked about how she wasn't the type of person who would ever do reality TV (not like other girls). However, she was the one who begged her parents to let her do the show.

[Ashley Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid 2 stars for me. The main characters were very stereotypical and the romance was nothing special. I wasn't completely bored when reading although nothing exciting or climactic ever occurred.
A good audience age range would be 10-14 years old in my opinion which was possibly why I had zero interest in this story.




Emma I know you're reading this review. This is all your fault.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was a quick and easy read, it captured my interest from the first page and within 24 hours I had it completed.
I like the fact of the story being told from the main character and flipping back and fourth from past to present.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing really happened. Quick and light read.