Paper Hearts by Ali Novak [ARC]
First of all, I just read the summary for the book on Goodreads and got very confused just now. That summary is definitely NOT the book I read. Sure, Felicity and Alec are both in it but…who’s Lucy? And I don’t remember them going to Prom…? Anyway, the book that I read had a little more depth than that, I think. There was an interesting family dynamic since Felicity’s sister is gone, but I really disliked their mom. In fact, none of the characters were SUPER likable in my opinion. The romance was fine, but again, nothing that blew me away. With those things being said, I thought the book was good and I enjoyed that we got to see some of Stella and Oliver. I also look forward to reading the books featuring the other two bandmates. This series is what the Backstage Pass series wishes it was. 4/5
Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland [ARC]
I loved the movie La La Land. LOVED IT. And so I really thought that this book might be similar since it has the same theme of a young actress trying to make it in Hollywood. No. This is not the book I wanted it to be. The main character, Becca, is SO NAIVE. I don’t even WANT to be an actress and I know that you have to have nice headshots! Also, I didn’t like how her relationship with Raj developed. First she was like, “Oh, sorry Raj, I’m still not over my ex-boyfriend” and then she literally hops into bed with her hot co-star and imagines the rest of their lives together. Like…what? You can’t be with Raj right now, but you could TOTALLY see yourself with this other hot guy? Please. Speaking of Raj, this is the kind of diversity that I HATE. We can tell from Raj’s name that he’s Indian, right? And I think the color of his skin is mentioned a couple of times (in a very complimentary, non-racist way). However, beyond that there is literally nothing that makes him Indian. It doesn’t seem to effect his life at all which is COMPLETELY unbelievable to me. I mean, he wants to be a film-maker. At the very LEAST he should mention how few Asian Americans there are in the film industry and how he wants to break stereotypes and show the white people what it’s like to be an Indian American. Nope. None of that. Anyway…the last thing I’ll say is what was up with Becca’s Scientologist neighbor? Literally had nothing to do with anything and didn’t progress the story or characters in any way. TL;DR This book was not what I wanted it to be and was “diverse” in such a white person way. 2/5
Note: I received these books free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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