I received this book as part of Early Reviewers and was drawn to it for a specific reason. I'd come off a bender of long and difficult reads and and wanted a quick dip into the shallow end of the pool. I was totally unfamiliar with the author when I read it and still am. Reading this is like coming onto the scene of an auto collision with mangled vehicles--you don't want want to look, you don't feel great about looking, but you can't resist the urge to look. This is indeed a glittery-yet-shallow read stuffed with vapid characters. Years ago (maybe it still lives on) there was a Rich Kids of IG to capture the disaffected adventures of those without talent, but born into money. This shares a similar vibe - an uber-rich west coast kid YA reality show in book form, including copious use of text speak. The amount of machination, backbiting, and drama - both real and manufactured - is laid on thick throughout, as are the name drops of designer brands. It's written in a way that makes me think the author runs in similar circles to these characters and/or is at home in this world. Hard to tell if the reader is supposed to admire it from the outside, nose-pressed against the glittering glass, metaphorically speaking. This reader doesn't want any part of people like this except out of disbelief they exist IRL and without irony. All the 20-something angst and the social issues are on parade here (suicide to adult/minor sexual contact, substance use, and more represented from what seems to be a 20-something's point of view). Layered and nuanced, this is not. An eye-opening realization to at least one of the characters is that the surface of reality TV the viewer sees may be very different than the reality underneath. That alone should tell you something, maybe everything. None of this is to judge, and certainly this book doesn't, but if you take it on, you'll want to know what you're getting. Recommended, if only to a very small and highly specific venn diagram of readers. ( )

So completely and utterly vapid. This was unbearable. I read enough to get my bearings, then skipped to the end, and was relieved I read nothing in the middle. It was exactly like watching an episode of The Hills, except without the visuals, meaning the dialogue was a thousand times more tedious. Also, the hideous cover meant I couldn't read this while baby sitting my niece and nephew. ( )

Uhh... yeah. So this book basically encompasses the worst people doing the worst things to each other. I'm not sure what I expected, but the YA books I'm used to don't have teens talking to each other the way these guys do or behaving this way. It's just rich people being manipulative. As for the writing style... it opens with a lot of "she is sitting by the pool" or "she is checking her phone" as opposed to "she sits by the pool and checks her phone." Just feels a bit amateur-ish. I also felt like there wasn't enough background at first of what had happened prior to the story beginning. I get that an air of mystery is always good to start off a book so readers keep turning the page, but this left me a bit more confused---though to be fair, that could just be me, haha. Oh, and just... a lot of exclamation points, lol. My friends and I certainly didn't talk like that as teens, but we also weren't Hollywood elite haha. Overall, 2.5 stars.

After Lily is arrested, she is taken in by her famous reality tv star aunt and cousins. Thrust into the reality tv spotlight, Lily must decide who she is, and what she is willing to put up with.

I had a hard time with this book in the beginning. It isn't really for my demographic, and the emoji's, slang, and focus on social media just didn't appeal to me. However, as I kept reading, I began to feel a kinship with Lily, as she struggled to come to terms with her dysfunctional family and learned to be ok with herself. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

This book wasn't quite my cup of tea. I didn't really enjoy it, but maybe this book would be better for a younger reader (ie. teen). It was well written but I think that it was written with a teen/young adult in mind.