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Review: Celebriteens In The Spotlight by Joanna Philbin

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Celebriteens In The Spotlight by Joanna PhilbinIn America, the Celebriteens books are published under the series name The Daughters – alluding to the fact that although its teenage lead characters aren’t famous in their own right, they’re growing up in the shadow of parents who are. The author herself is the daughter of US talk show host Regis Philbin, and while this is definitely no autobiography I suspect it may well be personal experience and observation which lend the first instalment in the series its genuine, heartfelt quality. The series has been rebranded for the UK as Celebriteens, and it lives up to its glamorous new name one hundred percent.

Book one sees unconventional-looking Lizzie Summers dealing with a fairy common teenage problem – she doesn’t measure up to those perfect-looking models in the magazines – but with the uncommon added pressure of daily life with a mother who actually is one of those models. Lizzie’s self-confidence takes a bashing every time she’s forced to accompany her mum to another A-list party, and her supermodel mother doesn’t seem to have any idea what it’s like for her. Add in some trouble with schoolwork and a crush on the cutest boy in school, and along with her best friends Hudson and Carina, Lizzie’s just a regular teenage girl… but when she messes up, the whole world knows about it.

A cover quote from Cecily von Ziegesar states that Gossip Girl herself would love this book, and while there are some major similarities between the two series – the New York setting, the red carpet events, the super rich lead characters – there are some major differences too. Lizzie, Carina and Hudson are a couple of years younger than Blair and Serena, and the story reflects that. This is a book about the importance of friendship, staying true to yourself and the bittersweetness of first love.

Despite the glitz and glamour of Lizzie’s lifestyle, tween readers will relate to her because underneath it all, her problems are universal. I’d recommend this one to readers in the eleven to fourteen age group who would like the inside scoop on what it’s really like to be the daughter of a rich and famous parent.

Out: now.

Review: Torn by Cat Clarke

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Torn - Cat Clarke

Four girls. One dead body. A whole lot of guilt.

Alice King isn’t expecting the holiday of a lifetime when she sets off with her classmates on a trip to the Scottish wilderness, but she’s not exactly prepared for an experience beyond her darkest nightmares…

Alice and her best friend Cass are stuck in a cabin with Polly, the social outcast, and Rae, the moody emo-girl. Then there’s Tara – queen of mean. Powerful, beautiful and cruel, she likes nothing better than putting people down.

Cass decides it’s time to teach Tara a lesson she’ll never forget. And so begins a series of events that will change the lives of these girls forever…

A compelling story of guilty secrets, troubled friendship and burgeoning love. (Summary from Goodreads.com).

Drawing on scenarios more usually encountered in teen horror movies, Torn is the gripping story of schoolgirl politics getting way out of hand. Cat Clarke’s follow up to bestselling debut novel Entangled takes a fresh look at what happens when a group of teenagers are given a taste of freedom on a school wilderness trip… with truly disastrous consequences. Part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, Torn is essentially a book about growing up – think coming-of-age story, but terrifying. It’s about that moment when you realise that crying to your parents or hiding behind the sofa won’t fix things – that sometimes life can spiral out of control and there’s no way back to the safety of before.

Narrator Alice King is the type of character that readers will instantly empathise with. At school, she’s neither queen bee nor outcast, instead occupying the no-man’s land between the two extremes. Like many of us, she’s accutely aware of the injustice perpetuated by the in crowd, but not quite brave – or powerful – enough to befriend those deemed Untouchable. Her own acceptance is far too tenuous to take such a risk. With insight and dark humour in equal measure, Torn really digs down into the truth about the high school social order, going beyond the simple mean-girls-vs-losers dynamic we often see perpetuated in popular culture and holding the mirror up to a reality that’s far more complex.

Cat Clarke is an edgy writer, and that’s her strength. She doesn’t write tidy stories where enemies are safely dispatched and a happy ending is guaranteed for all. She writes in shades of grey, and the result is honest and raw narratives where things get messy and hearts get broken – sometimes readers’ hearts. Even the love story that unfolds alongside Torn‘s central mystery is conflicted, brimming over with bittersweetness of the most poignant variety. Like Entangled, Torn sees its teenage protagonist forced to confront uncomfortable truths about herself, and in both cases that makes for fascinating reading. But where Torn surpasses Entangled is in the way it takes us on our own journey of self-discovery – the way Alice’s story feels as though it’s only one wrong decision away from being our own. Seriously scary stuff.

Torn is one hell of a book. It’s stomach-churningly tense, twisty in the cleverest way and completely impossible to put down. I read it straight through in one go, on the edge of my seat, only pausing every now and then to remind myself to breathe. If you like your YA fiction dangerous and authentic, Torn is a must-read.

Out: December 2011, UK