Charlotte Huang

You can find more of my reviews at Carlene Inspired.
I recieved an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Chelsea has the chance of a lifetime, not only does she get to meet one of her favorite bands, she gets to be their new lead singer. Melbourne is an up and coming rock group with a female front, with a full length tour ahead of them Chelsea is the final part of their puzzle. With newly found fame though comes publicity, other famous stars, and emotions that Chelsea doesn't know what to do with. As a social outcast at her old high school, fame is something entirely new to Chelsea and when it comes down to the schedule, the guys, and even her best friend she doesn't know if she can make it through the year to hold onto her new position as lead singer.

Chelsea is a fun character, she's not "perfect" looking, she has a whole lot of spunk, and she's never quite figured out the whole friendship and relationship thing. She's also got a set of pipes on her that lands her not only one a pop music competition, but now as the lead singer of one of her favorite bands. Tell me that's not a dream come true? Except, that's what it is, to good to be true. If you've ever seen a band go through a public breakup, you have to know the behind the scenes isn't as easy as it looks. Chelsea has to go through some crappy situations, major emotions, and a lot of publicity as she tries to figure out her role in Melbourne. We see the rock star life through Chelsea's eyes, we also see her growing up from teenager to young adult, and all the mistakes she makes along the way. I really liked Chelsea because of those mistakes though, because honestly no one knows how we'd act when thrust into fame. Would I say no to the hot actor I've always wanted to kiss me? Probably not. Then there's her friends, her family, and her band mates. The secondary characters in this book are a lot stronger than I expected them to be, they have unique voices, their interactions separate them out as individuals, and they were distinctly different in how they acted and how they treated Chelsea. I genuinely enjoy a book that makes me feel like I've met everyone and actually know them, rather just pass them by. Charlotte Huang does a great job of giving the characters pasts and showing how history shaped the band into who it was at the time of Chelsea's joining.

Chelsea's life lacks true parental involvement and friendship, something I struggled with a lot at first. High school doesn't seem that long ago, but I never saw anyone become a true social outcast. Chelsea was like a pariah to her entire school and that was hard to connect with. Then she has family who want her to succeed, but seem to be disconnected from her rise in fame. At times they seem proud of her to their friends, but they lacked real parental guidance and emotions. While I can see how this is reality for some people, I couldn't connect with Chelsea on those two things because it seems crazy to me that you'd be this newly famous person, yet you have no friends and your parents are more interested in impressing their friends. There's a lot of betrayal in this book and at times I really didn't like some of the characters, Chelsea included, but all the character's personalities and actions totally make sense by the end and I was genuinely pleased with how this book finished off.

This should come as no surprise to my readers, or just anyone who knows me at all, but I loved this book. I knew I had to read this when I saw the mention of Almost Famous. My readers know I gravitate to music books and if you've ever visited my blog before you know I once wanted to work in music, I even interned with a music PR company during the summer once, so books like this just speak to me. Plus, once you start reading this book you find yourself hooked, because Charlotte Huang knows how to write and it's easy to visualize the entire novel like a movie. The best part though, is how realistic everything in this book is. From the backstage antics to the tour bus visitors, as well as the band mate drama and exhaustion from traveling, everything is pretty darn accurate. There's even a sneaky little tour booklet in the back that I will admit I read in great detail, what band fan girl hasn't done this? This is definitely a book I recommend, both to my YA and NA readers, and all my music lovers.… (más)

High School is hell; all who survives it realizes that at some point in their life. I was attracted to this book because I was curious as to how much technology and, I’d like to think, advanced emotional and psychological growth, had changed being a teenager.

In this story, Skylar is looking forward to her senior year at a preppy, East Coast boarding school. It’s going to be the best. Year. Ever. She is going with one of the stars of the soccer team; her friends are ultra-cool, and she’s in the best dorm.

As fate would have it, when she arrives, Skylar has been transferred to another dorm…one off the beaten path of all the socially cool events, and gasp, filled with geeks. Honest to god weirdos.

Her best friend drops her, and the other girls follow suit. She lies to her boyfriend, which causes severe trust issues. And it seems the geeks in her new dorm might, sort of, kind of like her.

It turn out that high school hasn’t changed at all since I graduated almost 50 years ago. This is a quick read, with fast-paced writing and not an abundance of description.

Going Geek gets 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.… (más)

For The Record is a fast-paced contemporary novel about life on the road in a band. The main protagonist, Chelsea, participates in a talent show similar to American Idol and though she doesn’t win the competition her musical talents are noticed by music executives. She soon gets the chance be the lead singer in a band called Melbourne and shoots to stardom at a very fast pace. She soon realizes how life on the road is not as easy as it looks and learns what it truly means to be a musician.

The book gives a pretty accurate view of a musician’s life behind the scenes. As we read along we learn firsthand about the ups and downs of a lifestyle that is constantly on-the-go. Chelsea and the rest of the band/crew are constantly traveling, they don’t really get to do that much sightseeing, there is not a lot of down time, and the living spaces are quite cramped. With all of these things combined it seems that this lifestyle is not very glamorous and because of all the conditions stated above sometimes drama ensues due to stress and lack of sleep. Despite all of the bad things, it still seems thrilling to be able to perform the songs you love before an audience that appreciates the music and to be able to interact with fans.

As for the characters, everyone was pretty likable except for the protagonist, Chelsea. I got so annoyed with her constant self-pity and how she virtually puts herself down almost all of the time. I understood that she was very insecure and that this was a completely new situation for her, but I sometimes I wish she had put a little more gusto into beliving in herself. I also felt that she jumped into a “relationship” with Lucas, the bad boy actor, way too fast. She had only met the guy once and instantly she was infatuated with him. I can’t stand insta-love in any book!

Looking at the story itself I felt that the plot was very predictable, but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an enjoyable book. It’s a light, fun story that isn’t meant to be taken so seriously. My main critique of this book is that I wished there was more character development and that the plot had more substance.… (más)