longwinded, confusing and utterly predictable

 Betrayal by Sasha Blake

I’m sure you’ve already guessed from the title that I wasn’t very fond of this book. That being said, when I first picked it up I really liked the sound of it, unfortunately it came up short.                       

The most notable feature of this book is that its narrator varies and often you see the story from the points of view of the characters Claudia, Emily, Jack, Innocence and Nathan. Yet there is so much emphasis on informing the reader of the characters backgrounds (it jumps between decades making it even more confusing) that the plot is only really established near the end of the novel.  What’s more I was able to tell what was going o happen halfway through the book and I’m pretty sure that’s not what Blake intended...

That being said the book did have its positives as it didn’t pretend to be something it wasn’t, it offered light hearted reading and, except for a few minor circumstances, delivered on this.

Yet, what really clinched the book for me was the ending. I hated it. I especially hate it when a book ends just as the climax is solved and doesn’t fully explain what happened afterwards, in my opinion that’s just plain lazy.

2/5

As cliché as it sounds, you really should never judge a book by its cover...

Spolight by Ilana Fox 

I’ll be honest, when I first picked up this book in my local library I was looking for an easy read.  I’d just finished my AS  exams and I wanted something that was light, not too serious, and filled with lots of romance, the pink cover and pair of enviable legs suggested that this just might be the book for me. I was right, however only slightly, not only did the book provide all of the above, it also proved to encompass so much more.                                                                                                                                                                 

 The story shows the points of view of the two main characters Madison Miller and Jess Piper, two girls seemingly worlds apart whose paths cross due to a chance acquaintance with notorious businessman Beau Silverman. Madison moves to New York under the (slightly naive) assumption that she’ll achieve her dream of becoming a famous singer, as in most books her dreams eventually do come true, however only after she’s slummed it in an apartment in Harlem working as an exotic dancer. Jess couldn’t be any more different, she has a job as a fashion assistant in a newspaper and is set to marry an up and coming newspaper star, yet on the day of her wedding she leaves (in a very Julia Roberts-esque runaway bride fashion) and flees to new York to pursue her dreams of becoming a fashion designer.                                                                                                                                                                 

A lot happens in between, and the book proves to be about a lot more than just pursuing your dreams, I’m not saying it doesn’t convey this message but it also introduces other elements such as morals and how prepared you are to compromise your beliefs in the pursuit of achieving fame. The books also ,funnily enough, shows the  pressures fame can bring and touches on the unspoken issues of bulimia and drugs that often occur in the media.                                                                                

So, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that I liked this book; I indeed liked it very much. It does what it says on the tin and a bit more.  If this is what Ilana Fox has to offer, I look forward to reading her other book “The Making of Mia” to see if I’ll enjoy it just as much as I have enjoyed this one.

 4/5 stars