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brandypainter's review
4.0
Originally posted at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Audrey Wait! by Robin Benway came to my attention when Chachic and Heidi read it together and both wrote reviews of it. It sounded like one of those fun stories just perfect for when you had a bad week and need a good unwinding book. It was exactly that and I'm so glad I had it on hand when I had such a week.
Yes this book requires the reader to suspend disbelief from the beginning. You need to know going in that this is a situation that would most likely never happen. It isn't completely out of the realm of possibility though. Just because it never has happened doesn't mean it couldn't. I appreciated the way Benway unfolded the story. While the idea that someone could become famous because a song was written about them might be a little far fetched everything that follows from that makes sense and none of it overly dramatic.
I think I liked this so much because Audrey is a believable character and I really liked her. I could relate to how she felt about music. (I may have damaged some speakers due to loud volume levels in my life once or twice. At least.) I really liked her enthusiasm for life and her honest straightforward personality. She is portrayed in a realistic way too. She is naive in many respects and acts exactly like a 16 year old, which is refreshing. I also enjoyed her relationship with her friends, Victoria and Jonah. James, her new boyfriend, is also wonderfully realistic and completely adorable. I found the way ex-boyfriend Evan was portrayed to be refreshing as well. I liked what Benway did with that whole scenario.
Basically this book gave me everything I wanted from it, a lovely fun romp of a read.
Note for Concerned Parents: There is quite a bit of strong language used and there are references to sex and drugs.
Audrey Wait! by Robin Benway came to my attention when Chachic and Heidi read it together and both wrote reviews of it. It sounded like one of those fun stories just perfect for when you had a bad week and need a good unwinding book. It was exactly that and I'm so glad I had it on hand when I had such a week.
Yes this book requires the reader to suspend disbelief from the beginning. You need to know going in that this is a situation that would most likely never happen. It isn't completely out of the realm of possibility though. Just because it never has happened doesn't mean it couldn't. I appreciated the way Benway unfolded the story. While the idea that someone could become famous because a song was written about them might be a little far fetched everything that follows from that makes sense and none of it overly dramatic.
I think I liked this so much because Audrey is a believable character and I really liked her. I could relate to how she felt about music. (I may have damaged some speakers due to loud volume levels in my life once or twice. At least.) I really liked her enthusiasm for life and her honest straightforward personality. She is portrayed in a realistic way too. She is naive in many respects and acts exactly like a 16 year old, which is refreshing. I also enjoyed her relationship with her friends, Victoria and Jonah. James, her new boyfriend, is also wonderfully realistic and completely adorable. I found the way ex-boyfriend Evan was portrayed to be refreshing as well. I liked what Benway did with that whole scenario.
Basically this book gave me everything I wanted from it, a lovely fun romp of a read.
Note for Concerned Parents: There is quite a bit of strong language used and there are references to sex and drugs.
erinnichole13's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely loved this book! I couldn't put it down and laughed out loud on several occasions.
amibunk's review
3.0
While I enjoyed the main character, Audrey's, voice throughout the novel, this book didn't actually do that much for me.
ckausch's review
3.0
Very cute first novel. It is dying to be made into a movie, it's so ready for it. Audrey is a high school girl who SERIOUSLY loves music. She has recently broken up with her boyfriend who is in a band, and attends their concert right before the school year is about to start. She's shocked when the band's final song of the night is a new song called "Audrey, wait!" and it's all about the break-up. Her world is shaken up when the band is signed and "Audrey, wait!" becomes a world-wide hit. Since she lives in LA, it is very easy for the paparazzi to learn about the girl behind the song and she becomes as famous as the band. While this new-found fame comes with some benefits, it's not all it's cracked up to be. The book follows a few months in her life as she deals with the song, the fame, and how the fame affects not justr her but everyone around her. Each chapter starts with a quote from a song, which one can assume are all bands Audrey - and the authort - like; a nice touch that enhances Audrey's love of music. It's a quick, fun read.
afretts's review
3.0
This book wasn't my favorite. It was fine. I didn't want to jump off a roof while reading it, but several things drove me up the wall.
1. THE PREMISE: I couldn't get behind the preposterous premise. Girl breaks up with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend writes a hit song about her. Girl becomes super famous because of it.
NOPE.
This is too far-fetched to me. No one would care about Audrey. Does anyone care who Layla (Eric Clapton), Melissa (Allman Brothers), Angie (The Rolling Stones), Eleanor (The Beatles), etc. are? No, they do not. No one is or was stalking these women like they are Audrey in this book.
I knew what the book was about when I checked it out of the library, but I didn't think Audrey's "fame" would be at this level. I thought maybe she would be locally famous and harassed at her high school. No, she is INTERNATIONALLY famous. She's in tabloids, she's followed by paparazzi- she basically becomes a reluctant Kim Kardashian.
I couldn't get into it, because it was too fantastical.
2. THE CHARACTERS: Everyone in this book sucks. Audrey is super self-obsessed and thinks she's sOoOoOo kewlllzzzz- which is fine. I'm all for self- esteem, but Audrey puts other people down because they're not as into music as her or she doesn't think they're into the music for the right reasons or whatever. She's just generally a jerk so doesn't seem to care about anything but herself.
Her relationship with Victoria is a strange one. In the first half of the book, Audrey is a terrible friend to Victoria. Everything is about Audrey and Audrey's life and Audrey's problems. Victoria seems to exist solely to make Audrey feel better about things. They don't discuss anything about Victoria and Audrey doesn't ask.
In the second half of the book Victoria is a super jerk to Audrey.
2a. AUDREY IS (POORLY) RECYCLED: The entire time I was reading this book I felt like I was reading a crappier version of characters from other books. Audrey is very similar to Reagan from [b:Open Road Summer|16081202|Open Road Summer|Emery Lord|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405104324s/16081202.jpg|21880142] and Lola from [b:Lola and the Boy Next Door|9961796|Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)|Stephanie Perkins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358271832s/9961796.jpg|7149084]. It's like the author took the most obnoxious qualities from any character who loves "cool" music in a book and squashed them together to create some sort of pretentious music asshole Frankenstein.
So this book was fine. I don't think it withstands the "age test." Some YA novels are for everyone. This one may actually be for young adults only.
This review is also posted on my blog: Crazy Something Maybe
1. THE PREMISE: I couldn't get behind the preposterous premise. Girl breaks up with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend writes a hit song about her. Girl becomes super famous because of it.
NOPE.
This is too far-fetched to me. No one would care about Audrey. Does anyone care who Layla (Eric Clapton), Melissa (Allman Brothers), Angie (The Rolling Stones), Eleanor (The Beatles), etc. are? No, they do not. No one is or was stalking these women like they are Audrey in this book.
I knew what the book was about when I checked it out of the library, but I didn't think Audrey's "fame" would be at this level. I thought maybe she would be locally famous and harassed at her high school. No, she is INTERNATIONALLY famous. She's in tabloids, she's followed by paparazzi- she basically becomes a reluctant Kim Kardashian.
I couldn't get into it, because it was too fantastical.
2. THE CHARACTERS: Everyone in this book sucks. Audrey is super self-obsessed and thinks she's sOoOoOo kewlllzzzz- which is fine. I'm all for self- esteem, but Audrey puts other people down because they're not as into music as her or she doesn't think they're into the music for the right reasons or whatever. She's just generally a jerk so doesn't seem to care about anything but herself.
Her relationship with Victoria is a strange one. In the first half of the book, Audrey is a terrible friend to Victoria. Everything is about Audrey and Audrey's life and Audrey's problems. Victoria seems to exist solely to make Audrey feel better about things. They don't discuss anything about Victoria and Audrey doesn't ask.
In the second half of the book Victoria is a super jerk to Audrey.
Spoiler
Victoria becomes super obsessed with getting free stuff because of Audrey's "fame." She pressures her into attending events she doesn't want to go to and even goes as far as to get Audrey a reality TV show. Of course, none of this is ever discussed by the characters and they make up without actually resolving anything. Cue my eye roll.2a. AUDREY IS (POORLY) RECYCLED: The entire time I was reading this book I felt like I was reading a crappier version of characters from other books. Audrey is very similar to Reagan from [b:Open Road Summer|16081202|Open Road Summer|Emery Lord|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405104324s/16081202.jpg|21880142] and Lola from [b:Lola and the Boy Next Door|9961796|Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)|Stephanie Perkins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358271832s/9961796.jpg|7149084]. It's like the author took the most obnoxious qualities from any character who loves "cool" music in a book and squashed them together to create some sort of pretentious music asshole Frankenstein.
So this book was fine. I don't think it withstands the "age test." Some YA novels are for everyone. This one may actually be for young adults only.
This review is also posted on my blog: Crazy Something Maybe
forever_day's review against another edition
2.0
Overall rating: 2.5???
Book warnings: swearing, sex and drug references
I'll start by saying I skipped big parts of this book so my review is not from someone who has had the full experience. However, there was a reason I skipped. Now, I have rated books of this quality a lot higher before and it is not a bad book it's just that I've now read enough similar ones that it felt unoriginal. I liked the concept and they weren't bad characters but I just feel like I've met them before in another book and there was enough cussing to put me off.
Basically, if I'd read this a few years ago it would have been rated higher and read more but I'm going off this genre a bit.
Book warnings: swearing, sex and drug references
I'll start by saying I skipped big parts of this book so my review is not from someone who has had the full experience. However, there was a reason I skipped. Now, I have rated books of this quality a lot higher before and it is not a bad book it's just that I've now read enough similar ones that it felt unoriginal. I liked the concept and they weren't bad characters but I just feel like I've met them before in another book and there was enough cussing to put me off.
Basically, if I'd read this a few years ago it would have been rated higher and read more but I'm going off this genre a bit.
bebbiie's review against another edition
4.0
I first read this several years ago I actually have the original cover, and my copy is insanely beat up from when I would take it to school to read (at least 4 years ago) I still re-read it sometimes now.
A very very cute little easy read, somehow it manages to bypass the clichés and still makes me laugh even though I know it almost word for word now. Would 100% recommend for a really easy happy book between something more 'meaty'
A very very cute little easy read, somehow it manages to bypass the clichés and still makes me laugh even though I know it almost word for word now. Would 100% recommend for a really easy happy book between something more 'meaty'
nssutton's review
3.0
a decent enough tale for a scenester teen. having been out of that scene for oh, at least 7 years, i found it really hard to relate. is that the mark of a good ya book, which speaks to an audience at a certain moment in their love? ehh..