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alienor's review against another edition
4.0
●•Reread 04/07 : Don't judge me. Trust me, I need it.•●
SPECIAL EDIT 04/24 (see below)
EXT. COUNTRY HOUSE - 04/22
In some one-horse town of French country, far later than the dusk, a woman's shrill cry split the dark silence.
INT. COUNTRY HOUSE - 04/22
Four pairs of eyes
ANNA, French Reviewer and Teacher, 30s and who isn't a creature, thank you very much, stops squealing.
ANNA
(excited)
That was sooo good!
INDY, 6, cat, resumes toileting after throwing another WTF?! glance around him.
JOY, 7 months, boxer, ambles over to the couch and sits down in front of Anna.
ANNA
(louder)
I mean, this book was just so freaking cute! No, no, I'm not saying it was perfect but come on, look at me! LOOK AT ME!
(stands up and does an awkward little dance)
It made me so happy!
JOY
(staring)
...
The phone RINGS. Anna drops the e-reader she was still clutching to her heart
*3259 rings later*
ANNA
Hey sorry I couldn't find my fucking phone in time -
VOICE
(over phone)
Whatever but hey! What were you doing today? I tried to call you like, thousands times!
ANNA
Oh God you will not believe what I just read : a contemporary romance setting in (whisper) Hollywood.
VOICE
(incredulous)
You did not. I mean, you hate everything Hollywood related! You don't even know most of the actors' names in the movies you watch, and I don't even talk about your stupid gossip magazines phobia!
ANNA
I know, and that's exactly why I'm beyond enthusiastic right now. Hear me out : you know I crave for realistic and multi-layered characters and how much it's difficult to find believable and adorable romances lately, yet how stunning as it is, this book offered me everything I was desperate to read. Don't get fooled, I'm not saying that it's perfect, it really isn't, but even if the story isn't free of cliché, I fucking adored it - (starts writing down). Look, let me tell you what I loved, okay?
VOICE
Okay, okay, it does seem amazing, but didn't you just say that it wasn't perfect?
ANNA
But that's the beauty of it! Please don't expect a perfect book, because you would be disappointed. Indeed there are cliché (for example : Ally doesn't realize that she's gorgeous, Liam is well, insanely hot, we come across a few overused sayings...). However, how could I complain when the writing was compelling, the dialogues funny and that I ended loving the characters as they'd be friends of mine? When it seems that I haven't root for a couple that much for months? I couldn't. I won't.
▒ THE END ▒
PS : For once, after many books where French language was terrible, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of grammar errors (except bonne nuit) and I wanted to throw a little thank you here, because that's amazing.
Edit : The truth is, I thought about the book again and I realized that almost all the women were portrayed in a bad way. I mean, it's mostly Ally's vision of them and I already said that she was far from perfect and could be annoying - her evolution was amazing and that's why I loved this book but still. Frankly, I think that it didn't bother me as much as usual because... Well, because it's Hollywood and I have preconceived ideas, I must admit, and I'm sorry about that. I fell in love with this story so much that it overtook my usual peeves, so please take this into account, for what it's worth.♡
Oh, and before I forget, of course,
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chrissireads's review against another edition
3.0
I have had Behind The Scenes on my radar for what seems like ages, so I was pleased to finally get around to picking it up on my week break from my job. It was engaging and fun to read.
It centres around Ally who has a famous teen actress as a best friend. Ally doesn’t have it easy. Her father’s medical bills are threatening her dream to go to Columbia to study. Ally and her friend Van come up with a plan to solve the issue which would involve Ally being Van’s on-set assistant. Ally has a great time being an assistant, she gets to earn good money and spend some time with Van whilst Van films. She also finds herself falling for Liam, Van’s stunning co-star. However, Van’s publicist decides that Van and Liam should ‘date’ for the tabloids which begins to cause all sorts of problems for Liam and Ally.
Behind The Scenes is such a readable love story. It being centred in Hollywood means there’s so much drama to read about. It’s great to try and imagine what happens in Hollywood. We all know that it isn’t exactly what it seems. I loved reading about how contrived relationships can be in the media. I’m pretty sure that it happens much more than we might think.
What I loved about Behind The Scenes was the story of friendship amongst the romance. Ally and Van’s friendship was real and survived the test of time (and Hollywood) even though they were so different. The romance is completely adorable too. Liam is such a fantastic character. I really believed in the relationship.
Dahlia Adler’s writing style is so easy to read. I found it really comforting to read. I lapped up the story, completely engrossed in the plot. I shall definitely be reading more from Dahlia in the future if this book is anything to go by!
It centres around Ally who has a famous teen actress as a best friend. Ally doesn’t have it easy. Her father’s medical bills are threatening her dream to go to Columbia to study. Ally and her friend Van come up with a plan to solve the issue which would involve Ally being Van’s on-set assistant. Ally has a great time being an assistant, she gets to earn good money and spend some time with Van whilst Van films. She also finds herself falling for Liam, Van’s stunning co-star. However, Van’s publicist decides that Van and Liam should ‘date’ for the tabloids which begins to cause all sorts of problems for Liam and Ally.
Behind The Scenes is such a readable love story. It being centred in Hollywood means there’s so much drama to read about. It’s great to try and imagine what happens in Hollywood. We all know that it isn’t exactly what it seems. I loved reading about how contrived relationships can be in the media. I’m pretty sure that it happens much more than we might think.
What I loved about Behind The Scenes was the story of friendship amongst the romance. Ally and Van’s friendship was real and survived the test of time (and Hollywood) even though they were so different. The romance is completely adorable too. Liam is such a fantastic character. I really believed in the relationship.
Dahlia Adler’s writing style is so easy to read. I found it really comforting to read. I lapped up the story, completely engrossed in the plot. I shall definitely be reading more from Dahlia in the future if this book is anything to go by!
frogy927's review against another edition
2.0
This book was remarkably mediocre. I enjoyed the last 25%, but everything before that had a very same-y feel, like I've read all the tropes before and enjoyed them better then. I wish I had known that you didn't need to read the first one first, since the sequel is really the one I'm interested in. I guess I'll find out if it's any better.
pagesplotsandpints's review against another edition
4.0
Initial Impressions 1/10/15: YAY I finally read this! It was so much fun. I loved the friendship between Ally & Vanessa. I always get scared with celeb-books because I hate the drama of bratty actors/actresses so I was SO glad it wasn't a diva best friend! Totally reminded me of Dee & Reagan in Open Road Summer. The romance was so cute and lots of fun.
Full review posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 2/18/15:
Shame on me for taking so long to read this book! I’ve been talking to the lovely Dahlia Adler for a while but only really got to know her after BEHIND THE SCENES had already come out so somehow this book fell to the wayside (aka: got stuck under my massive TBR pile) for way too long! I’m glad that I finally got to read her debut earlier this year because it was such lovely book and I pretty much inhaled it in two days!
The best thing to come out of BEHIND THE SCENES for me was the wonderful friendship between Ally and Vanessa. I absolutely loved how the two girls were there for each other through thick and thin but also that their friendship is imperfect — which made it even more realistic to me. While I’m definitely not in the same situation (my best friends aren’t the stars of their own TV shows, ya know?), my friends and I each have our differences which really make our friendships unique, and that was something that I really connected with in Ally and Vanessa’s friendship. They connect on so many things and they really love and support each other but they also end up butting heads on some hot button issues because even though they’re best friends, they’re bound to disagree on some important things. It just felt very realistic to me and opened up that line of connection for me to really feel like I knew these characters.
This also really spanned to the family aspect of the book as well. Ally is really tight with her family — especially with her father being sick — so that really sets up a situation where Ally needs to be there for her family, both emotionally and physically. Through Vanessa’s close friendship with Ally, she ends up sort of being part of the family too, which I loved seeing since that’s something I’ve had with a few of my best friend’s families. Vanessa is also there for Ally as she tries to support her family (and herself) throughout this hard time in her life. There’s a giant crossroads with Ally and her decision about college. She doesn’t want to leave her family but she’s always had her dream school in mind so it’s really a constant rotation of support between Ally, her family, and her best friends for everyone to really figure out the best possible situation. I really admired how well all of these relationships work and really how positive everyone seemed to be throughout it all!
What was also really fun about BEHIND THE SCENES was actually the “behind the scenes” look at Hollywood and the acting business. Obviously it’s not something that I know anything about so it’s really fun to get a glimpse at that lifestyle and also see the normality of it all. It’s easy to get caught up in the fame of celebrities but I really loved that the “human side” of each of the TV stars (minus the divas) was portrayed. These actors really are just normal people who have a job that makes them famous. It was just a really fun peek at that side of the business.
And of course, the romance was delightfully swoony. I really loved how it developed and it was really interesting to see each character’s approach and how so many people were actually involved. I loved Ally’s resistance, actually. She tried to think the worst of Liam because in her mind, he really was just a celebrity with a built-up reputation so it was especially exciting to get to know him more as Ally did! I really loved him.
All in all, BEHIND THE SCENES was another hit for me! I’ll admit that I had a few preconceived notions about a book portraying show business but that was something the characters and I learned — things are not always what they seem! It was so great to get to know these characters and I can’t wait to get to know even more in the companion novel, UNDER THE LIGHTS, this year!
Full review posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 2/18/15:
Shame on me for taking so long to read this book! I’ve been talking to the lovely Dahlia Adler for a while but only really got to know her after BEHIND THE SCENES had already come out so somehow this book fell to the wayside (aka: got stuck under my massive TBR pile) for way too long! I’m glad that I finally got to read her debut earlier this year because it was such lovely book and I pretty much inhaled it in two days!
The best thing to come out of BEHIND THE SCENES for me was the wonderful friendship between Ally and Vanessa. I absolutely loved how the two girls were there for each other through thick and thin but also that their friendship is imperfect — which made it even more realistic to me. While I’m definitely not in the same situation (my best friends aren’t the stars of their own TV shows, ya know?), my friends and I each have our differences which really make our friendships unique, and that was something that I really connected with in Ally and Vanessa’s friendship. They connect on so many things and they really love and support each other but they also end up butting heads on some hot button issues because even though they’re best friends, they’re bound to disagree on some important things. It just felt very realistic to me and opened up that line of connection for me to really feel like I knew these characters.
This also really spanned to the family aspect of the book as well. Ally is really tight with her family — especially with her father being sick — so that really sets up a situation where Ally needs to be there for her family, both emotionally and physically. Through Vanessa’s close friendship with Ally, she ends up sort of being part of the family too, which I loved seeing since that’s something I’ve had with a few of my best friend’s families. Vanessa is also there for Ally as she tries to support her family (and herself) throughout this hard time in her life. There’s a giant crossroads with Ally and her decision about college. She doesn’t want to leave her family but she’s always had her dream school in mind so it’s really a constant rotation of support between Ally, her family, and her best friends for everyone to really figure out the best possible situation. I really admired how well all of these relationships work and really how positive everyone seemed to be throughout it all!
What was also really fun about BEHIND THE SCENES was actually the “behind the scenes” look at Hollywood and the acting business. Obviously it’s not something that I know anything about so it’s really fun to get a glimpse at that lifestyle and also see the normality of it all. It’s easy to get caught up in the fame of celebrities but I really loved that the “human side” of each of the TV stars (minus the divas) was portrayed. These actors really are just normal people who have a job that makes them famous. It was just a really fun peek at that side of the business.
And of course, the romance was delightfully swoony. I really loved how it developed and it was really interesting to see each character’s approach and how so many people were actually involved. I loved Ally’s resistance, actually. She tried to think the worst of Liam because in her mind, he really was just a celebrity with a built-up reputation so it was especially exciting to get to know him more as Ally did! I really loved him.
All in all, BEHIND THE SCENES was another hit for me! I’ll admit that I had a few preconceived notions about a book portraying show business but that was something the characters and I learned — things are not always what they seem! It was so great to get to know these characters and I can’t wait to get to know even more in the companion novel, UNDER THE LIGHTS, this year!
dominicanbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable and cuteee. Maybe a tad too dramatic for my taste. I'll definitely be checking out the rest of Adler's books.
shogins's review against another edition
1.0
The plot summary made this sound extremely my jam but I found it to be repetitive, one-note, and fairly boring.
hazelstaybookish's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating: 4.5
And I quote: "Of course you were enough, Al. You were everything."
*MAJOR SWOON OVER LIAM* *FEELS FOR ALLY* *CRIES BECAUSE I'M FINISHED READING AND NEED JOSH'S BOOK*
And I quote: "Of course you were enough, Al. You were everything."
*MAJOR SWOON OVER LIAM* *FEELS FOR ALLY* *CRIES BECAUSE I'M FINISHED READING AND NEED JOSH'S BOOK*
shadyeglenn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bookmarklit's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars | This was cute but a bit more drama than I usually am okay with. The Hollywood scene is definitely fun to read about. I liked all of the characters better than the main character.. so I'm excited to move on to the second book!
letsgolesbians's review against another edition
3.0
3.33? 3.5? Rounding down.
This was one of those books where whenever the main character did something annoying or frustrating, I had to remind myself that that's how teenagers act. As an adult reading YA novels, there's a grey area for these characters, because some authors are so great at writing teenagers without making adults want to strangle them, but then a lot of books have these characters who are either annoying or do annoying things, and it's difficult to tell if I'm annoyed because of how the character is written, or because the character is a teenager. Regardless, this book was enjoyable but a bit predictable. Honestly, I only read it because I want to read Under the Lights, but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.
This was one of those books where whenever the main character did something annoying or frustrating, I had to remind myself that that's how teenagers act. As an adult reading YA novels, there's a grey area for these characters, because some authors are so great at writing teenagers without making adults want to strangle them, but then a lot of books have these characters who are either annoying or do annoying things, and it's difficult to tell if I'm annoyed because of how the character is written, or because the character is a teenager. Regardless, this book was enjoyable but a bit predictable. Honestly, I only read it because I want to read Under the Lights, but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.