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emmascc's review against another edition
4.0
i absolutely loved this, mostly because vanessa and bri. it took me a while to warm up to josh's perspective and for him to grow up a little. i may be in love with vanessa and bri's relationshio,
storytimed's review against another edition
4.0
Though this is another queer YA/NA novel where the main tension is a character discovering her sexuality/coming out, the showbiz aspect keeps everything feeling fresh and high-stakes. It also meant that Van had a very compelling reason to stay closeted. I did like that Brianna was very much out and had ex-girlfriends at the same time: we get more than one presentation of queerness and queer identity.
Though we're used to the alternating narrator structure setting up romantic plotlines, Van and Josh's storyline is all about friendship and the thematic similarity of both of them learning how to stand on their own. I actually ended up liking Josh a lot more than I thought I would. He's a douchebag, but affable about it, and the interplay between him and Van made me want a buddy-comedy setup where they get a shitty apartment and live together as roommates.
Though we're used to the alternating narrator structure setting up romantic plotlines, Van and Josh's storyline is all about friendship and the thematic similarity of both of them learning how to stand on their own. I actually ended up liking Josh a lot more than I thought I would. He's a douchebag, but affable about it, and the interplay between him and Van made me want a buddy-comedy setup where they get a shitty apartment and live together as roommates.
jrbenson95's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
ambers0511's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Under the Lights is an adorable, heartwarming contemporary that brings out all the warm fuzzies while still dealing with a lot of deep, important issues.
This is a book about two girls who fall in love, but it is so much more than just a love story. It deals with the struggle of being a minority that is in the public eye, and how to find the courage to be yourself in a society that wants you to conform to its ideas of perfection.
Luckily, this book managed to avoid the hitch that books about this subject matter often fall into of ending up sounding more like a public service announcement and less like an actual story. I was engaged in the story and I enjoyed the fluffy, romantic parts and the friendship parts just as much as the parts that dealt with the major issues.
I did have a few issues with this book but these issues didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book. I felt that Josh at times fell into the classic bad boy trope, but Adler really managed to turn that trope around towards the end of the book. I also never felt a super close attachment to the characters. I did like them, but if they had died or something, I wouldn't have been overly upset.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It deals with a lot of important issues, and I think that this is something that everyone should try to experience in order to broaden your horizons.
Under the Lights is an adorable, heartwarming contemporary that brings out all the warm fuzzies while still dealing with a lot of deep, important issues.
This is a book about two girls who fall in love, but it is so much more than just a love story. It deals with the struggle of being a minority that is in the public eye, and how to find the courage to be yourself in a society that wants you to conform to its ideas of perfection.
Luckily, this book managed to avoid the hitch that books about this subject matter often fall into of ending up sounding more like a public service announcement and less like an actual story. I was engaged in the story and I enjoyed the fluffy, romantic parts and the friendship parts just as much as the parts that dealt with the major issues.
I did have a few issues with this book but these issues didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book. I felt that Josh at times fell into the classic bad boy trope, but Adler really managed to turn that trope around towards the end of the book. I also never felt a super close attachment to the characters. I did like them, but if they had died or something, I wouldn't have been overly upset.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It deals with a lot of important issues, and I think that this is something that everyone should try to experience in order to broaden your horizons.
elaina1124's review against another edition
3.0
it was cheesy and josh is an asshole, but vanessa and bri were cute
rileymc_queen's review against another edition
The author writes 19 year olds like she’s never met one. None of the characters are likeable or relatable
alienor's review against another edition
4.0
❣ Book 1 : Behind the Scenes Liam ♥ is mine ★★★★ 4.5
░ EDIT 12/30! Go check on Dahlia's blog and read deleted scenes from LIAM'S POV (YES I AM FINE EEEKS) ░
► These characters sound so REAL to me, I can't even express how much I find this fantastic. Yes, I have to admit that it took me ages to warm to them, but in the end? In the end I'm glad to have had the opportunity to follow them.
✘ Josh is this guy we see in a Reality TV show and ask ourselves what the fuck he did to deserve (Haha, talk about a super prize) to show his life on TV. The fact is, I'm not objective because I hate that stuff. I have zero interest in anything celebrities related, especially when it comes to their love life/partying/children. I don't fucking care about that. So, you know, I should hate him. I should despise him - I don't. Truth be told, he annoyed and maddened me sometimes, but no, I don't loathe him. Yet I did get pissed at his continual comments about girls doing blowjobs to him. I mean, was it really necessary to refer to them every time he was at a party? Every fucking time? I don't think so. But move on.
So, yeah. Josh's an asshole and a womanizer - sorry but there's no other way to put it. Josh's an asshole and yet, I doesn't hate him, because first he's unapologetic and doesn't ask for people - including the readers - to love him and then he isn't the love interest here. Don't get fooled, I'm not saying that he's that kind of super jerk but broken inside many authors LOVE throwing at us, because he's not. He's way more complex and interesting than that. According to me, although he doesn't strike people as the unconfident type, he's afraid and doesn't trust himself for shit. In my opinion? He's just feeling lonelybut hey, I'm not a psy you know, only a teacher^^. Anyway - Josh struggles to become the person he wants to be, hell, he doesn't even know who he wants to be, and to see him growing up was fantastic.
✘ I'm not gonna lie, Vanessa wasn't my favorite person in Behind the Scenes. Not because of the scheme they had to play with Liam (in my opinion Allie should have said what she thought, but hey, who am I to judge?) but although she was an interesting character, I had a hard time relating to her and yes, I have to admit that to me she was quite a bore.
So, did she improve here? Well, I kind of hated her at first. She annoyed me so much. But in the end? Definitely. Even if she doesn't become my favorite character, being in her head helped me to understand her better, and in the end, I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to really know her, even if I wasn't always feeling involved in her story unfortunately. I mean, I enjoyed her romance with Brin, but in my opinion we didn't get enough time to really become involved in their relationship. I definitely wanted more of them together, let's say.
✘ I know they aren't under the lights here (Haha) but can I say that I was ecstatic to see Liam and Allie again? Well, let's be frank, mostly Liam. Really, I don't know under what spell I fell, but every time he appears I can't help but smile like a complete moron. However, I have to say that to see their relationship's evolution through Vanessa and Josh's eyes worried me something fierce. Of course I understand that life goes in the way and that people, even in love, don't always act perfectly but damn, that was painful for me, and sometimes I felt like Liam acted out of character. And... Oh, fuck that. I'm just gonna say it : I cared more about Liam than I did about Josh or Vanessa, and I'm not sure it's a good thing. Is it because I love his character too much that I wasn't able to completely invest myself in their story? I don't know. Maybe. It's just how it was.
✘ Finally, the other girls - namely Shannah and all - were portrayed as such stereotypical bitches, for real, and as in Behind the Scenes, it did bother me. Really, it made me wonder if I was just too naive about the girls living in that world - anyway, I can't believe that they're all like that, I can't, and if I'm wrong, well, it's on me.
► When I reread what I wrote about the characters, it occurs to me that you may wonder why I liked this book if I wasn't their biggest fan, but THAT'S THE THING! I'll take flawed but realistic characters over perfectly boring ones any day, as long as the author doesn't try to justify their actions. Dahlia Adler never does that. Josh is an asshole? Sure. Nobody is forcing me to love him - yet he is complex and multi-layered, he evolves, so YES, he IS interesting as a character (and he did make me laugh so much, but then, I may have an horrible sense of humor, because you know, I'm French and all)
Well, despite the fact that I didn't quite like it as much as Behind the scenesbut let's face it, I'm such a fangirI when it comes to Liam, I can't even believe myself, I thought it was a pretty courageous book, for starters, because it comes as a surprise.
Indeed this is NOT our regular contemporary romance. And this is so much BETTER as it is.
✘ This is not about a guy who's going to fix some girl - or some guy, for that matter.
▪ This is about finding your place in the world.
▪ This is about difference and how to live in a world that put people in little boxes.
▪ This is about emancipation and how to learn to be true to yourself.
▪ This is about friendship and family - and what we're ready to do to protect it.
And yes, we get to see Liam again but I have to stop being obsessed now. I swear, I will!
Oh, and by the way, this writing? I'm in love with it, and I shall read anything Dahlia Adler writes.
*ARC provided by Spencer Hill through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
░ EDIT 12/30! Go check on Dahlia's blog and read deleted scenes from LIAM'S POV (YES I AM FINE EEEKS) ░
" The thing is, K-drama, sometimes you just have to accept that no one else's opinion means shit, you know? Sometimes you just have to do what makes you happy and say fuck to everyone else."
► These characters sound so REAL to me, I can't even express how much I find this fantastic. Yes, I have to admit that it took me ages to warm to them, but in the end? In the end I'm glad to have had the opportunity to follow them.
✘ Josh is this guy we see in a Reality TV show and ask ourselves what the fuck he did to deserve (Haha, talk about a super prize) to show his life on TV. The fact is, I'm not objective because I hate that stuff. I have zero interest in anything celebrities related, especially when it comes to their love life/partying/children. I don't fucking care about that. So, you know, I should hate him. I should despise him - I don't. Truth be told, he annoyed and maddened me sometimes, but no, I don't loathe him. Yet I did get pissed at his continual comments about girls doing blowjobs to him. I mean, was it really necessary to refer to them every time he was at a party? Every fucking time? I don't think so. But move on.
So, yeah. Josh's an asshole and a womanizer - sorry but there's no other way to put it. Josh's an asshole and yet, I doesn't hate him, because first he's unapologetic and doesn't ask for people - including the readers - to love him and then he isn't the love interest here. Don't get fooled, I'm not saying that he's that kind of super jerk but broken inside many authors LOVE throwing at us, because he's not. He's way more complex and interesting than that. According to me, although he doesn't strike people as the unconfident type, he's afraid and doesn't trust himself for shit. In my opinion? He's just feeling lonely
✘ I'm not gonna lie, Vanessa wasn't my favorite person in Behind the Scenes. Not because of the scheme they had to play with Liam (in my opinion Allie should have said what she thought, but hey, who am I to judge?) but although she was an interesting character, I had a hard time relating to her and yes, I have to admit that to me she was quite a bore.
So, did she improve here? Well, I kind of hated her at first. She annoyed me so much. But in the end? Definitely. Even if she doesn't become my favorite character, being in her head helped me to understand her better, and in the end, I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to really know her, even if I wasn't always feeling involved in her story unfortunately. I mean, I enjoyed her romance with Brin, but in my opinion we didn't get enough time to really become involved in their relationship. I definitely wanted more of them together, let's say.
✘ I know they aren't under the lights here (Haha) but can I say that I was ecstatic to see Liam and Allie again? Well, let's be frank, mostly Liam. Really, I don't know under what spell I fell, but every time he appears I can't help but smile like a complete moron. However, I have to say that to see their relationship's evolution through Vanessa and Josh's eyes worried me something fierce. Of course I understand that life goes in the way and that people, even in love, don't always act perfectly but damn, that was painful for me, and sometimes I felt like Liam acted out of character. And... Oh, fuck that. I'm just gonna say it : I cared more about Liam than I did about Josh or Vanessa, and I'm not sure it's a good thing. Is it because I love his character too much that I wasn't able to completely invest myself in their story? I don't know. Maybe. It's just how it was.
✘ Finally, the other girls - namely Shannah and all - were portrayed as such stereotypical bitches, for real, and as in Behind the Scenes, it did bother me. Really, it made me wonder if I was just too naive about the girls living in that world - anyway, I can't believe that they're all like that, I can't, and if I'm wrong, well, it's on me.
► When I reread what I wrote about the characters, it occurs to me that you may wonder why I liked this book if I wasn't their biggest fan, but THAT'S THE THING! I'll take flawed but realistic characters over perfectly boring ones any day, as long as the author doesn't try to justify their actions. Dahlia Adler never does that. Josh is an asshole? Sure. Nobody is forcing me to love him - yet he is complex and multi-layered, he evolves, so YES, he IS interesting as a character (and he did make me laugh so much, but then, I may have an horrible sense of humor, because you know, I'm French and all)
Well, despite the fact that I didn't quite like it as much as Behind the scenes
Indeed this is NOT our regular contemporary romance. And this is so much BETTER as it is.
✘ This is not about a guy who's going to fix some girl - or some guy, for that matter.
▪ This is about finding your place in the world.
▪ This is about difference and how to live in a world that put people in little boxes.
▪ This is about emancipation and how to learn to be true to yourself.
▪ This is about friendship and family - and what we're ready to do to protect it.
Oh, and by the way, this writing? I'm in love with it, and I shall read anything Dahlia Adler writes.
"Anyone who doesn't want you to be happy with who you are is an asshole. Fuck pleasing everyone else. You only live once. Who are you gonna do it for?"
*ARC provided by Spencer Hill through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
theaconner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
ckreads28's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Although I was able to see the flaws and Josh's behavior was less than perfect behavior. It did bring up a lot of the flaws in Hollywood. I do believe at the end it does show he is taking the path of growth I do adore that he was there with Vanessa.
Honestly though I love read it for the chemistry I love this book for and what I deserve and want. The way Brianna was patient with Vanessa and they both had for each other. To have a partner that you inspire each other to do better.
The acknowledgement for the book "Being those who love fearlessly and those who are still trying. Thank you for being who you are." Is just a reminder of what I needed lately. I will forever love and be thankful to Dahlia for her kind words when I was reading it for the first time "saying I could skip the boy parts", and just being kind at The Romantic Times festival. This book will always be special to me for content and memories.
Honestly though I love read it for the chemistry I love this book for and what I deserve and want. The way Brianna was patient with Vanessa and they both had for each other. To have a partner that you inspire each other to do better.
The acknowledgement for the book "Being those who love fearlessly and those who are still trying. Thank you for being who you are." Is just a reminder of what I needed lately. I will forever love and be thankful to Dahlia for her kind words when I was reading it for the first time "saying I could skip the boy parts", and just being kind at The Romantic Times festival. This book will always be special to me for content and memories.