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A review by thelizabeth
Dramarama by E. Lockhart
3.0
To be honest, 2.5 stars. I was disappointed in this one. I like E. Lockhart, especially her ability to understand the genuine and serious feelings behind the otherwise light experiences of teenagers. This book is about teens who are into musical theater, an inherently dorky and very charming subject, which seems like a great match for that style and YA in general. I think other readers have found some depth in the relatability of the subculture's portrayal here, but I expected to see more in it.
I mean, it's a book! And it's nice. Sadye has a few things to think about that are really good. Her observations about the friends she makes at camp (particularly about Candie, holder of desperate passion and bad taste) have some raw moments. Sadye takes in some truth about talent and belonging. And her lesson about "taking direction" was a largely interesting conflict. Though maybe also a little pat.
A few things in the structure seemed kind of crumbly to me. I got confused over which character was in what show a couple of times, which I guess either ought to have been clearer or not been talked about as much. And I'm a fan, and I know 90% of the songs and titles used as shorthand to establish this information, and still I hit the brakes a few times trying to remember if we knew that someone was in the what now. I tried. I also wasn't too comfortable with the timing of everything, and started to get confused when I noticed we were lagging along, three weeks into the seven week camp, and the book was 90% over. And there's a reason for that, and in retrospect that seems way too obvious.
Mainly I wish that her lessons about her friendship with Demi were deeper. It's the main part of the book and it should be big, big. She makes some sacrifices and notices some conflicts for him, and I guess that is her journey, but nothing important to her really happens. (A lot of important things happen to Demi.)
This was sure a zippy read, though. Zippy zippy. I was home sick for a few days and slipped right through it and that was fun. So, ok little book. You go be you. And stuff. But I probably wouldn't read you again.
I mean, it's a book! And it's nice. Sadye has a few things to think about that are really good. Her observations about the friends she makes at camp (particularly about Candie, holder of desperate passion and bad taste) have some raw moments. Sadye takes in some truth about talent and belonging. And her lesson about "taking direction" was a largely interesting conflict. Though maybe also a little pat.
A few things in the structure seemed kind of crumbly to me. I got confused over which character was in what show a couple of times, which I guess either ought to have been clearer or not been talked about as much. And I'm a fan, and I know 90% of the songs and titles used as shorthand to establish this information, and still I hit the brakes a few times trying to remember if we knew that someone was in the what now. I tried. I also wasn't too comfortable with the timing of everything, and started to get confused when I noticed we were lagging along, three weeks into the seven week camp, and the book was 90% over. And there's a reason for that, and in retrospect that seems way too obvious.
Mainly I wish that her lessons about her friendship with Demi were deeper. It's the main part of the book and it should be big, big. She makes some sacrifices and notices some conflicts for him, and I guess that is her journey, but nothing important to her really happens. (A lot of important things happen to Demi.)
This was sure a zippy read, though. Zippy zippy. I was home sick for a few days and slipped right through it and that was fun. So, ok little book. You go be you. And stuff. But I probably wouldn't read you again.