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juliadescalzi 's review for:
How to Fake it in Hollywood
by Ava Wilder
Let's see: two celebrities, one trying to keep her career afloat, the other, an A-list fading to the background after losing his best friend and his high-profile divorce, one fake dating scheme. I think I know where this is going.
Don't be fooled by the cover: this book may look like every other romance novel coming out this year, but it's not.
I was pretty sure where this book would head with an on-trend cover and a seemingly cookie-cutter trope. I'm delighted to say that cookie-cutter could be the farthest possible adjective I could use to describe How to Fake It in Hollywood.
I struggled to start this book. For me, at the start, it felt oddly reminiscent of a Wattpad book, but that could not be any further from the truth. I think I struggled a little because I felt a lack of backstory and didn't feel like I had connected enough with the characters before they jumped into the story's inciting event. I feel like with most 'fake-dating' books, I can clearly understand why characters choose to do this, but since I didn't know the characters well enough at the beginning, I was sort of indifferent to this story. However, the story's development and characters led me to enjoy this book as I went on.
I would argue that Ava Wilder's writing and character development are some of the best I've seen. Character choices and feelings made sense, which I feel many books lack nowadays. In an age where people thrive for books with toxic romances (myself included), I see a lot of stories where authors make male love interests unhealthy and create unnecessary angst. I also feel like they don't show the character's progression and suddenly snap the hero to a whole different person after the climax. I think Wilder perfectly demonstrated how change takes time and sacrifice.
I also want to highlight how easy it was to read this book. While the material may grow heavy for some readers, Wilder's writing style is very similar to Colleen Hoover's, easy to follow and enjoyable.
Thank you to Random House Publishing/Ballantine and NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.
Don't be fooled by the cover: this book may look like every other romance novel coming out this year, but it's not.
I was pretty sure where this book would head with an on-trend cover and a seemingly cookie-cutter trope. I'm delighted to say that cookie-cutter could be the farthest possible adjective I could use to describe How to Fake It in Hollywood.
I struggled to start this book. For me, at the start, it felt oddly reminiscent of a Wattpad book, but that could not be any further from the truth. I think I struggled a little because I felt a lack of backstory and didn't feel like I had connected enough with the characters before they jumped into the story's inciting event. I feel like with most 'fake-dating' books, I can clearly understand why characters choose to do this, but since I didn't know the characters well enough at the beginning, I was sort of indifferent to this story. However, the story's development and characters led me to enjoy this book as I went on.
I would argue that Ava Wilder's writing and character development are some of the best I've seen. Character choices and feelings made sense, which I feel many books lack nowadays. In an age where people thrive for books with toxic romances (myself included), I see a lot of stories where authors make male love interests unhealthy and create unnecessary angst. I also feel like they don't show the character's progression and suddenly snap the hero to a whole different person after the climax. I think Wilder perfectly demonstrated how change takes time and sacrifice.
I also want to highlight how easy it was to read this book. While the material may grow heavy for some readers, Wilder's writing style is very similar to Colleen Hoover's, easy to follow and enjoyable.
Thank you to Random House Publishing/Ballantine and NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.