Reality Check
by Jen Calonita
When Charlotte, aka "Charlie", is scouted by a producer for the new Fire and Ice Network for a reality show to rival The Hills and Jersey Shore, she and her friends immediately accept. It's not every day that you get to do what you do every day and get paid $10k an episode for it.
However, it seems there are a few complications:
- It's "scripted reality". All locations must be scouted, some scenes are staged, and even fights have to be re-shot when things go wrong with the equipment.
- Zac. He's hot. Charlie likes him. And he doesn't want to be on the show.
- Brooke. She's supposed to be Charlie's best friend, but fame goes to her head.
- The Producers. They want more juicy fights and less boring talk about clothes and babysitting.
The dream of fame and fortune becomes a nightmare of epic proportions with fights, screaming, backstabbing, and the realization that once you're on TV, no one around you can be trusted.
Can Charlie figure out a way to stop it all before all of her friendships (and her first possibly-serious boyfriend) are destroyed?
Final thoughts: Slightly better than cotton candy in the sense that there is a serious message snuck in about how much of reality television is really "real". Most of the stereotypes in YA fiction are here, but they're decently written. This one's good for any girl who watches reality TV and dreams of being one of "them".
Rating: 4/5
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