In L.A. CANDY, nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts moves to L.A. and unexpectedly becomes the star of a reality T.V. show. With fame comes wealth, hot clothes and even hotter love interests -- and Jane′s lapping it all up with her eclectic entourage of pals who are always up for a wild night out and the chance to get a piece of her spotlight. But soon Jane realizes everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be.
L.A. CANDY is a fast-paced, honest and entertaining fictional account of what it′s like to come of age in Hollywood while starring in a reality TV show, written by a girl who has experienced it all firsthand: Lauren Conrad.
Sweet summer readingJune 18, 2009 Madigan McGillicuddy(California) 42 out of 50 found this review helpful
The book, about reality-tv star 19-year-old Jane Roberts certainly sounds like a semi-autobiographical journey for the author, the star of MTV's "reality" show, The Hills. I started on the assumption that it would be pure fluff. The story was an enjoyable quick read though and even a bit weightier than I had anticipated.
Naturally, the lion's share of the story centers around the social lives of Jane and her best friend Scarlett. They are both new to Los Angeles, starstruck and boy crazy. Despite being an attractive natural blonde, Jane considers herself a "plain Jane" while Scarlett is a confident brunette bombshell. Jane's just scored an internship with renowned event planner, Fiona Chen. Scarlett plans to coast through classes at USC while she decides what to do with herself. When Hollywood producer Trevor Lord starts talking to them in a nightclub, they initially assume that he's trying to hit on them... but eventually he convinces them to come for an audition for a new reality show filming in Los Angeles. In the interview, the producers are impressed with the girls' natural good-looks and unaffected demeanor. Just like that, they are in!
With the cameras rolling, Jane and Scarlett are soon treated to a new luxury apartment and VIP lifestyle. I liked the behind-the-scenes reality behind "reality" tv... the awkwardness of being miked, the staged "spontaneous" scenes... it all rang very true.
Of course, everyone's wondering whether L.A. Candy was ghostwritten. (And wouldn't it be the ultimate irony if it was?) A careful inspection of my copy didn't seem to reveal anything in the fine print... maybe Lauren Conrad really did write this herself! I can't help but think of one of the episodes from the first season of "The Hills" where Lauren is called into her bosses office. Her boss asks her, "Can you write?" and she nervously replies, "Um... Yes?" There's an eerily similar scene in the book between the character Jane and her boss, event planner Fiona Chen. Her demanding and cold boss suddenly turns into a warm mentor when the cameras are rolling.
While the celebrities mentioned are all fictional, the names of many of the businesses and designer-name items in the book are not. The name-dropping and general tone strongly reminded me of Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girls and It Girl series.
The story's somewhat of a cliffhanger ending leaves everything definitely very much unresolved. Fans of MTV's "The Hills" or the genre that I'd term "Chick Lit Jr." will definitely be clamoring for more. Fortunately for them, Conrad has signed a 3 book deal, so there are certain to be at least 2 more installments in the series.
Fun and easy to readJanuary 19, 2010 N. Taggart 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a fun and easy read....I read the book while enjoying my vacation in Hawaii...Great book!
Fun, Light Read!August 7, 2009 Lola Violet(Minneapolis, MN United States) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I loved this book!! I am a fan of Lauren Conrad, but admittedly I wasn't sure how good this book would be or if it would be too young for me. But I was hooked from the first page. If you love The Hills, I am sure you will enjoy this book as well. It was a fast paced, engaging behind-the-scenes look at the lives of young reality stars on a fictitious show called LA Candy on the fictional channel Pop TV, especially the character of Jane. I finished the book this morning and can't wait for the next in the series. I would recommend this book as a great book to take to the beach or on an airplane flight.
L.A. CandySeptember 12, 2009 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book. It was so fun to read. I cant wait to read the next one!
Addictive just like candyDecember 31, 2009 E. Mickle 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book sort of feels like I'm reading Lauren's pseudo autobiography, but it's so good. If you were a sucker for Laguna Beach or The Hills, this book is like the tv show, but way better. It reveals the phony side of reality TV, and it pulls you into the character. As soon as I finished the book, I googled it to see if there was sequel. Luckily it comes out in just over a month, and I will be getting it.
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