Title: Something RealAuthor: Heather Demetrios
Series: n/a
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Source: Gift from Jen <3
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show's cancellation, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it's about to fall apart . . . because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™'s mom and the show's producers won't let her quit and soon the life that she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before.
Heather Demetrios' Something Real is the winner of the Susan P. Bloom PEN New England Discovery Award.
I have wanted to read this book forever. Jen put it on my radar when she read it, and then she put it in my hand. I still didn't read it and do you know why? I'm lazy, and reading physical books is strenuous. lol. Not really, but it's easier to pick up my kindle, so I grabbed the kindle edition back in March and finally got to it.
So glad I did, and Jen was so right. This book was awesome. Reality Tv fascinates me, but I've never gotten to into the dozen kids shows. I will admit, I watched John & Kate Plus Eight a few times, but the show made me mad because I couldn't get passed the fact those poor kids were on camera all the time. Plus Kate was a total bitch to John. It's a now wonder they aren't together any more. She's psycho.
Anyhoo, I felt pretty much the same in regards to Something Real. You don't really think much about how it must feel to have your life displayed for all to see. And not really your life, just how the producers want it to look. In this situation, the family went through quite a bit, and Bonnie was the one who took it hard.. so when the Mom decides to put them back on the air.. ugh. It's just so fucked up on so many levels.
I felt so bad for those kids.. and I think it was in part because I already have sympathy for this subject. Bonnie does find some romance with a perfect boy, and if it wasn't for the swoons, I would have thrown my kindle at the wall in sheer anger. That mom needs a hard ass slap in the face, and if she wasn't fictional, I'd be all over doing it. Holy crap, I hated her.
Overall, really loved this story, Heather Demetrios can write like no ones business. I will definitely be reading more from her in the near future.
The funniest thing about reading this, is I finished it last week, right before that whole molestation scandal about the Duggar's hit the news. Don't even get me started on those religious freaks. But what a coincidence. There was no molestation in Something Real, but I'm sure some of those kids feel the same as Bonnie did.
I will leave you with my favorite meme from that fiasco. I hope it doesn't offend, but I couldn't resist. While I don't find the situation funny at all, this meme made me crack up. I love the internet.
About the author:
Heather Demetrios, originally from Los Angeles, now lives in Brooklyn and various imaginary locales. She is the recipient of a PEN New England Discovery Award for her debut YA novel about reality TV stardom, SOMETHING REAL (Macmillan/Henry Holt), and is the author of the upcoming EXQUISITE CAPTIVE, a smoldering fantasy about jinn in Los Angeles (#1 in the DARK CARAVAN fantasy trilogy from HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray), both out in 2014. She is currently working on her second novel for Macmillan, a love story about a young combat veteran and a girl trapped in their small town, both struggling to escape the war at home. When she’s not hanging out with her characters, Heather is working on her MFA in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Find Heather:
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