Review: Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Title: Something Real
Author: 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:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | YouTube

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Labels: contemporary, duggars, heather demetrios, let's bitch slap that mom, macmillan, reality tv, something real

Waiting on Wednesday: What You Left Behind & Blood Passage

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selections are...








's Pick:

Title: What You Left Behind
Author: Jessica Verdi
Series: n/a
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: Aug 4th, 2015

It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

I just saw this book on Edelweiss, and I need to have it! It looks so good. Single teen dad = different. Sign me up!





's Pick:



Title: Blood Passage
Author: Heather Demetrios
Series: Dark Caravan Cycle, book #2
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 6, 2015

A jinni who's lost everything.

A master with nothing to lose.

A revolutionary with everything to gain.

When Nalia arrives in Morocco to fulfil Malek's third and final wish she's not expecting it to be easy. Though Nalia is free from the shackles tdhat once bound her to Malek as his slave, she's in more danger than ever before.

Meanwhile, Malek's past returns with a vengeance as he confronts the darkness within himself, and Raif must decide what's more important: his love for Nalia, or his devotion to the cause of Arjinnan freedom.

Set upon by powerful forces that threaten to break her, Nalia encounters unexpected allies and discovers that her survival depends on the very things she thought made her weak. From the souks of Marrakech to the dunes of the Sahara, The Arabian Nights come to life in this dazzling second instalment of the Dark Passage Cycle.

I will pretty much read anything Heather Demetrios writes. I love her contemporary novels with everything in me -- ask April, I talked her into reading them, too! -- but I loved her take on The Arabian Nights just as much. Nalia was a fierce heroine and I can't wait to see where this next installment takes her...and if the potential love triangle comes to fruition. :P


What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

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Labels: dark caravan cycle, harper-collins, heather demetrios, Jessica Verdi, jinn, waiting on wednesday (wow), What You Left Behind

Review: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Title: I'll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: February 3, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

For me, it's always hardest to review a book I absolutely loved because there's practically no adequate way to express my feels. This is the third novel I've read by Heather Demetrios, but it is by far my very most favorite. It's so raw and earnest and impassioned, and it left me with all the feels. I'm not as new to contemporary novels as I once was, but I am picky as hell, even now. But my finicky, romance-loving heart adored this novel, and I'm pretty sure most everyone who reads it will feel the same way.

The characters in I'll Meet You There are so flawed, so perfectly imperfect. And even if I hadn't shared similar circumstances, I would still have found them easy to relate to and care for. Living in a small town, far from civilization, can really suck. You make do and do what you have to in order to survive and hopefully one day leave that dreary existence. Or you don't. And that's what these characters face, what they've been facing and hoping for practically all their lives. Mistakes are made along the way, but it's hard to fault the characters for them when you know how much of an effort they're putting in to make it out of there.

“I loved taking these pieces and making them part of a whole, giving them a place to belong. More beautiful than when they started.”

I love that we don't just get to know the characters through their narration and dialogue, but also through their interactions with friends, each other, and in Skylar's case, her art. She creates these beautiful collages from scraps of paper that make up her life, and it's her ticket out of Creek View. Josh is still trying to decide where his future is headed, whether it's back to the Marines he goes or if the world holds something more for him. His struggle is seen through short snippets of his thoughts in between Sky's chapters, and these are some of the most raw, heartfelt sections of the book...at least they were for me.

These two characters barely knew one another before this summer, but once Josh returns to Creek View, it's obvious he's a different person than when he left. He attempts to maintain the bravado of his cocksure youth, but it's taking a toll on him, and the only one who doesn't seem to expect something from him is Skylar. The two develop a comfortable friendship as they work together at the motel, but it's obvious that something more is growing between them, and it was one of the most poignant, beautiful, and utterly realistic relationships I've read in YA. Not to mention sexy.

“The Josh I grew up around, with two legs and an ego that couldn’t fit through the door? I didn’t love him. I didn’t even always like him.” One corner of his mouth turned up. “This is who you are. The real you.” I rested my forehead against his. “And I want you so fucking bad.”

From a distance, this story reminded me of Something Like Normal by Trish Doller, with the flawed love interest who'd recently returned from a stint in the military overseas and was dealing with some really difficult stuff as a result. But I think it's the author's emotional attachment to her story that makes I'll Meet You There that much better. Not saying Doller didn't have the same attachment, just that it shone brighter from these pages as Demetrios laid her characters' hearts bare. Plus, there are the acknowledgements and author's notes that made it all the more evident how special this story was to Demetrios. Still, if you enjoyed Something Like Normal, you'll love this story...and the opposite holds true, as well.

I'll Meet You There was an emotional read, and it was genuinely difficult to read at times, especially during those portions Josh was narrating, but the end result is a story that I'll hold as a favorite for a long time to come. This review doesn't even begin to do the book justice, but it's a start.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

When she's not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real, which Publisher's Weekly calls “[An] addictive yet thoughtful debut” about reality TV stardom. She is the author of EXQUISITE CAPTIVE, a smoldering fantasy about jinn in Los Angeles and what Kirkus called in its starred review "an intoxicating, richly realized realm of magic, politics, spirituality and history" (#1 in the DARK CARAVAN CYCLE). She is also the author of the upcoming I’ll Meet You There (Winter 2015). I’ll Meet You There is a love story about a young combat veteran and a girl trapped in their small town, both struggling to escape the war at home. Heather is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for underserved youth. She is proud to have an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can always find her on Twitter (@HDemetrios), ogling the military dogs she wants to adopt (but can’t because her NYC apartment is way too small). Find out more about Heather and her other books at wwww.heatherdemetrios.com and www.darkcaravancycle.com.

Find Heather:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | YouTube

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Labels: beautiful covers, contemporary, favorite authors, favorites, heather demetrios, i'll meet you there, macmillan, military, post hs ya, summer, tough subject

Judging a Book By Its Cover: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

We so borrowed this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About. Basically, it's about getting a child's perspective on the story inside the book based on just the cover art. It can be hilarious, but it can also be enlightening.









This week, the girls are working on the following book:

Title: I'll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: February 3, 2015
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

Behold, the girls' attempts at recreating I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios...

Aubrey's masterpiece & guess:

Aubrey says:

"I think it was about people going to a hotel and spending time in the pool."

LoL, I can see where she got that idea. I haven't read this one yet but I hope to soon. Jen said it was really great, so it's gotta be worth checking out. :)


Katie's artwork & thoughts:

Katie says:

"Two people meet each other, and they might be friends when they meet. And those two people see a sign and they want to go to the motel."

Ah, the innocence of youth. Or is it just that I'm incapable of dragging my mind out of the gutter? :P Either way, Katie's guess is pretty good. Except that they don't want to go to the motel...they work there. =) I'll Meet You There is already one of my favorite reads of 2015...it brought all the feels, and I still can't stop thinking about it. Loved this one SOOOO much! I hope you'll stop by next week to check out my review!


Have you read this book or do you plan to? What do you think of the girls' artwork and their thoughts on the story's premise?

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Labels: aubrey, beautiful covers, contemporary, cover art, favorites, heather demetrios, i'll meet you there, judging a book by its cover, katiebug, macmillan, military, post hs ya, summer, tough subject

{Audiobook} Review: Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Title: Exquisite Captive
Author: Heather Demetrios
Narrator(s): Erin Mallon
Series:  Dark Caravan Cycle, book #1
Length:  13 hrs 44 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Source: audiobook received from publisher, galley from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Forced to obey her master.
Compelled to help her enemy.
Determined to free herself.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

Exquisite Captive began very slowly, methodically building the world of Arjinna and portraying life as jinni slave here on Earth. There wasn't a chance that I was going to put the book aside, though, simply because of slow-pacing early on. Even a less-than-favorable narrator couldn't make me leave this story for later. I've only read one other jinni novel that I can recall, but it's clear to me that this new trend, this revival of an old favorite mythological being, is going to be to my liking.

Erin Mallon is not a terrible narrator. I listened to her narrate the entire Sweet trilogy by Wendy Higgins, and she only started to annoy me toward the end of the series. However, I feel that she was badly cast in Exquisite Captive. In fact, she may have been part of the reason I didn't love this novel quite as much as I expected to. I love a narrator who becomes the characters they're portraying, and Mallon just never seems to. She's not just reading the book, but it also seemed like she never connected with the story herself and it showed in her performance. Also, her male voices are kind of ridiculous, but at least she didn't have to affect a fake British accent this time around. I would have much preferred a narrator with a hint of ethnicity, especially considering the diversity of the characters in this story.

The cast of characters in Exquisite Captive is fairly complex, making it hard to truly connect with them or even discern their likability. Questionable motives. Political machinations. A sympathetic villain. I never knew exactly what to expect from any of these characters, and they surprised me more than once. I knew from my experience with Something Real that Heather Demetrios is gifted at creating a really well-drawn, vivid cast of characters, but I might be even more besotted with Nalia and Raif than I was with Patrick and Chloe. Which is saying a lot because I shipped that pairing SO hard.

Nalia is the last remaining member of her people, a powerful line of the jinn with unsurpassed powers. They were the leaders in Arjinna, and now that they are all gone, Nalia is the heir to the throne. Many things stand in her way -- not insignificant, the fact that she doesn't want to be princess and rule the other jinn -- including that she's enslaved here on Earth, complete with a bottle for a cage when she misbehaves. Nalia is not without her faults, and her sense of morality does come into question several times in this book. She's committed heinous acts and she wants no part of the rebellion...until it wants her, and even then, her thoughts are only of escaping her master and freeing her brother, the only family she has left.

But Raif changes her mind, or rather gives her more reasons to fight. Their initial interactions were of a political nature, but it soon became apparent that as much as these two seemed intent on hating each other, theirs was going to be a star-crossed love. First, I don't think I've ever met a character named Raif that I didn't like. They're usually the bad boy with an attitude type, but I'll take a powerful, chiseled, tingly-skin-making jinn any day. Raif is the leader of the rebellion, having taken over the duty when his father was killed. Nalia should be his enemy; she stands for everything he's fighting against. And yet, they cannot deny their attraction.

Malek is quite the enigma for much of the book. He is not the true villain in this story, but he is the immediate threat to Nalia's future. And yet, his feelings toward Nalia have grown into something other than what one would expect from a master/slave relationship. Malek has mistreated Nalia for most of the three years she has been in his service and she will always be beholden to him as her master, yet he's never taken advantage of her and is only now pressing her to explore her own feelings for him. I find Malek's character exceedingly intriguing and darkly sexy in that redeemable villain kind of way.

I thought the introduction of two leading men would result in the ubiquitous love triangle, but the romance here is more complicated than that. One of the men is her master and the other is her sworn enemy. There are obviously reasons why neither of these men should have a future with Nalia, and yet, by the end of the novel, it's clear to which man her heart belongs. I'm not writing off the resurgence of the love triangle in future books, but it would take some serious creative maneuvering to make that a viable arc, considering how quickly and neatly it was packed away in this installment.

Nalia is faced with choices she may not be able to come back from in this book. There's not simply the matter of a rebellion brewing in her homeland, but she must also now free the slaves on the Dark Caravan, in addition to saving her brother. And with the turn of events there at the end, I imagine things are only going to get more difficult for her. I'm anticipating exciting things for the sequel.

GIF it to me straight:

Nalia be like...

About the author:

When she's not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real, which Publisher's Weekly calls “[An] addictive yet thoughtful debut” about reality TV stardom. She is the author of EXQUISITE CAPTIVE, a smoldering fantasy about jinn in Los Angeles and what Kirkus called in its starred review "an intoxicating, richly realized realm of magic, politics, spirituality and history" (#1 in the DARK CARAVAN CYCLE). She is also the author of the upcoming I’ll Meet You There (Winter 2015). I’ll Meet You There is a love story about a young combat veteran and a girl trapped in their small town, both struggling to escape the war at home. Heather is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for underserved youth. She is proud to have an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can always find her on Twitter (@HDemetrios), ogling the military dogs she wants to adopt (but can’t because her NYC apartment is way too small). Find out more about Heather and her other books at wwww.heatherdemetrios.com and www.darkcaravancycle.com.

Find Heather:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | YouTube

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Labels: audiobooks, book trailers, dark caravan cycle, fantasy, favorites, harper-collins, heather demetrios, jinn, reviews

Waiting on Wednesday: The Infinite Sea & I'll Meet You There

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selections are...








's Pick:

Title: The Infinite Sea
Author: Rick Yancey
Series: The 5th Wave #2
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: September 16th, 2014

The riveting follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The 5th Wave, hailed by Justin Cronin as “wildly entertaining.”

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

I read The 5th Wave last year and I absolutely loved it. Could not put that sucker down. Can't wait until September when this comes out. I feel like I've been waiting forever.

's Pick:

Title: I'll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Series: n/a at this time
Publisher: Henry Holt BFYR
Publication Date: February 3, 2015

If seventeen-year-old Skyler Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage-months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings them together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

Gritty, romantic, and ultimately hopeful, I'll MEET YOU THERE explores the complicated lives of an unforgettable cast of characters. This is the story of teens outside the picket fence. It doesn’t soften the edges of adolescence or the individual consequences of war; it’s life on the fringes—maddening, weirdly endearing…and completely screwed up

I saw the cover reveal for this book last week, I think, and I knew I just had to have it. I loved Heather Demetrios' debut novel Something Real, and I'm equally as excited to read her fantasy novel Exquisite Captive due out this fall, but it just keeps getting better and better where this author is concerned it seems. This cover is rather stock, but it's fitting and clever and I still kinda love it. And the story sounds genuine, which is always a plus. I can't wait to meet these characters and visit that quirky motel!


What are you desperately waiting for on this fine Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

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Labels: beautiful covers, contemporary, heather demetrios, i'll meet you there, macmillan, waiting on wednesday (wow)

Review: Something Real by Heather Demetrios

Title: Something Real
Author: Heather Demetrios
Series: n/a
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Source: ARC received from publisher
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.

What has happened to me that all -- well, most of -- the books that I adore lately have been contemporaries?!? I used to despise this genre, but now I can't even remember why. Because now, these are my go-to books. When I'm in a funk or a reading slump or whatever, I pick up a contemp and I'm happily entertained for hours.

With Something Real, I think I'll be entertained for eons. This is the kind of book I can read over and over again. This story garnered ALL THE FEELS from me. And so rather than splitting up my review based on characters and plotting, etc., like I usually would, I'm going to do this one a little differently. I'm going to separate my feelings and what triggered them.

Anger

“Even Mom doesn't understand how being in front of a camera all the time twists and warps you. How one second it makes you feel unbelievably alive and the next publicly strips you down until all that's left is one big question mark.”

First and foremost, my anger comes from being a mother. As a parent, I cannot fathom subjecting a child to being in the spotlight like this, let alone a family consisting of thirteen children. Times are going to be tough as it is, but how does any self-respecting mother do this to her children? Especially considering what one of the eldest has already suffered because of being on a show that is broadcast nationally. Beth Baker-Miller™ is one of the worst kinds of human beings...those who live for attention and don't care about the cost, even when it's their own family. There was not a single redeemable quality in this woman, and what she did or didn't do at the end of this novel made me question whether she even deserved to have the other children in her care.

Also, I have mad hate for the show's producer Chuck, who is the slimiest of all in this story. He manipulates, cajoles, coerces, and threatens, and he is beneath scum. I imagine a lot of reality TV show producers to be of his ilk, and for the sake of everyone who has to deal with swine like this, I am sorry. I'm not a big fan of reality shows, but I imagine it's not as fun to be the subject of them as it might appear or as others make it out to be. I'm rather intrigued by the leaps and bounds this book took to show the behind-the-scenes stuff. On one hand, I hope this is all entirely fictional, but on the other, I'm pretty sure it's not, and I feel awful for ever having watched a single minute of this kind of drivel, entertaining as it might be at times.

Sadness

The main character Bonnie™/Chloe hasn't had the easiest transition from reality TV stardom to normal girl. But she's relatively happy with her normal girl status now that she's starting her second year of public school as a high school senior. Until her mom and stepdad decide to start doing the show again, without consulting any of the rest of the family, that is. Chloe has suffered the most at the hands of the Baker's Dozen show, and you'd think her family would at least have the decency to forewarn her that the show was being picked back up, but aside from her brother Benton™, no one seems to care what this might do to Chloe's fragile state of mind.

Grief

What I hate most is that Bonnie™/Chloe's mother doesn't even notice the repercussions. She thinks her daughter is acting like a typical spoiled teenager who's not getting her way. I don't think Beth Baker-Miller™ realizes that it's taken Chloe four -- FOUR -- years to finally find some amount of normalcy in her life after what happened in the last season of Baker's Dozen. Which makes my heart hurt even more for Chloe. But worse than that, I wished physical violence on this mother and the stepfather she brought into these kids' life after the sh!t hit the fan in that last season. How could any mother be so oblivious, let her own desires outweigh those of her children, whether they come from her loins or not?

More Anger

Which brings me to my next point. The way that everyone allows Chloe to be portrayed on national television is an abomination. Seeing it from Chloe's eyes and then seeing how everything is edited to make it more dramatic, or to make it look as if Bonnie/Chloe™ really is the poster-child for Teenagers Gone Wild, I wanted to do more than cut cords or palm cameras out of Chloe's face. No one deserves to have their whole life on display for strangers like this. It more than borders on child abuse in my opinion. And I'm really glad to see that this aspect wasn't taken lightly in this story. There's even talk of getting the ACLU involved, so kudos.

Happiness

I am unbelievably grateful that Chloe had a sibling like Benny to help get her through all the drama. Beginning, middle, and end...he was there through it all. He pushed Chloe when she needed it, but he also gave her space to do what she needed to do when she wasn't being rational. Benny was her back-up and Chloe was his. I love how out of all the siblings, these two are the closest, have the best connection, and stand by each other, no matter what. I think the only times I laughed in this story with true frivolity -- because of all my fury at the other characters in the story --were when it was just Chloe and Benny hanging out, shootin' the sh!t. Also, Benny drunk is kinda priceless. I'm not condoning underage drinking, per se, but when the situation warrants...

Off-handed Humor

Okay, so I said that I didn't laugh all that much, but I did snicker a lot. Ugh, I hate that word, but it's the best description. Here's why:

"I'm surprised she doesn't get a sunburn from the rays of her own awesomeness," Benny says as she heads to the first floor.

***

There should be a class on what to do with your hands during awkward moments. Like, no other animal has to stand with these ridiculous appendages that make everything worse. Hands are awkward as hell. I watch Tessa disappear down the hall, belonging, being absorbed into the crowd.

***

"Did you apparate here or something? The bell rang two seconds ago."

***

"How was the salon?" Tessa asks, after we're through psychoanalyzing my date. "Did you get claw-the-rapist nails?"

Swoons

"When his lips finally leave mine, his fingertips stay on my cheeks, and he looks at me--really looks at me--for a long time. Five seconds? Minutes? Centuries? Maybe it's the feeling behind his eyes or the way the warmth of that kiss slowly slips back on the tide of our breath, but I suddenly feel like I need to leave. Now."

Benny may have been a great counterpart to Chloe's persistent pessimism, but Patrick brought the swoons and more. We talk about book boyfriends all the time, but usually as in "I would want this guy to be my boyfriend in real life". In this case, I don't think I've met a more perfect guy to be this character's boyfriend. He's patient, forgiving, caring, but he still manages to be a separate entity and not too clingy. A girl should be so lucky as to have a guy like Patrick in her life. He takes all of this reality TV stardom stuff in stride. Patrick does everything he can to make a relationship outside of that world a possibility for Chloe, and I think that without his soothing presence, Chloe might not have managed nearly as well as she did. Also, he gave her the strength to stand up for herself. I know the saying always goes "Behind every great man, there's a great woman", but I think the opposite holds true, as well, especially for this couple. It takes a solid partnership to make any relationship work, and that's what we have here.

Also, there's that scene in the janitorial closet. My god. =)

"Chlo, that boy has forever written all over his face when he looks at you. A cat lady you shall never be."

Another thing I really enjoyed about this novel was all of the extras included: press releases, twitter feeds, blog posts, interviews, etc. And, of course, those cute text messages between Patrick and Chloe on her secret phone. It really lent to the air that this was reality, that this is how life goes for someone in Chloe's position. It also made for an even more entertaining reading, especially how each piece was spun one way or another. This book really makes me sad for all of those kids who were on Jon & Kate Plus 8.

"I'm not Bonnie™ or Chloe. I'm the essence of her, the nontrademarked person the camera can never capture and my parents have no right to sign over. There is a sovereign nation encased in this skin that MetaReel can never trademark."

I am honestly surprised that this novel didn't receive any hype prior to its publication. It is so unbelievably genuine and completely from the heart, and it ranks up there with my favorite YA contemporary novels ever. I don't think I've ever read a novel that compelled me to be one with the narrator and simultaneously feel so much, and I'm really hoping this isn't a one-time deal. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what else Heather Demetrios brings to this genre, and I hope she continues writing with this outstanding voice of hers.

Wow, this review turned out to be way longer than I anticipated, and the sad thing is I haven't said all that I have to say about this lovely book. But you should read it. You should absolutely read it. :D

GIF it to me straight:

Why is no one talking about this book?!?

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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Labels: all the feels, all the swoons, contemporary, favorites, heather demetrios, macmillan, must-read, reality tv, reviews, something real