Customer Reviews

L.A. Candy [With Headphones] (Playaway Young Adult)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

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.

Lauren Conrad, famous for playing herself on the MTV shows Laguna Beach and The Hills, has somehow been allowed to write a book for Young Adults, and the result is "L.A. Candy." Jane and Scarlett are best friends that move to Los Angeles together. While visiting a club one night, they are approached to appear on a reality show entitled L.A. Candy. After the girls agree to star in the show, the book follows their lives as they discover that Reality TV may not be as real as television makes it out to be.

I picked this book up hoping for a fun guilty pleasure read, but was ultimately disappointed by a few things.

First, Lauren Conrad is not the strongest of authors. The dialogue and the storytelling is quite flat and uninteresting at times. Hopefully as she releases more books, her writing skills increase, but "L.A. Candy" seemed quite amateur and I'm surprised that her publishing company allowed it to be released as it is.

Second, the pacing is quite off. 100+ pages are devoted to the set-up of the plot. Once the reality show starts filming, which should be the meat of the novel, it seemed like most details were rushed and glossed over. Plus, the conflict and the climax were ultimately quite weak which leads the reader unsatisfied.

Finally, the ending did not work at all. It is clearly meant to be a cliffhanger, but it feels more like the story is incomplete and is missing a proper conclusion. I am alright with books that want to excite readers for the next book in the series, but not when it makes the current book feel like a story that is missing a proper conclusion.

Despite being a disappointment, it was fun reading how the characters viewed how reality television really worked and how the editors could portray an event differently from how it really happened. Conrad's experience definitely added a bit of interest to the otherwise flat story.

Still fresh off her stint on "The Hills," Lauren Conrad's debut novel will definitely appeal to her fans of all ages. Despite a few questionable words, the majority of the book is otherwise quite clean. And while the book has been a hit, and I predict it will continue to sell well, I was disappointed by it and hope that Conrad improves with future books in the series. Conrad's experience and insider information with this industry definitely brought some credibility to this book, but the writing was weak, the characters were flat, the plot was rather uninteresting, and the ending was quite abrupt. These faults are too overwhelming and hard to overlook what could have been a great guilty pleasure book.

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.

Having a minor in English Lit., I probably shouldn't admit to owning this book. As someone with both the E and TMZ android app, I couldn't stay away. I will say, as a previous Laguna Beach and the Hills viewer, I bought this book purely for the behind the scenes secrets and backstage gossip masquerading as fiction. At that, the book didn't disappoint. There is enough dish to satisfy and I spent the time figuring out which characters were which "reality" starlets. As a YA novel, this is not as sleazy as some of the stories out there. It's a good, sweet story that stays away from rated R material. As for the plot, let's just say I began the book, put it down, forgot about it, read an entire other novel and then finished LA Candy when I remembered I had it. It's not mind expanding or world altering in any way. However, as a beach read in addition to your People magazine or in between semesters to clear your clutter mind, it's not a bad choice. If you think Jersey Shore is a an abomination, you will hate this. But if you know who host E! News and what Lauren Conrad is up to now, you will enjoy this story. It's not rocket science, but it's not bad either.

The story is week and requires you to buy the second book to find out how it ends. I was a big fan of the show but this book starts out awkwardly written and just goes nowhere. A better book for teens is Sloppy Firsts and a better book for Chick-lit fans is Can You Keep a Secret.

This book is about reality TV show star Jane Roberts. It focuses on the life in LA; parties, cute boys, everything. It sure sounds like a semi autobiographical by the author, The Hills' very own Lauren Conrad.

First of all, I used to watch The Hills. I do like Lauren, and like the fact that she does not try so hard to be somebody else just to fit in. But when I heard she was writing a book, of course, I was skeptical. After having followed her on The Hills, I have never heard of her aspiring to be a writer. I did give her the benefit of the doubt though, and borrowed this from the library.

First off, there are good points. It is very straight-forward, almost as if a friend is just having a conversation with you. It is quite interesting, if you like reality TV shows. And if you are a fan of The Hills, then you will enjoy this even more.

However.. and there are a lot of howevers, the topic has been done too many times before; A girl who moves out, goes to a different city, and moves in with a close friend, experiencing new and exciting things. Also, not only is the writing pedantic, it also quite confusing. The resolution was not done well, if the ending of the book was even a resolution.

I would never think of purchasing this book, probably will never read it again, and most likely won't recommend it at all. But it was a fun way to pass time. Light, but can be engaging if you try to get into it. If you are going to read this, try to take it for what it is.

I absolutely loved this book. Couldn't put it down til I finished it. I Lauren has more for us all to read.

I'm a fan of the show 'The Hills' so this was pretty much similar to her story of being on TV. Although there are a few changes to the story, most of it reminds of incidents that happened to her on the show. If you liked the show, you'll like the book. If you don't enjoy the show, you might want to skip out on the book as well.

This novel by reality TV starlet Lauren Conrad chronicles the lives of Jane Roberts and her best friend, Scarlett Harp, as they move to LA and become the stars of a reality TV show. The book, which is based loosely on Conrad's own life, is a little slow in the beginning, but picks up a bit once Jane and Scarlett are discovered at a club by a TV producer.

From that point on the two, though a little hesitant at first, decide to audition for the show and their lives change drastically.

While Jane takes to the cameras being around easily, Scarlett is not so excited and wonders what she got herself into. Throw into the mix two other cast members, Gaby, a total ditz, and Madison, a total witch with a nice girl facade, and things get even more complicated.

When Jane starts dating Jesse, who happens to be the best friend of her friend-slash-major crush, Braden, things spiral out of control quickly and the jealousy of someone Jane thought she could trust ruins her life in an instant.

With lots of run-of-the-mill Hollywood cliches (blondes, drugs, cosmetic surgery, etc), L.A. CANDY almost fails to deliver an original storyline. In addition, in pretty much every single chapter, Jane and her friends are drinking (usually vodka soda for Jane) making it seem to the unknowing person who has never been to LA that you can't have any fun in Tinseltown without being drunk.

It is a quick and light read that would be great for the beach or a day when you don't need any actual depth in what you're reading. However, the ending is a cliffhanger and leaves you wanting to know what happens to Jane next.

Reviewed by: Angela S.

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.