Customer Reviews

Likely Story

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up this young adult book because the storyline sounded fun. The idea of a teenager, who grew up with a famous soap opera mother, who has decided to "pitch" her own "teen" soap opera to the newtwork brass. The only hick? her best friend needs to be the lead and oh yeah, she is falling for the lead actor - oopss! did I forget to mention the neat little plot twist (which I will not reveal) at the end of the book?

What I really enjoyed about this book is the lead character Mallory could have been written as a vain, stuck up teenager - but rather the authors decided to make her the exact opposite of her shallow, rude tv-star mother. The interaction between mother and daughter is sometimes painful to read, but you get the distinct impression that both are putting up a front for the benefit of the other.

Mallory's dialogue with her boyfriend, best friend and even the producer of her newly developing soap opera are all believable and enjoyable. I like the idea that this teenager is brainy and can stand up for what she wants and believes in.

There is very little sexual content (and when there is, it is very mild), basically this book is about a young woman who has an idea and gets this idea off the ground.

It is obvious that this book will become a series - bring it on.

Great, fun read! Can't wait for the SECOND and THIRD books to be published!

Mallory is fed up with her life. Her mother is a soap opera diva, and Mallory can't stand her fake lines and fake attitude. She can't understand why soap operas are so phony, just like her mother. So when she vents one day on her personal blog about this and how if she had her own show, it would be much more realistic, she never expects anyone except maybe her best friend Amelia to see it. But it turns out that her mother's agent Donald saw the blog entry. Soon, Mallory's ideas are being turned into reality, and Mallory gets caught up in making decisions for her show and in her own life.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading Likely Story, because I had never read anything quite like it before. The plot was unique, but I didn't really like how Mallory's life seemed to revolve around soap operas, although it was all she knew. I also found it kind of ironic that Mallory always thought that soap operas were so phony when her own life seemed played out like a soap opera. Besides this, I found Likely Story a refreshing break from other over-dramatized and -glamorized tales of Hollywood. The characters were easier to relate to than those in, for example, the A-List series.

Likely Story is not a particularly exciting novel all the time, but it was an enjoyable read. Readers looking for a milder version of the A-List will enjoy this novel too.

[...]

What a fabulous book!!! I haven't read a book in years and I was so hooked on the story that I didn't put it down till I had finished the book! I also have All That Glitters and I will be reading that tomorrow as I have to know what happens to Mallory!!!

What an enjoyable day I had in the garden with the sun shining and reading a fabulous fun book!!

Mallory's life is like a soap opera. She literally knows the set of Good as Gold better than her own home. Her mom has been the reigning queen of soaps for as long as Mallory can remember. Her mom has been married numerous times, engaged just as many, and they've lived in over ten different places in Mallory's sixteen years.

However, Mallory and her mother have a hard time relating. They barely talk in passing. Mallory has more of a relationship with her mom's make-up person, Gina. Mallory has always thought that the script for Good as Gold was a joke. The characters keep going through the same situations: being abducted, being killed off, falling in love with long-lost relatives, being locked in trunks, and other ridiculous themes. So one night, on her blog, she brashly notes that she could create a better soap opera.

Little does she realize that even though only a handful of people read the blog, the right person does. The next morning, she receives a call from Donald, her mother's agent. He asks her the routine Hollywood questions, and Mallory lies, saying she's got everything written out. Of course she can send it over. She spends that night in a writing frenzy, creating a synopsis or "Bible" of her proposed idea. The hardest concept was coming up with a name for the show. After many ideas, Likely Story is what she comes up with. Her rationale is that the story would be about normal people and all the messes they get into. Not the far-fetched stuff that is on TV currently.

Everything moves quickly after she hands over the bible she's written for Donald. Executives are calling her, meetings are arranged, and casting is in full swing. She wrote the part of Sarah with her best friend, Amelia, in mind. The casting people may want to go in a different direction, but they keep Amelia in the running through the different audition rounds. An unknown from Julliard, Dallas Grant, is the exact image of Ryan and is easily agreed upon by all.

LIKELY STORY is the first novel in a new series by a trio of male authors making up the pen name David Van Etten. The three authors write a fun quirky novel of how one girl's big talk turns into a real TV show. This novel gives the background of the show's inception and brings everyone into play. Book two, ALL THAT GLITTERS, is due out in October 2008. I am already eager to see what will happen when the production gears up for the pilot episode.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

LIKELY STORY
DAVID VAN ETTEN

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Mallory's life is about to hit the fast lane. When she rants on her blog about the lack of reality on soap operas (especially her mother's) and how she could create a better one of her own, it doesn't take long for her cell phone to ring. Her mother's agent has seen the blog, likes the idea and wants her to send over the bible in the morning. The only hitch? Mallory hasn't gotten that far with the idea, heck, it wasn't even an idea till she wrote the blog. So Mallory pulls a situation from her real life and begins an all-night writing session to get the story bible down. Then suddenly, the same network that does her mother's show is interested in Mallory's story and all of a sudden, things in Mallory's life go from calm to chaotic.

LIKELY STORY is a great, entertaining read. Mallory is a really likeable character. Dealing with her soap opera diva mother is one thing, but now she's dealing with the cutthroat world of producers, network exec's-including one of her mother's ex husbands-and trying to secure a starring role for her best friend, Amelia. Not to mention, her love life is something out of a soap opera - she's been seeing K, who's also dating another girl and Mallory might just be developing a small crush on Dallas, the Julliard student who's the perfect casting choice for Ryan.

I really enjoyed this story. LIKELY STORY makes a great beach read as it's a faced paced page turner. I look forward to reading the next in the series, due out this fall.

David Van Etten is the pen name of three authors - David Levithan, David Ozanich and Chris Van Etten. Chris Van Etten is currently a fulltime writer for ABC's One Life to Live; David Ozanich is a freelance writer and playwright; and David Levithan is the author of Boy Meets Boy, and many other young adult novels for Knopf.

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
May 2008

I loved this book. It was fun, lighthearted but with some realistic mother/daughter conflict. It added enough realism to make this book really good. I enjoyed learning about the process of soap operas and the way in which they are created and the cast is chosen. I truly did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone who wants something fun to read.

This is a fun book to read. I was laughing by the third page! Looking forward to what happens to the characters in the next book.