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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Infinitely Better Than Reality TV, July 5, 2009
There are certain cliches one comes to expect after reading YA novel after YA novel: the gay best friend, the designer labels, the outcasts and mean girls. The Real Real takes a topic that is perhaps too ripe for satire (and is now getting play in real life with NYC Prep) and lends it an edge, humor and heart that makes it worth picking up and taking to the beach, Hamptons or not. There are, of course, some things I've seen before (the autistic brother, the housecleaner mother), but there's plenty here that makes The Real Real deliciously dishy.
Jesse is one of six high school seniors cast for XTV's The Real Hamptons Beach. She is not exactly classic reality TV material (she's not part of the It crowd, she has a boring part-time job at a muffin shop, she doesn't wear the latest designer gear), and had never expected to be chosen, but her and Drew are the non-wealthy cast members, lured in by the $40,000 scholarship being dangled before them. She's thrilled to have the chance to be alone with her crush, but not so thrilled when her best friend Caitlyn doesn't get cast and she quickly finds that she's signed over a lot more than the right to film her. Instead, "reality" becomes a carefully scripted fiction that McLaughlin and Kraus coyly nail, especially the sleazy, over-the-top producer, Fletch and his beleagured assistant, Kara.
The XTV overlords give these high school students the star treatment, including luxury meals and trips and glamour, but it all comes to a head on their big pre-spring break spring break. Yes, some of the characters here are little more than caricatures of high school types, like Jase, the annoying frat boy, and Trisha, the overly plastic surgeried young starlet, but they are so fun to hate that the authors are forgiven. The twists and turns of friendship, not to mention the lengths XTV will go to make their show a hit, or the lengths Jesse will go to win back her reputation, make this a winner that manages to indulge a bit in the flashy materialism of Gossip Girl and its ilk but also stand above it.
The ending is especially divine, and offered one of my favorite lines, with Nico, who starts out a spoiled brat but winds up being more than just a pretty, label-clad clone, exudes her charm. "'Oh, look!' she says, pointing at the poster like it was a kitten wrapped in puppies sprinkled with ducklings." These kinds of witticisms, mostly aimed at skewering the supposed glamour and hype of reality TV, make The Real Real a cut above the average teen chick lit. I hope there are more YA novels in McLaughlin and Kraus's future.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Mother Daughter Book Club.com, September 18, 2009
Jesse is a senior at a high school in the Hamptons where she sees lots of celebrities and other wealthy people drop in for vacation. Life for most of the locals is anything but glamorous, that is until TV network XTV decides to train its cameras on the students in Jesse's high school. What they want is real teens, doing real things in their real lives. Everyone at the school tries out, but Jesse is sure that she won't be among the chosen ones.
When the line-up is announced, there's no surprise that the school's hottest teens made the list--Nico, Jase, Rick and Melanie--but Jess is surprised to find that she's been picked too. While none of Jesse's friends made the list, she's excited that the guy she has a crush on, Drew, did.
While having the cameras film her every move is kind of a pain, it's also kind of glamorous and at first everything goes well. But when real teens doing real things in real life proves to be really boring, the producers at XTV decide to shake things up by orchestrating real drama. The ensuing events may make for interesting television, but the effect they have on Jesse and the other stars of the show are anything but expected
Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, the bestselling authors of The Nanny Diaries, have written a book that should resonate with reality TV viewers, and it feels as though we really are behind the scenes of a show. The teens in this book aren't perfect, in fact it can be frustrating to watch as some of them make some pretty big mistakes. But then you realize just how much the adults in the equation fail them and contribute to the mistakes in so many ways. Recommended for mother-daughter book clubs with girls 15 and up.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting Review: The Real Real, July 30, 2009
THE REAL REAL
EMMA McLAUGHLIN & NICOLA KRAUS
Contemporary YA
HarperTeen
Rating: 5 Enchantments
Jesse O'Rouke is the typical average girl at her Hamptons high school. She's not the most glamorous or the most beautiful and she definitely doesn't hang out with the A-list crowd, but her and her best friend Caitlin really don't care that much about any of that. Then suddenly XTV shows up at school, auditioning every single student to be one of the stars for their soon-to-be hot new reality hit, and Jesse gets cast as one of the leads, leaving her in the bright glare of the spotlight with her best friend on the outside looking in.
I loved Jesse, finding herself thrown in with the kids who've always been more popular then her. While her and Drew are the outsiders in the group, they're forced to play friends with the others in front of the cameras, following the directions of a crazed cinematographer which results in some truly hilarious scenes. All the while, Jesse's `reality' is anything but as they shoot a Saturday at the spa in the middle of the night and her friendship with Caitlin starts to fade as the two barely have any time together. Soon, Jesse finds herself trying to wrangle a deal to get her best friend on the show...something that doesn't turn out how she expected.
Hands down, my favorite scene is when the cast is whisked away to Mexico to film the spring break episode, a week before the actual spring break and are surprised to find themselves almost the lone inhabitants of the hotel. Everything is perfectly choreographed on film, while off camera, things get chaotic, leading to a scene where a drunk Trisha brings the party downstairs up to the penthouse where things get quickly out of control, leaving the entire cast huddled together in the bathroom trying to keep the partiers out.
What didn't I love about this book? If I could have given more then five enchantments, I would have. THE REAL REAL is the perfect summer read. From the moment I picked it up, I was immediately pulled into Jesse's world and didn't stop till I reached the final page, where I seriously hoped there was going to be a teaser of a sequel. Trust me, once you get to the end, you want to know there is more of Jesse and these characters in your future.
Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus are the authors of the New York Times bestsellers The Nanny Diaries, Citizen Girl and Dedication. They live and work in New York city. [...]
Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
July 2009
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