I don't normally talk about the audio books I listen to because most of them are backlist, but I really want to start! So, I'm starting Listen Up to write short reviews on the books that I listen to!
Audio, 7 partsRelease Date: April 11, 2017Published by: Balzer + Bray
Read from: July 16-20, 2017Stand-aloneSource: LibraryFor fans of: Stand-alones, Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Music, YA
From the New York Times bestselling author of 99 Days and How to Love comes a stunning new contemporary novel—all about boy bands, girl bands, best friends, and first love—perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson.
It was always meant to be Olivia. She’s the talented one, the one who’s been training to be a star her whole life. Her best friend, Dana, is the levelheaded one, always on the sidelines, cheering Olivia on.
But everything changes when Dana tags along with Olivia to Orlando for the weekend, where superproducer Guy Monroe is holding auditions for a new singing group, and Dana is discovered too. Dana, who’s never sung more than Olivia’s backup. Dana, who wasn’t even looking for fame. Next thing she knows, she and Olivia are training to be pop stars, and Dana is falling for Alex, the earnest, endlessly talented boy who’s destined to be the next big thing.
It should be a dream come true, but as the days of grueling practice and constant competition take their toll, things between Olivia and Dana start to shift . . . and there’s only room at the top for one girl. For Olivia, it’s her chance at her dream. For Dana, it’s a chance to escape a future that seems to be closing in on her. And for these lifelong best friends, it’s the adventure of a lifetime—if they can make it through.
Set in evocative 1990s Orlando, Fireworks brings to life the complexity of friendship, the excitement of first love, and the feeling of being on the verge of greatness.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I've loved all of Cotugno's previous books, so when I saw that she had another coming out this year, I jumped on the chance to get it in my hands. It took me awhile to get around to it, but I'm glad I hadn't given up on it!
Olivia and Dana are best friends. They've grown up together and have done everything there is to do together in thier small town. Olivia was the one who was meant to be the big star. She was the one who was supposed to go on to become the pop star, and Dana was always there to cheer her on. Until one day, Olivia and Dana are BOTH there to become the pop star. And they can see there's only room for one person.
The only thing that made me knock off a star for this book was the extreme predictability of it. As soon as one thing happened, I could guess exactly what else would be happening. And I called it right everytime. Including the end. It would have been a bigger punch to the gut to me had I not been able to figure it out. But because I figured out the ending, I knocked off a star.
Everything else was on point. The story itself took me back to my childhood with every mention of The Spice Girls. I'm not going to call it "historical fiction," because that just makes me feel old. But I really wish there were more of those references.
I also liked the narraator, Erin Spencer. She did such a great job of doing all the girls' voices, snd even the voices of the males in the book. None of them sounded the same and I loved that. I hate when I'm listening to an audiobook and they all seem to sound exactly the same. There's no way to tell them apart and that bothers me.
I knew that I would like this one because I love Cotugno's other works. She is quickly becoming one of those authors that I would read anything they write. Including a genre or something that I wasn't fond of.
Overall, I give this
