There are times when I can be a book snob. Anne Rice, Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling are the last authors I can remember whose series I followed faithfully.
And with regards to YA fiction, well, it’s a bit dated.
But I was a faithful fan of “Laguna Beach,” “The Hills” and “The City,” so when Lauren Conrad announced she was writing a YA series based on her show, I rolled my eyes and told my friends I wouldn’t follow Lauren into Literaryland.
Until my local bookstore had the LA Candy series on sale and I decided that spending around $10 for three books wouldn’t be too much of waste.
The reviews on Goodreads were mixed but fair, so I kept my expectations low.
Jane Roberts (Lauren) and her bestfriend/roommate Scarlet Harp (Lo) move to Los Angeles and are chosen to start in a new reality show called “LA Candy.” The show follows Jane as an intern at event planner Fiona Chen’s (Lisa Love) company where she meets Hannah (Whitney) and the two forge a friendship.
Scarlet, the brains of the group, teeters on rather being on the show was a good idea as their profiles rise. Jane’s castmate Madison (Heidi) gets jealous when she realizes that Jane is the breakout star and decides to ruin her reputation through gossip magazines. And then there’s the ditzy Gaby (Audrina), who becomes the witless sidekick to Madison’s schemes.
Remember when Heidi and Spencer said Lauren and Jason had a sex tape? Yeah, this is that.
By no means is LA Candy as stretch to the imagination for Conrad or her readers. There are some name changes and plot twist, but you could read this book along side the show and never miss a beat.
To her credit, the pacing is good and Conrad gives readers an inside look at how a reality television show works. The hours are long and casts are basically blocked off from the real world to those who have only signed release forms.
In this midst of writing my thesis and reading high modernism for class, this was a breath of fresh air and a much needed mind break. Or dare I say, mind candy?
BlackFaceType 