* * * *
After a rocky start in Spoiled, Brooke Berlin and her newly
discovered half sister, Molly Dix, have settled into something like sisterly
love, but the drama is far from over.
Now that Brooke's caught a taste of fame and her movie star
father's attention, she wants to launch a blog that will position her as the
ultimate Hollywood insider. But between schoolwork, party-planning committee
meetings, and spa treatments, she hardly has the time to write it herself...
Enter Max McCormack, an aspiring author with a terrible
after-school job pushing faux meat on the macrobiotic masses of La-La Land. Max
reluctantly agrees to play Brooke's ghost-blogger for an impressive salary, and
the site takes off, but how long can their lie last? In person, Brooke can't
live up to the intellectual wit of openbrooke.com, and Max soon begins to
resent hiding her genius behind a bandage dress-wearing blonde. Can the girls
work together to stay on top, or will the truth come out and ruin everything
they've built?
If you’re in serious need of something ridiculous
and outlandish, then look no further. Messy is the companion novel to Spoiled
and in my opinion, it’s even better!
What makes Messy a treat is the antagonistic relationship
between Brooke and Max – Brooke being the total Hollywood package with her
blonde hair and deep knowledge of shoewear and Max being the antithesis
with her standout green hair and astute understanding of normal humans. When
Max agrees to be the ghostwriter for Brooke’s blog, it’s really a means to an
end. That end being a summer writing program in New York that she’s been
unsuccessfully saving money for. Needless to say, Max struggles with feeling like
a sellout for working with Brooke but at the same time can’t help but be a
little awestruck by Brooke’s world.
Somehow, the two manage a passable friendship that seems to call for carting
Brooke around from one casting call to another. Max must have missed that in the fine print. It’s when Brooke’s blog lands
her a lead in a brand new movie version of Nancy Drew that things turn hairy and utterly nonsensical. Not
only are people’s perception of Brooke more positive because of the blog but
expectations are also higher. They actually think she has substance and
intelligible things to say! But the
bonus is that Brick Berlin, Brooke’s famous actor dad is finally paying
attention to her. His approval is what she has always wanted and she’s not
about to squander this achievement.
Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan have a blast poking fun at all that’s ostentatious and trendy in and about Hollywood. They
have plenty of ammunition considering how successful they are with their own
celebrity fashion blog gofugyourself.com. You know how you hear people say, “You
can’t make up this stuff”? It does make me wonder how true some
of the more insane scenarios in the book are. Try as you might, Brooke is hard
not to like. She’s not as shallow and brainless as she appears. Every scene she's in is amusing because she's so unabashed about who she is. She's never malicious – oblivious may be but I look forward to whatever she has to say. And thanks to
Max, my new favorite phrase is “mind bitch” as when she, through her own internal process, serves up bitchy
responses to a conversation currently taking place. I think it’s brilliant! Mostly because I do it all the time. Now while
Hollywood is the backdrop, the story does essentially come down to friendship,
honesty and may be some humble pie. Oh
and boys. Don’t forget, there’s always a boy or two involved.
So yes, definitely give Messy a read. It's quick, smart and just simply entertaining. For me, it was just the perfect thing to take me out of the doledrums of a hellish couple of weeks recently. I needed laughs and that's exactly what I got. Now I'd also like to suggest an idea for their next book. How's this for a scenario? Brooke encounters the creatures from Jersey Sore (no, that's not a typo. I despise reality shows and consider that one in particular to be an example of an evolutionary glitch). Anyway, it would be interesting to see if Brooke could bring a little bit of class to that unkempt set. Just a suggestion ...
~ Bel
