Messy by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

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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

Bunheads by Sophie Flack

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As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet company, nineteen year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances, and complicated backstage relationships.  But when she meets a spontaneous and irresistibly cute musician named Jacob, her universe begins to change.

Until now Hannah has followed the company’s unofficial mantra, “Don’t think, just dance.” But has her relationship with Jacob intensifies, so do the pressures within the company.  With her eyes newly opened to the world beyond the theater, Hannah must decide whether to compete against other “bunheads” for a star soloist spot or to strike out on her own.

I’ll begin by saying that I honestly have no interest in ballet whatsoever. I mean, I admire and appreciate that it’s a very demanding and disciplined art form and that the performers aside from their obvious talent must put in hours and hours of training to become worthy of the stage. Reading Bunheads therefore, was simply a curiosity about a world so foreign to me. Sophie Flack brings her own experience as a ballerina that’s both engaging and eye opening showing that in the end, the creation of a masterpiece is wrought out of literal blood, sweat and tears.

Hannah Ward has wanted to be a ballerina all her life and has dedicated herself body and soul to that endeavor.  Flack has described in amazing detail the intense training and grueling schedule that goes on in this very competitive world. It seems that being still is not an option – when they’re not rehearsing or in class, they’re working out their bodies to the brink of total exhaustion to maintain their slender figures. Hannah and her close friends embrace this with open arms and push themselves to the limit daily.

The shift in focus comes when Hannah meets Jacob on a rare night away from the ballet company. In meeting him, he sparks a curiosity within her to see life from the “pedestrian” perspective i.e. a non-ballet person. At this point opportunities come knocking and Hannah must decide what her priority is – to dance or to have a life.

It’s tough reading about the sacrifices Hannah makes in order to get what she thinks she wants. With how many times she has blown him off in favor of getting ahead in her career it’s surprising how patient Jacob is about wanting to be with her.

But what’s most eye opening is how the strict expectations mess with the dancers’ psyche.

Aside from maintaining her stamina and strength, she must also maintain a certain weight and somehow stop her body from going through puberty. As an outsider reading this it’s distressing. Body issues are inevitable but in the ballet arena, an ounce of weight gain or growing breasts are seen as hindrances.  I felt for Hannah here as she struggled with this. I think anyone who is competitive and driven will recognize the steadfast determination and choices faced by all the characters in this book.

Despite the ugly side of this life, it’s beautiful to read about the euphoria Hannah feels when she’s on stage. Even all the physical pain she endures every day can’t take away from her the love of performing. Keeping all of this in perspective, she ultimately has to examine what exactly she wants out of her life and how far she’s willing to go to make it happen.

~ Bel