Pub. Date: First published, June 12th 2012;
Paperback pub. June 4th, 2013
Publisher: Atria Books
Hardcover/Paperback/ebook
272 pages
I expected Between You
and Me to be a fairly light, summer beach read. It’s not. While there is
some humor, the novel and the characters in the novel are not happy. This is a
heart wrenching, haunting story that I found powerful and engrossing.
Growing up, cousins Kelsey and Logan Wade were thick as
thieves. Fifteen years later, Logan has done the adult thing. Done with college
and stuck in an uninspiring job, she’s bored. The last thing Logan expects on
her 27th birthday is a call from Kelsey’s mom asking her to LA to
visit the recently dumped, and now uber famous, Kelsey. Dropping everything,
Logan’s curiosity and need to get out of her tedium, sets an entire train of
events in motion. With Logan by her side, Kelsey takes control of her life and
career, going for what she wants, and doing what she wants, for the first time.
But, when her choices send her life spiraling out of control, the girls have to
stick together, or allow Kelsey’s parents to tear them apart, again.
Kelsey Wade is more exposed than a Kardashian. Add in an
eventual meltdown and the worst mom/dadager in the world, Between You and Me makes you feel like you’re watching an episode
of
True Hollywood Stories. Written in a voyeuristic way, Kelsey’s life is
somewhat reminiscent of a soap opera. The novel moves fast, and the storyline
can change dramatically in a short amount of time, but we only get snippets of
events, similar to snap shots of celebrity life in gossip magazines. No matter
how much goes on, and how separate these events are from a life that I personally
can relate to, it’s very hard not to be drawn in by the story and the
characters. I felt like I went on an emotional rollercoaster ride from start to
finish. I got mad, sad, annoyed and (sporadically) overjoyed, not because the
characters were relatable or likeable, but because of how wonderfully they were
crafted.
I think this novel does a very good job of pointing out how
people have an unrealistic idea about celebrity life. As a culture, we think we
know someone, when we probably know nothing at all. It’s the things that the
public doesn’t know or understand about Kelsey’s life, from the incredibly long
arduous hours, to the relationships behind the scenes, and the intense amount
of pressure on her shoulders, that were effectively represented for me. This is
not a poor little rich girl story. This is a story of a person who completely
falls to pieces because of the world going on around her. After reading, I felt
really sad for the Britney’s and Lindsay’s who have had to face ridicule
publically for what was going on personally.
I feel like I haven’t said why I liked this book in tangible
way, but more than a month after finishing the novel I truly don’t quite know
why I connected and was so drawn in to this story. I just know that I was. To
quote Amanda Marshall “everybody’s got a story that could break your heart” and
Between You and Me does just that.
Rating 8/10
** I received a copy of this novel from the publisher to
read and honestly review. I was in no way compensated.
No comments:
Post a Comment