Janet McNally: "Girls in the Moon"

Title: Girls in the Moon [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Janet McNally [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary
Year: 2016
Age: 12+
Stars: 2.5
Pros: Lyrical writing. A love letter to New York and music.
Cons: Relies on a bunch of stereotypes when it comes to characters - even those who are relatable sound too refined to ring true. Conflicts get resolved too easily, or are ultimately glossed over. Both the setting and the music scene are painted with rounded edges, which detracts from believability. Not much happens. 
Will appeal to: Those who like quiet stories with a coming-of-age angle and a cute romance.

Blurb: Everyone in Phoebe Ferris’s life tells a different version of the truth. Her mother, Meg, ex-rock star and professional question evader, shares only the end of the story - the post-fame calm that Phoebe’s always known. Her sister Luna, indie rock darling of Brooklyn, preaches a stormy truth of her own making, selectively ignoring the facts she doesn’t like. And her father, Kieran, the co-founder of Meg’s beloved band, hasn’t said anything at all since he stopped calling three years ago. But Phoebe, a budding poet in search of an identity to call her own, is tired of half-truths and vague explanations. When she visits Luna in New York, she’s determined to find out how she fits into this family of storytellers, and maybe even to continue her own tale - the one with the musician boy she’s been secretly writing for months. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: I thought this book would be the next Luna-C for me (WHICH YOU HAVE TO READ NOW, THANK ME LATER). Heck, both of them even have a main character named Phoebe (because, reasons) and a moon reference in the title/band name. Boy, was I wrong.

MEET CUTE

So, back in 2016, everyone and their dog was raving about this book. I mean, not literally EVERYONE, but those who had read an ARC were in rapture or something. The few who weren't mainly complained about the book being uneventful, which didn't sound like a big deal to me, since I can enjoy a quiet narrative, provided it's deep. And GITM seemed to qualify. This resulted in my 1) putting this book at the top of my TBR list and 2) ultimately purchasing a HARDCOVER copy, because I didn't want to wait till the paperback was released.
Now, I know part of my disappointment in GITM is due to great expectations gone sour. I can't honestly say it is a BAD book, and the writing is lyrical enough without getting purple - conversely, I would say that there's nothing overwritten or convoluted about it. But the thing is, I no longer have patience with books (or media in general) that perpetuate stereotypes or don't try to break ground in some way. For all its superficial pleasantness, GITM relies on characters and occurrences that we are very much familiar with, and doesn't seem to want to turn them upside down. So, what we ultimately get is a bland coming-of-age story, a too-cute-for-this-world romance, and a bunch of potentially dramatic (or wait, not really) situations/conflicts that either get resolved in a hour or two or are very much glossed over. [...]

Chloë Rayban: "Justine Duval" (Series Review)

Title: Book 1: Wild Child
                        [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
         Book 2: Virtual Sexual Reality             
                        [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
         Book 3: Love In Cyberia
                        [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
         Book 4: Terminal Chic
                        [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Justine Duval
Author: Chloë Rayban [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary With a Twist
Year: 1991-1994-1996-2000
Age: 12+
Stars: 2.5/5 if compared with more "serious" books...3.5/5 in guilty-pleasure scale :). So it's a 3-star rating on the whole.
Pros: Fun, high-spirited books with a deliciously flawed lead. Also, clean novels, if that's what you're looking for.
Cons: Light read. Not very original ideas, though well executed and with some surprises awaiting the reader.
Will appeal to: Those who are looking for a relaxed, humorous read.

Blurb: Book 1: Wild Child. A hilarious story about a stylish, sassy London girl. A bizarre meeting with her future self – ten years older and wiser – gives our hip young heroine Justine the chance to come to grips with her ultimate destiny. Book 2: Virtual Sexual Reality. Justine only goes to the Virtual Reality Exhibition in the hope she might get lucky with fit hunk Alex. Instead she gets unlucky with an Alternative Reality machine and leaves the exhibition as Jake! Once she's got over the shock, Justine starts to see the potential of her new situation. As Jake she has the opportunity to hang out with the lads and find out what really makes them tick. But when her real self develops a major crush on her virtual self, things start to get just a bit too complicated... Book 3: Love In Cyberia. There's only one thing that could induce technophobe Justine to dabble on the Information Super Highway - and it's male. Yes, the chance to share love-bytes with a cool boy-babe is all it takes to get Justine surfing in Cyberspace. But when the black-clad lad, Los reveals his website wanderlust for time travel, Justine finds herself in a datspace dilemma...Just how far should she go? Book 4: Terminal Chic. These days falling in love can happen at the touch of a button and when it happens to Justine, it happens in a BIG WAY! A few e-mails and she's head over Gucci heels in love with Los, but there's just one snag: he's from the year 3001. Justine is going to have to time travel to be with the one she loves but will she adjust to the technically advanced society Los lives in? And will Los be able to adjust to Justine's way of seeing things? (Goodreads & Amazon excerpts)

Review: Sort-of-disclaimer: I read the Italian translation of this book, so I can't really judge the writing style. Also, I don't know if any parts of this novel have been cut off in my version.
First off, this post marks my first time reviewing a whole series instead of its separate installments. I chose this format because I realized that my reviews were probably going to sound much alike, inasmuch as these books share the same main features, and I'm not fond of repeating myself. Of course, since I'm a considerate human being, I didn't feel like boring my readers either ;).
On a formal level, this is not your typical series:
   Evidence 1. The first book was probably meant to stand alone, since its first sequel is dated three whole years later. Justine has roughly grown older in sync with that, for she was 14 in the first book and is 16 in the second...Nevertheless, a couple of years later - when another installment comes out - she is still 16. And in the last one - dated 2000 - only a year has passed from the events in book 3, so she is supposed to be 17, though it's stated in the book itself that she was born in 1981 (which would have made her 10 when the first installment came out, and 19 as of now). So, you could safely say that there isn't any attempt at a serious time and event consequence. 
   Evidence 2. While the first two installments are loosely related (Justine mentions a particular event from book 1 in book 2) and the other two are closely linked, there doesn't seem to be any specific trait d'union between the two couples of books. Also, Justine never addresses her past unusual experiences in any of the sequels (except for her first encounter with Los, of course). On one hand, the pattern of her adventures resembles that of a cartoon character who has uncountable experiences unrelated to one another, as if she was living a bunch of different lives, every one of them standing on its own. On the other hand, Justine is not bidimensional, and she does grow up a bit from book 1 to book 4, even though she mainly remains her old, deliciously flawed self. Also, her friends and family are a constant through all the four installments, and their features are always recognisable. [...]

Elizabeth Eulberg: "Take a Bow" (or The Of-Course Review)

Title: Take a Bow [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary
Year: 2012
Age: 12+
Stars: 2/5
Pros: Clean book (if you have an issue with swear words). A relaxing, nice read.
Cons: Lack of real depth. Predictable, single-faceted characters. Conflicts are settled too easily.
Will appeal to: Those who need to float in a dream world for a while.

Blurb: Emme has long lived in her best friend Sophie's shadow. She writes songs, and Sophie sings them. Sophie will stop at nothing to be a star. Even if it means using her best friend and picking up a trophy boyfriend, Carter. Carter is a victim of a particular Hollywood curse: he's a former child star. Now all he wants is a normal life. Ethan has his own issues - a darkness in his head that he just can't shake. Emme's the only girl he's ever really respected...but he's not sure what to do about that. (Amazon excerpt)

Review: It's difficult for me to hate this book. Even if I've been cheated into believing it could be the next "Fame" and it's not. Because "Fame" (I'm talking about the 1982 series...not the 1980 movie or, heaven forbid, the 2009 remake) may have been cheesy (hey, those were the '80s after all), but it used to have real blood and sweat... layered characters...and even managed to teach some life lessons. Well, the first three seasons at least - the last three, not so much. Anyway, the point is - this novel reads like an eviscerated version of "Fame". The story is too simple, fluffy and juvenile for my tastes. The characters  - minus one of them, of course - are too sanitized. And the one who isn't seems deprived of any redeeming quality, which is kind of sanitized in reverse. (To be honest, Ethan is not sanitized at all on the whole...but still too darn perfect in his commitment to Emme. He speaks like a book - well, most of the time, every single one of them does - and has little hearts fluttering out of his puppy eyes). Then again, I can't seem to hate this book with a passion. Hence the 2 stars.
The story revolves around four main characters. Emme is sweet and shy. Sophie is ambitious and manipulative. Carter is sensible and introspective. Ethan is self-destructive and insecure. And they all have the same voice - with the possible exception of Sophie...but even in that case, not so much.  Because especially the first four chapters (every chapter is told in a different character's POV) sound exactly the same, with regards to the structure and sentence construction.
We follow Emme, Sophie, Carter and Ethan from their enrollment in CPA (a New York school of the arts...again, Fame anyone? and BTW, I'm not sure if you can have visual arts and performing arts in the same school, like in this case) to their last year there, and their graduation. Or better, we jump from their enrollment straight to their last year, and then we follow them to their graduation, with only some small flashbacks of what happened in the middle. This makes for a short book, at least comparing Eulberg's take on the story with what it could have been. Because really, so much more could have been said. [...]

Greg Taylor: "The Girl Who Became a Beatle"

Title: The Girl Who Became a Beatle [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Greg Taylor [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Contemporary, Multiverse
Year: 2011
Age: 12+
Stars: 2/5
Pros: Clean, fun read. Creative premise. May get kids interested in Beatles' music.
Cons: Very light fable. Some inconsistencies (see review). Predictable ending/moral.
Will appeal to: Those who love modern fables and dream of stardom.

Blurb: When Regina Bloomsbury’s band, the Caverns, breaks up, she thinks it’s all over. And then she makes a wish -  “I wish I could be as famous as the Beatles.” The Beatles are her music idols. The next day, she gets up to find that the Caverns are not just as famous as the Beatles, they have replaced them in history! Regina is living like a rock star, and loving it. But fame is getting the better of Regina, and she has a decision to make. Does she want to replace the Beatles forever? (Amazon excerpt)

Review: First off, despite my rating, this is not a bad book. It just turned out to be much more juvenile than I thought it was. And predictable too - but still there is some fun to have along the way.
Regina is committed to her band, and to be honest, she seems to care more about actually playing and being heard than about becoming a star - which is refreshing. The Caverns are also her only link with Julian, a fellow band member and her secret crush. Due to her lack of confidence, Regina has never confessed her feelings to him, nor has she ever played her own songs to anyone. The book opens in the middle of a crisis - Lorna and Danny, the other half of The Caverns, want to quit, because they're tired of endlessly practicing without actually getting any real gig. (Well, yes, this is understandable to a point - but on the other hand, I suppose the abundance of talent shows is responsible for the fact that no one wants to work one's butt off to fame anymore...). This is when Regina makes her wish...finding herself in an overwhelming alternate reality the day after. Her fairy godmother contacts her via the internet (well, this is a revised fable after all, 2011-style!), explaining that Regina has got the chance to live like a rock star for a week (which implies leaving her small town and heading to L.A.), after which...she will have to choose - staying in her new and improved reality or going back to normal. But of course, there's trouble in Paradise too, like Regina is to discover very soon. The band is still collapsing, Julian is still off-limits (or better, he and Regina are...exes! and she is dating a teen tv star who may or may not be the right guy), Regina's problems with her mother have only taken a new path, and fame itself has its pain-in-the-ass moments. Also, the Caverns have actually replaced the Beatles in history, and Regina is not sure she can live with that. Not indefinitely, that is. At first, Regina makes a vow to herself to only live in her new reality for a week and enjoy the ride - then she's going to revert to normal. But of course, there are temptations along the way. [...]