Something Real (Something Real, #1) in The Wide Web of Friends in YA Books

Feb 25, 2014 Angela rated it liked it

Shelves: evil-moms, are-you-freaking-serious, meh, i-dont-understand-the-point-of-this, read-2014

The book didn't especially redeem itself at the end. Throughout the whole story, it talks about how horrible and life scarring the show is. But in the end, only Bonnie and Benton left. So...what's your point?

Something Real is about reality TV and how unreal it actually is. I loved Reality Boy by A.S. King, so I was so excited to read another book about it. The show's name is called "Baker's Dozen", which basically is composed of thirteen kids and a whole lot of drama. The show is now back on ai The book didn't especially redeem itself at the end. Throughout the whole story, it talks about how horrible and life scarring the show is. But in the end, only Bonnie and Benton left. So...what's your point?

Something Real is about reality TV and how unreal it actually is. I loved Reality Boy by A.S. King, so I was so excited to read another book about it. The show's name is called "Baker's Dozen", which basically is composed of thirteen kids and a whole lot of drama. The show is now back on air, and... Bonnie/Chloe and Benton are not happy. It was their nightmare coming back.

Remember there are THIRTEEN kids, and the book only feature 2/13 of them. Sometimes Lexie shows up, but the book shows her as a shallow, conceited, attention whore who actually likes being on the show. All the other kids are mentioned a few times, but you know absolutely nothing about them. Nothing. They are the cardboard cutouts on the stage.

I suppose the whole idea is to show how absolutely terrible the show is, and only two out the thirteen kids seemed to realize that? Okay, some might be too young, but some are also old enough. They are fifteen, and the book does nothing to show how they feel, or how the show has impacted other members. The book made it seem like Bonnie/Chloe and Benton are the only ones with a brain and are affected by this and realize how damaging the show is to a person.

When describing a love interest, don't describe his hair as "...his hair is greasy, like he hasn't washed it since seventh grade." I'm sorry, is that supposed to be attractive? That probably now did make him sound unattractive, but his personality and his appearance is supposedly "hot" so it makes up for it? The romance was mediocre, nothing worth swooning over, and the conversation between the two is downright hilarious, and not in a really good way.

"I missed you so much last night I chewed a whole pack of spearmint gum."
-----
"YOSOYCHLOE: Morning.
SHELDON1051: I have my sword, but I have no idea where my trusty steed went. Are you letting down your hair?

Benny reads over my shoulder. 'You guys are weird.'"

Yeah, you got that right. But never mind that. We're all weird. What matters is that Patrick's the shoulder Bonnie/Chloe needed and they supported each other.

Because the point of the book was supposed to portray a representation of what reality TV does to you, and how utterly unfair and whacked up the behind-the-scenes are, we were supposed to feel sympathy towards Bonnie/Chloe. Instead, we are dealing with a teenage girl who comes off as someone who tends to overreact, and extremely whiny but also insists she isn't. That should be the case, since the reasons are legitimate, but the way Bonnie/Chloe is written, makes it hard to care as much.

Back to my initial point, what was the whole point of the book? They didn't "expose" anything, they kinda just ran off the job. You know how they say sibling love is stronger than... I don't even know actually. Anyways, siblings should care about each other, and well, Bonnie/Chloe and Benny were just "yeah, we'll miss them. HASTA LA VISTA BABY L8ERZ." Oh alright, so you just leave the whole family in the same conditions as you were in before? You don't do anything to help them because as long as you are no longer part of the show means that you no longer have to worry about your family's well being anymore? Right, since every man for himself.

If you're interested in this reality TV stuff, I suggest you read "Reality Boy" by A.S. King instead. It's a much more moving and realistic portrayal of the aftermath of growing up on a TV show. This book wasn't horrible, and you could give it a try. It's not boring, somewhat entertaining, a no brainer fluff. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2014 Ally Bryan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-boyfriends, all-time-favorites, best-romances-33, favorites

I loved this book!! It really surprised me and has ended up being my favorite book of the year so far! I went in expecting a cute story about a girl on a reality tv show when it is so much more than that! All of the characters are amazing and have so many different sides to them. Chloe/Bonnie is a great main character and while she has many flaws, you completely understand her and can't help but root for her throughout the book! Patrick has, of course, been added to my book boyfriend list. He is ...more

Like · see review