The witty ladies behind the popular celebrity fashion blog, Go Fug Yourself, release their first fiction novel with "Spoiled" by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.
Molly is living an average life in Indiana, until her single mother succumbs to cancer and tells Molly that her biological father is the famous movie actor, Brick Berlin. Surprisingly, Brick, who is more than a bit of an airhead, but also is genuinely nice, is thrilled to hear about his new daughter and Molly finds herself packing to move to L.A. to live with her newly discovered famous father and her half-sister.
Brooke, Molly's new sister, isn't exactly thrilled to hear about her father's love child coming to live with them. Brooke's used to living the fabulous life and vying for her father's attention with that of the spotlight and she doesn't need another competitor for it. And the media is showering attention on Molly, which Brooke wanted as well. She pretends to be nice to Molly at first, and then let's her get drunk and make a full out of herself in front of the paparazzi at her welcome party. Brick is furious with Brooke, and decrees that the girls will be living in the same room. That only fuels Brooke's hatred for Molly, and soon an all-out war is being fought both at school and on the homefront with the girls.
Molly finds a genuine friend in the punky Max and her brother, Teddy, a boy that charms her even though she's trying to do the long-distance thing with her boyfriend in Indiana. Shelby Kendall, Brooke's nemesis, seems eager and willing to befriend Molly and relate with her tales of how cruel Brooke can be but Max and Teddy warn Molly that she is not to be trusted. Meanwhile, Brooke's secretly sending "blind items" to a tabloid reporter about Molly and making her life at school miserable.
But when the unexpected happens and the two girls actually bond of their father's absence, will their chance at sisterly ties be ruined by their backstabbing?
This book has all the trademark wit and snark of the popular bloggers, with plenty of references to Diet Coke, Solange Knowles and how terrible jumpsuits are. Though this book is aimed at teens, adults are going to love all of the celebrity and fashion snark that goes along with it. This book is a fun treat, full of glitz and glamour that both teens and adults are going to love.
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"Spoiled" is published by Poppy, a division of Little, Brown and Company. It is $17.99 and is for ages 15 and up. Be sure to check out the authors' blog at www.gofugyourself.com and come back Monday to read an interview with the authors at my blog on the newspaper's website, www.newsandsentinel.com.
A teenage girl learns that she can use hypnosis to fix her love life in "Crush Control" by Jennifer Jabaley.
Willow is devastated to learn that she and her mother are moving away from their small town in Georgia so her mother can be a famous hypnotist at a Las Vegas show. Having watched her mother practice, Willow uses her skills on her best friend, Max, making him remain her best friend forever.
Years later, Willow and her mother are moving back to Georgia, and at 17, now Willow doesn't want to be best friends with Max, she wants to be his girlfriend. The trouble is, he already has a girlfriend and only sees Willow as his best friend, as she commanded. Meanwhile, while performing hypnosis for the entertainment of the popular kids at school, Willow decides to hypnotize popular hottie, Quinton, into loving her. And while it works, compelling someone to love you doesn't hold an appeal to Willow, especially when she still loves Max. But can love break the power of hypnosis?
This is a funny book that warns readers to be careful what you wish for, with a likeable while remaining flawed, protagonist. Readers will enjoy Willow's hijinks, even as everything begins to backfire on her and she learns about meddling with people emotions.
"Crush Control" is published by Razorbill, a division of Penguin. It is $9.99 and is for ages 12 and up.
Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com
