Scan barcode
finesilkflower's review
3.0
Maggie has a romantic comedy with a movie star.
This is probably the California Diary with the most traditional plot. When Maggie's movie producer dad introduces her to the young cast from his new teen romantic comedy, Maggie is sure she won't like them--she finds actors phony--but star Tyler Kendall is a disarmingly sweet down home boy fresh from the farm in Iowa. Traditional romantic comedy structure suggests that she should have a sweet getting to know you montage followed by conflict/misunderstanding followed by getting together, which is sort of what happens, but it's not exactly that linear. As Maggie dates Tyler, she struggles with her tendency to assume the worst in everyone (continually suspecting Tyler of being phony, etc.), and her sudden place in the spotlight as an actor's love interest, and in her father's world that she's tried so hard to avoid.
I don't have much to say about this one. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't find it terribly interesting. Maybe it's because there's not an awful lot of the other characters.
Author Gratefully Acknowledges: Jeanne Betancourt
Timing: April 20 to May 23
Revised Timeline: According to my calculations, the girls are about 23 at this point. I actually think that's an age that works really well for this plotline; say Maggie has spent her entire adolescence trying to escape from her father's world. This timeline actually gives her enough time to make a change in her feelings. And those rootless first few years after college are a time when many young adults return home and confront their pasts. I could certainly see an effective romantic comedy about a formerly-rebellious producer's daughter who finds herself doing the last thing she thought she'd do, dating a movie star, while visiting/living with her parents after grad. It could even be the same movie; all those teen movie actors are in their 20s anyway. The idea of an actual 15-year-old playing a 15-year-old in a movie is laughable.
This is probably the California Diary with the most traditional plot. When Maggie's movie producer dad introduces her to the young cast from his new teen romantic comedy, Maggie is sure she won't like them--she finds actors phony--but star Tyler Kendall is a disarmingly sweet down home boy fresh from the farm in Iowa. Traditional romantic comedy structure suggests that she should have a sweet getting to know you montage followed by conflict/misunderstanding followed by getting together, which is sort of what happens, but it's not exactly that linear. As Maggie dates Tyler, she struggles with her tendency to assume the worst in everyone (continually suspecting Tyler of being phony, etc.), and her sudden place in the spotlight as an actor's love interest, and in her father's world that she's tried so hard to avoid.
I don't have much to say about this one. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't find it terribly interesting. Maybe it's because there's not an awful lot of the other characters.
Author Gratefully Acknowledges: Jeanne Betancourt
Timing: April 20 to May 23
Revised Timeline: According to my calculations, the girls are about 23 at this point. I actually think that's an age that works really well for this plotline; say Maggie has spent her entire adolescence trying to escape from her father's world. This timeline actually gives her enough time to make a change in her feelings. And those rootless first few years after college are a time when many young adults return home and confront their pasts. I could certainly see an effective romantic comedy about a formerly-rebellious producer's daughter who finds herself doing the last thing she thought she'd do, dating a movie star, while visiting/living with her parents after grad. It could even be the same movie; all those teen movie actors are in their 20s anyway. The idea of an actual 15-year-old playing a 15-year-old in a movie is laughable.
sammah's review
2.0
This book was the one in the whole series that just did. Not. Fit. They all had a pretty serious underlying issue going on, except this one. This one was more BSC in nature, with the whole famous guy falling for one of the group schtick. I like Maggie, quite a lot, but this didn't do it for me. What a shit way to send her out!
nikkibd4033's review
2.0
Meh. Read for the blog and a disappointing follow up to #12, which was really a beautiful book and probably Ann M. Martin's best.
glyptodonsneeze's review
4.0
This has that “movie stars are just like us” plot that’s been done before. Of course, Maggie Blume isn’t just like us, her dad is a semi-famous action and teen romance–apparently–director, so she has more opportunity for humble fifteen-year-old movie stars from farms to come to her house and fall in love with her than most of us do. Besides the romance, which is fine, Maggie is doing much better than she was in the last book. Not wanting to be like her alcoholic mom is helping her fight her anorexia, and she’s listening to her therapist, and her friends are together and rallying around Sunny, who’s at least surviving and not rejecting them in favor of creepy surfers anymore. This book was just okay, but that’s okay with me after my soul was shattered by Sunny: Diary 3.
More...