Monday, July 27, 2009

Book Review: L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad



I've been a fan of Lauren Conrad since the first episode of Laguna Beach aired on TV yonks ago. Then I followed Conrad to The Hills, where I learnt "Boys are like purses" and watched the readership for Teen Vogue increase in ten-fold. When I found out she was writing a book, I was torn whether I should purchase her novel. At the end, I did and expected a lot more from the book. Sorry Lauren.

The book was enjoyable. The story flowed nicely and I liked it how Conrad introduced the main characters of the story, Jane Roberts and Scarlett Harp and reading about their adventures around Hollywood. There have been so many novels and drama shows set around L.A, (think The O.C., 90210, Melrose Place, Trading Up, Clueless) and all of them make me want to gag. Luckily, L.A. Candy doesn't do that.

The story follows Jane and Scarlett as they move from Santa Barbara to the busy streets of Los Angeles, California. It follows them as they learn what it's like to live in a big city and seeing how they're thrown into the spotlight and treated as celebrities. The positive part of the book is how Conrad illustrates the behind the scenes look of the world of reality television. I knew The Hills and Laguna Beach aren't 'real'. T.V. producers would throw the characters into different siutations to see how they would react and work through these situations. However, while L.A. Candy was based on The Hills, the characters and storyline are totally different.

I adored Jane Roberts and Scarlett, but I disliked Gaby (definitely reminiscent of Audrina Partridge) and Madison. I kept rolling my eyes everytime their names popped up in the pages.

However, I did not mind the love triangle between Jane, Braden and Jesse. I liked both Braden and Jesse and liked how Conrad incorporated the love triangle into the mix, the way the book ended was abrupt - way too abrupt. Like, "If you want to see what's installed next on L.A. Candy, purchase my second book!" It really annoyed me, but Lauren, just because it's you, I will purchase the next novel because the story is enough to want to keep up with it.

Fans of The Hills and Lauren Conrad will definitely enjoy this book because it's Lauren. It's not one of my favourite books, but it is a decent read for the weekend.

Happy reading!
5ft0

4 comments:

Sash said...

I've always loved Laguna and The Hills as well, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to like the book.

I kind of want to read it to see how she depicts her and Heidi's relationship. Hehehe

Five Foot Nothing said...

Hey Glossy,

Lauren's relationship with Heidi isn't really depicted par se. However, the sex video scandal ties in with Madison's character - hope that keeps you interested.

5ft0

Death Wears Diamond Jewellery said...

im too sad to read this book. i love The Hills but i think Lauren is boring and talentless. And if she gets a publishing deal, where does that leave the rest of us? argh!

frockandrollonline.com said...

I'm almost ashamed to admit this (partly because I kind of expect it to be tragically bad!), but I DO want to read this - why, why, WHY?

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