By: Zoey Dean
Zoey Dean is most commonly known for her popular teen series, the A-List, which is a wonderfully cheesy series about a bunch of spoiled children of Hollywood's elite. In her adult novel, HOLLYWOOD IS LIKE HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY, Dean takes this YA-approved concept and grows it up, at least in theory. The storyline stays annoyingly true to her teen series, but with somewhat older players and some more adult situations. Taylor Henning, our fish-out-of-water lead, is a film-buff from Cleveland who just landed a big gig as second assistant to Iris Whitaker, the President of a big Movie Production Company. The only problem? Iris' first assistant, Kylie, is the alpha-villain; pretty, shrewd and maliciously trying to out-do Taylor to get a much-coveted promotion. Taylor crafts an ingenious plan to enlist Iris' spoiled teenage daughter, Quinn, into helping her become a "mean girl" and play Kylie's game. Taylor's plan backfires, she loses her job and the boyfriend she stole from Kylie. When it seems that all is lost, fiction magic happens and all is mended for the ridiculously cliched fairy tale ending. Good (Taylor) prevails over evil (Kylie who winds up at the bottom of the Hollywood food chain) and Taylor walks away with the promotion and a new lease on life. Did I mention the stolen boyfriend of Kylie who dumped Taylor because she was lying to him comes back right at the end of the book and they live happily ever after? Of all the problems I had with this book, clearly the most important was it's predictability. It was a chore not to skip parts because I already knew the direction the book was taking. This ties into the problem that this book (perhaps intentionally) read like teen fiction. Just because the characters are "grown-ups" doesn't mean the book is intended for a "grown-up" audience. I suppose I was looking for more variation in the theme, and Dean played it too safe for me. I wish she would've explored more dangerous alternatives, rather than just sticking to the same characterization and plot lines as in her teen series. The last problem was that the book was a bit slow in the beginning. It picked up towards the middle, but became very predictable at that point, and maybe it went faster because I knew what was coming. It was a quick and easy read, but I just wasn't feeling that into it. It was okay, it certainly wasn't terrible, but I was expecting more substance from Zoey Dean. I really thought this was going to read like chick-lit, but it too unexpectedly teeny-bopper. If I'm going to read girly teenage books, I'd at least like to be fully aware of it going in! Review by Sarah. (Fiction) 08/16/09
