REVIEW for Likely Story #2

Another HUGE thank you to Jenny at Random House for sending me this book.

TITLE: Likely Story, All that Glitters #2

AUTHOR: David Van Etten

GENRE: YA

DATE: 2008

RATING: 3.5 Stars

I am a fan of this series. In this most recent installment (#2 – All that Glitters), we find all of our favorite main characters have returned.

Mallory is still ‘the boss’ of her own soap opera – and she still has to work with the insufferable Trip and his bunch of network cronies.

In the second book, we immediately get the sense that the bright-eyed optimism so keenly felt by Mallory is systematically being shot down at every turn. Mallory had high hopes for her soap opera – she wanted it to be about the everyday life of a teenager – but the networks are slowly, but surely starting to put pressure on her to add more ‘sizzle’ to the show.

Mallory is no longer ‘the golden child’. She now has to contend with pushy network people, disgruntled ‘talent’ who seem to be trying to sabotage her show, and she also has to deal with a resentful ex-bff, an egotistical mother and a whiny boyfriend.

As much as the first book was all about hope and possibility, the second book takes a sharp turn and heads right into disappointment, back-stabbing and disillusionment.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading the second book of the series, it left me feeling disheartened. I felt sorry for Mallory, but at the same time, I felt annoyed with her. I wanted to yell at her ‘make up your mind! You are either a teenager or a soap opera producer, but you can’t do both’. This plotline was definitely about showing us that Mallory cannot blend her two lives as she had hoped she could. The whole relationship between herself and Keith was painful and, in my opinion, somewhat pointless.

Still, what works so well for me in this series is the tenacity and brains that Mallory demonstrates. She is no wallflower and I loved, loved the parts where she FINALLY fights back with the people who are trying to sabotage her. Some of it is a little far fetched, but I don’t care – it was fun and satisfying to read.This series is a lot of fun to read. You feel yourself rooting for Mallory and I love to hate those nasty people who are trying to ruin her show – I think for future plotlines, I would like to see more interaction between Mallory and her mother – and see Mallory ‘grow up’ and start dealing with people in a more professional manner. Also, please put us out of our misery and put Dallas and Mallory together – or kill that plotline altogether – I don’t really care either way – but this ‘does he like me?’ thing is getting a little old. Also, I kind of like Javier and Greg’s characters and would love to see these two more involved in the storylines. The scene between Greg and Mallory where they start the ‘did you know’ game was brilliant and very entertaining.