Beneath the Glitter

September 1, 2012
Hardworking sisters face glamorous romantic and professional challenges in Los Angeles. Approachable fashionista-next-door video bloggers Sophia and Ava London have built an impressive reputation as savvy guides to fashion, accessories and personal grooming and are thrilled to be moving up in their shared career. An award naming the tightknit sisters Best Webstars of the Year leads to a licensing deal for their own makeup line--London Calling--with LuxeLife Cosmetics, and now the hottest men in Los Angeles are falling at their feet. Ava begins dating paparazzi-bait-turned-doting boyfriend Liam Carlson (but she continues to enjoy flirtatious banter with Dalton, a fellow volunteer at the local animal shelter). Meanwhile, Sophia, "boytoxing" after being blindsided by a terrible breakup, finds herself torn between wealthy smoothie Hunter Ralston and gorgeous Italian bartender-sculptor Giovanni. The Fowlers--who, like their protagonists, are beauty-and-fashion video bloggers--let their otherwise-effervescent modern fairy tale of sisterly love and self-actualization get bogged down in a dreary subplot of sibling separation anxiety and jealousy, basing it on the flimsiest of serial miscommunications and resolving it in a single paragraph. A last-chapter twist threatens the sisters' reputation (and sets up a potential sequel), making the novel simply stop, rather than resolve. There's a built-in audience for the London sisters' adventures, but beneath all the glitter is a bunch of blah. (Chick lit. 14-16)

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September 1, 2012

Gr 6-9-The Fowlers of YouTube's AllThatGlitters21 and juicystar07 have written their first novel, a seemingly fictionalized account of their own lives. Sisters Sophia and Ava London, young and beautiful, are Internet sensations due to their video blog makeup tips. In short order they meet a movie star, win the prestigious Best Webstars of the Year, and are offered their own cosmetic line, London Calling. Sophia, the serious older sister, is recovering from a bad break-up and goes on a hiatus from dating, aka a "boytox," until she finds two very different men attractive: Hunter, who appears too good to be true, and Giovanni, an artist/bartender. Ava, the impulsive younger sister, is torn between Liam Carlson, a movie star, and Dalton, a mysterious animal-shelter volunteer. In the sisters' alternating narratives, readers see the romantic entanglements and sibling misunderstandings that threaten their relationship and new business. Ultimately all is resolved, and the girls seem headed for a happy ending until they are arrested at a benefit they are throwing. The mystery involving their arrest is forced and poorly set up and the epilogue is even more baffling. The book makes a serious attempt to explore relationships between sisters, but the emphasis on clothes, parties, and makeup detracts from this effort and gives the book an air of frivolity.-Kefira Phillipe, Nichols Middle School, Evanston, IL

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