Monday, April 17, 2017

My Thoughts: Fireworks by Katie Cotugno

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29523625-fireworks
Fireworks
by Katie Cotugno
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Publication Date:April 11th 2018
Publisher: HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780062660244
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary
Source: For Review

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From Katie Cotugno, bestselling author of 99 Days, comes Fireworks—about a girl who is competing with her best friend to become the new pop star of the moment—and all the drama and romance that comes with it—set in Orlando during the late-'90s boy-and-girl-band craze.

It was always meant to be Olivia. She was the talented one, the one who had been training to be a star her whole life. Her best friend, Dana, was the level-headed one, always on the sidelines, cheering her best friend along.

But everything changes when Dana tags along with Olivia to Orlando for the weekend, where superproducer Guy Monroe is holding auditions for a new singing group, and Dana is discovered too. Dana, who’s never sung more than Olivia’s backup. Dana, who wasn’t even looking for fame. Next thing she knows, she and Olivia are training to be pop stars, and Dana is falling for Alex, the earnest, endlessly talented boy who’s destined to be the next big thing.

It should be a dream come true, but as the days of grueling practice and constant competition take their toll, things between Olivia and Dana start to shift . . . and there’s only room at the top for one girl. For Olivia, it’s her chance at her dream. For Dana, it’s a chance to escape a future that seems to be closing in on her. And for these lifelong best friends, it’s the adventure of a lifetime—if they can make it through.

Set in evocative 1990s Orlando, New York Times bestselling author Katie Cotugno’s Fireworks brings to life the complexity of friendship, the excitement of first love, and the feeling of being on the verge of greatness. (Goodreads)


My Thoughts...

I was super curious to get started on Fireworks by Katie Cotugno, especially after reading her previous book, 99 Days, last year and really enjoying it. I had the pleasure of meeting Katie not too long ago, and she's such a fun person, and it really reflects in her writing!

The first thing that had me excited to read Fireworks was that it was set in the 90's. That was my era! The decade of boy bands and pop star girls. I fully expected to be completely immersed in memories of my childhood, but this book actually read just like any other contemporary novel, just minus the modern technologies. Not that there was anything wrong with that; it's always interesting to see someone else's version of the past. The book is filled with lots of drama, and the end took a bit of an unexpected twist that I didn't see coming, (but should have expected). It was also a really quick read. I read it in just a few hours time!

It was interesting to read the story from the main character, Dana's, perspective. She wants nothing more than to get out of her small town, and when the opportunity arrives to have something more, she totally jumps on it. I didn't really care for her best friend, Olivia, who seemed really great at first, or her mom, who made me cringe more than once. But I did like Alex, who is in a boy band, and who is really pretty awesome. I think he was my favorite character in the story. *grin*

Overall; Fireworks was a quick, interesting read. It's a definitely a book have on your spring and summer reading lists. I still need to read Katie's How to Love, which I'm hoping to get to soon, and I'm also excited for her next book, Top Ten, which is set to release in the Fall!



1 comment:

  1. I haven't read anything by Katie Cotungo, but a lot of people seem to like her books. So did Cotungo just have a lack of technology in the book? Or were there some references to the era as well? Thanks for the review! Hopefully I'll read some of Katie's books soon. :)

    Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

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