Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss Review

Synopsis from Edelweiss:

In the second of three companion novels from fan-favorite author Kasie West comes an effervescent story about chasing your dreams and following your heart, perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Huntley Fitzpatrick.

Lacey Barnes has dreamed of being an actress for as long as she can remember. So, when she gets the opportunity to star in a movie alongside one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, she doesn’t hesitate to accept the part. But Lacey quickly learns that life in the spotlight isn’t as picture-perfect as she imagined. She’s having trouble bonding with her costars, her father has hired the definition of a choirboy, Donavan Lake, to tutor her, and somewhere along the way she’s lost her acting mojo. Just when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, it looks like someone on set is deliberately trying to sabotage her.

As Lacey’s world spins out of control it feels like the only person she can count on—whether it’s helping her try to unravel the mystery of who is out to get her or snapping her out of her acting funk—is Donavan. What she doesn’t count on is this straitlaced boy becoming another distraction. With her entire future riding on this movie, Lacey knows she can’t afford to get sidetracked by a crush. But for the first time in her life Lacey wonders if it’s true that the best stories really do happen when you go off script.

About: Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss is a young adult contemporary written by Kasie West. It will be published on 2/5/2019 by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins, 384 pages. The genres are young adult, contemporary, and fiction. Please see below for more information about the author. Please follow the link to see my reviews for a few of the author’s other published books: Love, Life, and the List, P.S. I Like You, Lucky In Love, By Your Side, and On the Fence. The author has many other books I want to read!

My Experience: I started reading Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss on 9/28/2018 and finished it on 10/4/2018. This book is a fantastic read! I like the main character’s easy going personality. The conversations between the characters are full of humor and just happy. It’s interesting to read about an actress’ life, especially the underage ones. I didn’t know fans could follow a movie while they act. I have never run into one. I like reading about another fellow reviewer. I like Lacey’s card games of getting to know someone new. Having someone trying to sabotage Lacey makes the read a bit more thrilling.

This book is told in the first person point of view following Lacey Barnes, 17, high school senior and an actress, currently playing a role for a zombie movie, her first big starring role. She has to keep up with her homework while on set for her acting but she doesn’t keep up with her studies very well. Her overprotective dad hires tutors for her and the last one just quit. Her dad comes to inform her that her new tutor will be a boy from her sponsor school. Lacey doesn’t date. She doesn’t want a boy to get in the way of her acting and so another boy and another tutor doesn’t excite her because she wants to focus on her big role. She’s having a rough patch on her role because she and her hot co-star lacks chemistry. She’s spending time with him to get to know him better to improve their chemistry situation. Beginning of each chapter there will be a scene from the movie Lacey’s in.

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss is very well written and fun to read. I like that this book has the slow burning romance where the characters move on from disliking each other to liking each other. I like the comparison between overprotective dad and dad who never showed up. I like the romance in this story because it stays on the surface and not go far beyond kisses. I like Lacey’s quick come back to argument with her dad about being happy on the job everyday. This book is not one to help me fall back to sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night, which is a good thing. A good book is worth sacrificing sleep over. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!

Pro: fast paced, page turner, living on set, humor, romance, easy to read, dad issues

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

Buy it here for free shipping: Book Depository

About the Author:

Kasie West is the author of several YA novels, including The Distance Between Us, On the Fence, and The Fill-in Boyfriend. Her books have received numerous awards and accolades, including an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers selection, a YALSA Best Books for Young Adults selection, and a number of Whitney and Goodreads Choice Awards and Nominations. Kasie lives in Fresno, California, with her family, and you can visit her online at kasiewest.com. (Photo obtained from Goodreads and Info obtained from Scholastic website).

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to the author Kasie West, publisher HarperTeen, and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine