Released: 28th February 2012
Publisher: Walker Children's Books (US)
Source: Sent by author for review
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Description:
Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar and the only celebrity who’s ever been kind to her—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream: real photography classes, and maybe even quitting her paparazzi gig for good. Everyone wants to know what Ned’s in for. But Jo certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.
My thoughts:
Shooting Stars tells the story of ‘Zo Jo’ the pint-size
paparazzo that’s in the game to pay for the photography courses she needs to
become a world-class portrait photographer. She accepts a ‘dirty’ job spying
undercover on Ned Hartnett, in exchange for a ridiculous sum of cash, not
realising just how hard she might find being at the exclusive retreat.
I liked that Jo was working to get where she wanted in life,
in a job she hated because it paid well, rather than just expecting her father
to pay for her college course. At the same time, I did find her a little bland
character wise; which meant I didn’t connect with her as much as I could have. There
was a lot of repetition from her in terms of her feelings about the job, and
while it was admirable that she didn’t want to do what she was doing…at the
same time I just wished she’d gotten on with it.
Ned…I didn’t really see the appeal of. He was a little
bland, and Jo was obviously pretty obsessed with him yet there wasn’t really
much basis for this other than one exchange they’d had. I kinda felt like their relationship came out
of nowhere; there was barely any conversation between the two or anything like
that, it just sort of…happened because it was convenient for the plot.
The plot was interesting, especially once things started to
get…interesting. I liked how Jo went into the retreat thinking she was fine,
and actually came to several realisations about herself, her life and her
goals. There were a couple of twists I really didn’t anticipate and I liked how
everything worked out, it was clever and there were some valuable points in
there as well.
Shooting Stars was one of those books that are enjoyable,
but not mind blowing. Well written, but not beautiful. The characters are nice, but not overly
relatable or charming. It was a fun read, and I definitely enjoyed it, but I
probably wouldn’t re-read it.
Giveaway time!! Allison has very kindly donated a copy of Shooting Stars for a giveaway!! This is open to UK residents only, simply fill the form in below:
Be sure to stop by Liz's blog for a review of Serial Hottie by Kelly Oram!
It's a shame you couldn't connect to the main character as much as you would have liked, but glad to hear the plot was interesting and clever with some cool twists! I have this one to read and I'm interested to see what's so interesting about it :P. Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I hate when things happen just for the convenience of the plot.
ReplyDeleteI am such a character person so if I am having a hard time with a character it's really difficult to enjoy the book. It's good that it was still good though. I don't know that it is a book I would pick up, but great review!!
ReplyDeleteThis one hasn't really appealed to me to run out and read it, and your reasons are probably why. I just don't feel a spark toward it. I dislike it when I can't connect with characters, or when they're okay but there's nothing special about them. So maybe this one might be a library read or something!
ReplyDelete