Review: Date with a Rockstar by Sarah Gagnon
Note: This ARC was provided by Spencer Hill
Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Auditioning
to be part of a reality dating show is something that seventeen-year-old Monet
O’Neal never had in her life plan. The chosen contestants won’t be dating any
regular nineteen-year-old either; they’ll have a chance to go on a date with
musical artist Jeremy Bane, a dream for almost any living, breathing female.
The girl Jeremy chooses at the end of the show wins thirty thousand dollars,
and that’s Monet’s main goal. She needs the money in order to receive treatment
for Fluxem, a disease passed on from person to person via saliva. But Jeremy is
so much more than just a rock star and it feels as if he sees Monet differently
from the nine other contestants. She may have joined the show for money and not
love, but could there be a possibility of her winning both only for as long as
her diagnosis and other secrets stay hidden?
Compared
to other sub-genres under young adult (YA) fiction, dystopian stories remain in
the minority of books that I have read. It’s not that I haven’t read any nor am
I saying the ones I’ve read weren’t any good (because they were); it’s more of
my tendency to lean more toward other sub-genres that are set in present times.
When it came to Date with a Rockstar,
it didn’t immediately register in my head that this was a dystopian read. This
YA novel by Sarah Gagnon brought forth a world that anyone could easily
recognize with changes that were more than plausible since environmental issues
are things that have been discussed and debated over for decades. Add to that a
sweet love story between a girl who saw herself as ordinary and a guy who was
seen by the rest of the world as extraordinary and you’ve got yourself a book
that mixes the familiar with the possible foreseeable future.
Monet
O’Neal and Jeremy Bane’s love story is the kind teens and adult alike can
immediately recognize because who among us has never hoped for our celebrity
crush to not just notice us but to fall madly in love with us? You want to
cheer these two on, even when Monet’s symptoms begin to become more noticeable,
and, if I’m being honest here, they weren’t the kind you could use a bit of
concealer on and they were a tad icky. You can’t help but want Monet to win
both Jeremy and the money because the girl simply deserved to have good things
happen to her for a change. The fact that Jeremy was such a good guy and that
he wasn’t tainted by his celebrity made him potential book boyfriend material for
teen readers out there. The other contestants were a mixed bag but some
certainly stood out for a variety of reasons—both positive and negative—but
Praline was my favorite because she was nutty but nice.
Aside
from the romance, the setting of the story gives you pause because the
characters here are living through the consequences of not caring enough for
the environment. Who wants to live in a world where even going to the beach has
to be closely monitored because of the ramifications brought about by careless
citizens who use and abuse it? Nature is something that should be cared for if
we want to continue to enjoy and experience it. I like that this book makes you
think about more serious issues while still being able to make you sigh in
contentment with a cute love story. And hey, when I say “cute”, it’s always a
good thing. ^.^ Sarah Gagnon’s A Date
with a Rockstar was a great debut and I’m giving it 4.5 stars. ♥
Release Date: 23 June 2015
Date Read:
13 June 2015
Learn
more about Sarah Gagnon here.
Thank you for the thoughtful review! Love that the environmental details resonated with you.
ReplyDeleteYou're very much welcome! Now that's what I call a debut! :)
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