readingwithwrin
Written on Sep 3, 2014
Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer ...everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can't wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun. When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a "reality version of Sex and the City," they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please! Soon Jane is TV's hottest star. Fame brings more than she ever imagined possible for a girl from Santa Barbara-free designer clothes, the choicest tables at the most exclusive clubs, invites to Hollywood premieres-and she's lapping up the VIP treatment with her eclectic entourage of new pals. But those same friends who are always up for a wild night are also out for a piece of Jane's spotlight. In a city filled with people chasing after their dreams, it's not long before Jane wakes up to the reality that everyone wants something from her, and nothing is what it seems to be. L.A.
Candy is a deliciously entertaining novel about what it's like to come of age in Hollywood while starring in a reality TV show, written by a girl who has experienced it all firsthand: Lauren Conrad.
- ISBN10 006176759X
- ISBN13 9780061767593
- Publish Date 17 December 2009 (first published 16 June 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 5 April 2024
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
- Imprint HarperCollins
- Format Paperback
- Pages 352
- Language English
Reviews
Katie King
Written on May 13, 2014
**Did Not Finish**
Wow. As someone who has never watched Laguna Beach or The Hills, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I know of Lauren Conrad, sure, but it pretty much ends there. When I heard she wrote a book, my feelings were similar to "I guess the cash cow finally made it to slaughter" (sorry). Imagine my surprise when I found myself at my local used bookstore, copy of L.A. Candy in hand. These people don't even write their own books, I told myself. It really can't be that bad. How wrong I was.
L.A. Candy starts off with Jane Roberts, your average plain-yet-somehow-beautiful (get it? Plain Jane) teenaged girl living off daddy's money. Not a care in the world, Jane moves to L.A., after backpacking in Europe, with an internship and very little money in order to "broaden her horizons." Cue best friend Scarlett, the beautiful, preppy college student who always get what she wants. Cue a hot, mysterious guy, who gets them into clubs ahead of lines. Cue hot, mysterious guy, who might have a girlfriend but isn't staying away from Jane but seriously he's so hot and maybe single OMG. Cue hot, mysterious guy who happens to be a reality TV producer looking for his next cast. Cue...you get it. You know what really happens in this book? Nothing. Jane and Scarlett move. They meet a guy, he helps them. They meet a guy, he helps them. They meet a guy, he helps them. Then I stopped reading, so I don't know what happens after that, but I'm sure they meet lots of guys who end up doing stuff for them. You know what Scarlett and Jane do for themselves? Oh, right, nothing. They just kind of float around the plot waiting for a guy to show up and move everything along.
The writing...could've been better. Conrad isn't a literary genius but nothing horrible occurred. There was a lot of textspeak and repetition of the word "like." According to Cher Horowitz, that is so valley girl, not something to be proud of. Several times the reader is told how to feel rather then letting it happen organically. All in all, not horrific.
However, this is a boring novel. I stopped reading at approximately 43% and all they had done with the show were the interviews and start to film a scene. I was not enticed enough to find out what happens, or even to see behind-the-scenes of Conrad's TV experience. I really just don't care. And neither does Conrad, it seems.
Summary
Boring novel in a surely boring series by a irrelevant reality TV star. Lots of textspeak, "like," whining, and "hot guys." I frequently pondered whether the author even knew of the crucial parts that make up a book. Don't miss this one. [/sarcasm]
Leah
Written on Feb 20, 2010
I have to admit that when I started LA Candy, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it. I certainly wasn't expecting to enjoy it. It appears, though, that American celebrities are better writers than their UK counterparts - at least in my opinion anyway. LA Candy isn't anything particularly special but it's a fun and enjoyable read nevertheless. Lauren is (or rather, was) a reality star herself so she has insider knowledge about just how real reality shows are and she really inserts that into the book. Gossip websites have always said things like The Hills are scripted and if LA Candy is anything to go by, it's certainly not as real as I'd have thought.
The book caught my attention pretty much from the off. It begins just before Jane and Scarlett get the chance to star in LA Candy and we learn why they came to LA in the first place. It oversees their transition from regular human beings into the hottest stars on the hottest TV show. The way Jane and Scarlett are found by Trevor, the exec-producer of LA Candy, is relatively unbelieveable but since this is Hollywood, I suppose anything could happen so the outrageous-ness just made it all the better. As the book is told from the third person point of view, we manage to see what's happening at all times with everyone involved in LA Candy. The majority of the book is told from Jane's point of view but it does switch to Scarlett, Trevor and others at random intervals. To see everything unfold without Jane knowing about it was very clever but also made me feel incredibly sneaky for knowing what was going on without Jane knowing!
As far as characters go, I really liked Jane. She sounds like the girl-next-door type as well as being slightly naive about the whole LA thing. I warmed to her almost immediately and couldn't help feeling sorry for her when everyone around her was trying to plot her downfall. I adored Scarlett. Her attitude to the entire thing was so blase and the way she tried to protect Jane was incredibly sweet. Lauren has made two incredibly nice characters as her main characters and I loved them both. I can't say I cared for Madison - she was incredibly two-faced and just so unlikeable it was unreal. Her sidekick Gaby seemed sweet enough, if a little dumb. The book wouldn't be complete without a love interest or two and here we have Jesse and Braden. I liked both of them even though Jesse comes across as a womanizer and Braden has a girlfriend. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from here in the other two books in the series.
I wouldn't say Lauren's writing is anything special but it flows nicely and I found myself really getting immersed in the story. It does also appear that Lauren wrote this herself rather than going down the ghostwriter approach so I hugely applaud that - it seems it's all too easy to get a ghostwriter these days. The ending of the book is rather abrupt which will feed nicely into Sweet Little Lies. If I didn't have the second book on my shelf I would have found the ending irritating because of having to wait to read it but I actually quite liked it. It was like a TV cliffhanger of an ending and it worked quite well although I didn't see it coming.
I really enjoyed reading LA Candy and I can see it has wide appeal. It was published by HarperTeen which tells me that it's aimed more at teenagers than adults but adults can very easily read LA Candy and enjoy it. I can fully recommend LA Candy and I can also admit that I was totally wrong about Lauren Conrad. No she's not Sophie Kinsella but she's written a very enjoyable book about what it's like to star in a reality TV series and I really loved reading it.