Idol

by Carrie Duffy

[Leah]

Like most Chick Lit fans, the arrival of a brand new Chick Lit author is something to cheer. I love a good debut novel, there’s no expectations, no preconceived notions, nothing. Just the chance to be introduced to the new wave of Chick Lit authors who join have the chance to join the ranks of Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella et al and become authors I look out for. Idol is a novel I’ve been waiting ages to read. It’s bright pink cover appealed to me and I was incredibly thrilled and excited to receive a proof copy of the novel to review. I’ve spent June getting my backlog of review copies out of the way, and Idol was one of them and I spent a happy (and sunny!) Friday reading it.

There are many debut novels that have blown me away; It Happened In Paris by Molly Hopkins and From Notting Hill With Love… Actually to name two (there are more, mind) and I desperately wanted Idol to join those ranks. The synopsis (above) was intriguing, I love the idea of two girls being pitted against each other. The singer vs the dancer, as Jenna and Sadie both make their rapid rise in their respective roles before the epic showdown. Sadly, that’s not the case. The epic showdown between Sadie and Jenna doesn’t occur, and they only re-meet each other about 100 pages from the end of a 400 page novel. Don’t get me wrong, the book is hugely readable, I was throughly ensconced in the book, but if you asked me, I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what the plot of the book actually was. It wasn’t the big rivalry I’d imaginged it was going to be, instead it focuses on Jenna’s life as a popstar as she gets to sing with uber-band Phoenix and Sadie’s struggle to make it as a dancer.

Part of the problem, for me, is the marketing. The cover is brightest pink, with Idol written in the style of flashbulbs and a cartoon girl (presumably Jenna) sitting atop a gold star. To me, that says light frothy read and while Idol is light to a degree, it’s actually more Katie Price than Sophie Kinsella. The cover is rather deceiving for the somewhat more risque scenes in the novel, I certainly wasn’t expecting them, let me tell you. My proof copy says “perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Katie Price” which made me laugh. Sophie and Katie are two entirely different authors, and I just don’t see the correlation between the two that makes Idol slot into the middle there. I’d say the novel is perfect for fans of Tilly Bagshawe and Katie Price. I’m sure Sophie K fans will enjoy Idol, but Idol is nothing like a Sophie Kinsella novel. Sophie K gives us heroines to root for, heroines who perhaps aren’t perfect and stunning, but in Idol both Jenna and Sadie are drop dead gorgeous, and are seemingly unflawed. It’s still a decent read, but I was disappointed it leant more towards the glamour than what I was expecting.

I found the characters fascinating. They do all appear to be perfect specimens, and surprisingly (to me) I preferred Jenna to Sadie. Reading the synopsis, I figured Jenna would be a grade-A Jennifer Lopez-type diva with Sadie the penniless dancer trying to make her way in the industry. While that’s true to some extent, Jenna’s not as horrible as I expected her to be and I actually grew quite fond of her. For some reason I just couldn’t warm to Sadie properly. It was like there was something there, within her, that was just stony cold. She seemed more desperate for fame and the money than Jenna did, or at least that was the impression I got for most of the novel. I thought it was kinda sleazy the way she slept with a man the first time she met him, and then was surprised when he used her and posted up a video of her on the Internet. Her upset over it all just seemed fake to me, and if I’m being totally honest, she could have just said no to the act, although it wasn’t her fault about the video being filmed. The male characters do rather take a back seat to Jenna and Sadie, but of the band Phoenix, I found I liked Ryan and Zac but couldn’t particularly stomach the womanising Nick.

I liked Idol, but I didn’t love it. The potential was there, but I just felt for the most part that I didn’t see where it was going. The thing that unites the girls came far too late in proceedings for me, it should have happened way earlier and it should have been focused on more.The novel also reminded me massively of Spotlight by Ilana Fox – the pink cover, the two warring girls, the way they’re united (though I don’t want to say much about that as that’s sort of a major thing in the novel), the music industry being part of the novel, and I can’t help but feel Ilana did it better. There are differences and I’m not saying Duffy’s has copied Ilana Fox, I’m merely saying that I personally found them to be similar. It’s definitely a read to take to the beach or to spend an afternoon lazing in the garden. I’m sad it didn’t blow me away and I didn’t love it as much as I’d have liked to, but it was good enough for me and I’ll definitely be reading Duffy’s second novel should one be in the making!