Spotlight

by Ilana Fox

[Leah]

A fallen star. A runaway bride. They're about to be pitted against each other by a very powerful man. Madison Miller has everything - beautiful, talented and just a little bit naive; she's the small-town girl who swept to victory on America's hottest talent show to become the nation's sweetheart. She's also head-over-heels in love with the man who's masterminded her career - the head-spinningly powerful, lethally attractive Beau Silverman. But there's trouble in paradise... Jess has bolted from her approaching wedding and a dead-end job in London to chase dreams of being a fashion designer in New York. But she's finding life in the Big Apple tough, until she meets a man who makes her an offer she can't refuse. It means a taste of a life she's never had - glamorous parties, paparazzi, haute couture - but at what price? Sweeping from the hotspots of LA to the coolest bars of New York, SPOTLIGHT cuts a gloriously fun swathe through the world of celebrity and glamour, with a page-turning story at its heart.

Plot: I thought the plot of Spotlight was actually great. Ever so slightly predictable, yes, but I enjoyed it none-the-less. I was more interested in Madison's side of the story than Jess' but despite whose story we were following, I was always turning the pages desperate to find out which way the plot was going to twist and turn next. I loved that the book was set in America, and Fox has done a good job getting all the descriptions correct and it was infinitely more glamorous and expansive than it would have been if it was set in England (with the greatest of respect to England). The book takes a more serious turn as it nears it's conclusion and although it seemed to just occur, it did also seem a natural way for the plot to go.

Characters: I absolutely loved Madison Miller. I didn't expect to, I expected her to be a diva and be really annoying but she was actually incredibly sweet. As for Jess, I liked her but I found her very naive, particularly how easily she believed Beau Silverman when he was telling her about his relationship with Madison. I really don't think any one could be that naive, but bar that I did like her. Beau Silverman rivals Fox's previous baddie Josh for how evil they both can be and I think Beau just shaded it. He was horrible.

Writing: Ilana Fox is definitely a hugely talented writer, both of her books so far have been very readable and hard to put down and I enjoy the way she tells a story. I do think that sometimes she put too much emphasis on cramming as much as she could in a chapter and I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Madison as she disappeared for a little bit but apart from that I have no qualms at all over Fox's writing.

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed reading Spotlight, it was a fairly light read and it was just what I was looking for. I was constantly kept entertained whilst reading it and couldn't wait to see how it all ended. It was by no means perfect, but it did exactly what I expected it to do and it provided me with a good few hours of escapism. It asked a lot of questions of the whole reality TV scene and I do wonder how much of it is true and how much of it is actually fiction. I guess we'll never know! I can't wait for Ilana's next novel and hopefully it'll be just as good as her first two books.