Early Review: Beneath The Glitter

Author: Elle & Blair Fowler

Publication Date: September 4, 2012

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

From internet stars Elle and Blair Fowler comes a scintillating new novel that takes readers Beneath the Glitter of the glitzy L.A. social scene.

Welcome to a place where dreams are made.  And where nothing—and no one—is ever what it seems.

After their make-up and fashion videos went viral on YouTube, sisters Sophia and Ava London are thrust into the exclusive life of the Los Angeles elite.  Here fabulous parties, air kisses, paparazzi and hot guys all come with the scene. Sophia finds herself torn between a gorgeous bartender and a millionaire playboy, and Ava starts dating an A-list actor.  But as they’re about to discover, the life they’ve always dreamed of comes with a cost.

Beneath the glitter of the Hollywood social scene lies a world of ruthless ambition, vicious gossip…and betrayal.  Someone close to them, someone they trust, is working in the shadows to bring the London sisters falling down. And once the betrayal is complete, Sophia and Ava find themselves knee-deep in a scandal that could take away everything they care about, including the one thing that matters most—each other.

I love to watch the videos on YouTube made by Elle & Blair Fowler! They have some of the most amazing vlogs and for awhile I did not even realize that this book was by them; I know I’m sad! Ok so obvious answer first, I am a girl and this book is pink and the word “glitter” is in the title. So of course I am going to pick up this book and want to read it! I was anxious to see, if when reading, this book was going to touch on a little truth about the lives of the Fowler girls even though it is fiction. The front cover reminds me so much of the girls because it looks just like them with the beautiful background and tons of shopping bags!!

I am not usually a huge fan of books like Lauren Conrad’s L.A. Candy so I was really shocked at myself for wanting to read a book like this because they were compared on the back cover. Even though this is not something that I would normally pick up, I am glad that I did. It did give a little insight into what I believe is some truth to the girls lives. For example, the sisters in this book, Sophia and Ava London, also make makeup and advice vlogs and are now well known because of YouTube. This book revolves around the lives of these two girls, Sophia and Ava, and takes readers on a journey into your average L.A. scene. The story is a test of friendship and loyalty to one another and the girls learn along the way that being sisters and best friends beats being famous any day!

I loved their bond as sister because I do not have one of my own so I always love to read about sisters who share more than just the same bloodlines. These two girls always stuck together and whatever obstacle they faced, they always faced it together. Their relationship was put to the test by Hollywood’s “IT” scene because once their YouTube videos became more and more popular, things started to change for the London sisters. I also loved reading about their life and their friends and some more that they met on the way. They attended flashy party and were slowly introduced to a ritzier lifestyle. Sometimes one sister might get a little carried away with a guy that was all wrong for her or any other frantic situation, but I loved how the other was always there to bring her back down to Earth. It would have been nice to have a sister like these two growing up.

Even though this story is fiction, you could feel how real it could actually be and was for the Fowler sisters. A lot of the emotions that were written about in the book are probably some if not all of the same ones that the Fowler sisters experienced when they became more and more famous and received more and more viewers. I would actually love to know how many incidents in this particular story are based on fiction and how much on fact!

 The problems that I had with this book were few, but there were still some worth mentioning. First one being that sometimes the writing seemed very juvenile to me and I mean that in the best way possible. I believe this is their first book and it was a great attempt. Sometimes I just felt as if I were reading a list of one sister’s day and everything was very this is what I did today and then this is how my sister reacted to it. Almost like a pattern that continued throughout the end of the book. Things were often repeated over and over too. For example, Sophia’s desire to see a text message pop up any second from her ex-boyfriend or the fact that Ava’s new boyfriend, Liam, texted her all the time and all that they talked about was each other. Ok, I get it!!

Besides that this book was an enjoyable read and I started it last night and finished it last night. It literally took me no time at all. If you are a fan of the Fowler sisters I would definitely suggest picking up this book because it is a great insight into their world!

***Thank you to the publishers at St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review***