DNF at 67% because it got so darn painful for me to keep rolling my eyes.
Cute premise, but taken past the extent of realistic. Very two-dimensional characters, and the token black best friend could have been fleshed out a hell of a lot more than just being feisty. I'm betting this ends in love and I'm not buying it. ( )

I loved this book. I have no problem with the romcom style of “ugly” girl turns pretty, even though girl was never ugly premise. I will watch those movies and read those books. I wish there were more books with the negatives of going viral on social media that causes drama but ends well. ( )

Literary Merit: Good
Characterization: Good
Recommended: Recommended
Reading level: gr 7-9
This is a book that will hit the mark with today's teens. In today's world of 24/7 social media, fame is just a click away...as could be love. Told from the point-of-view of each of the main characters, Rachel and Kyle, and in alternating turns, this is not the typical girl-likes-boy story. The characters' adventures were enjoyable, and it was fun to see where being in the spotlight could be simultaneously wonderful and horrible. ( )

I'm a shipper. It's a known fact, I love to ship characters. Canon, non-canon, I've never really cared. But it takes a lot for me to not ship a character, especially when it's a canon couple. Now, I didn't hate this book. Was it a little boring, a little dramatic, and a little too . . . eh? Maybe, but no hate involved. But I did have a few problems with the characters.
First, Kyle. He was cute, and sweet, and highly, highly vanilla. No chemistry with Rachel, no chemistry with Emma, really the only thing I liked about his character was that he was definitely a teenage boy. Hormones and guy logic abound in his humble, rather dull brain.
On the other hand Rachel reeked of classic Quirky Teenager. A theater kid, she thrives on "weirdness", and constantly tries to be so odd that even her best friend, Mo, doesn't understand her. Her wardrobe is eccentric, her hair is crazy, her parents are weird, she's got the whole kit and kaboodle.
Maybe on their own I wouldn't have hated them, but together? There was no need. Rachel liked Kyle because he's "cute" even though he wasn't "her type". That's pretty much it. And Kyle likes Rachel because she's . . . what? An enigma? So different from "all the other girls"? They didn't understand each other, and I feel like in real life, their relationship would've crashed and burned after a few months.
Oh, another point in the book's favor. The ex-girlfriend/real girlfriend (trust me, it's confusing), isn't a heinous witch. She's not an ultra mean girl. She's nice to Rachel in a scene, and she's supposedly understanding with Kyle. Granted in the last few chapters, the author kind of ruins that, and Emma turns into the kind of evil queen bee that her stereotype normally is. But kudos for the first half of the book.
All in all, I made it to the end, so it couldn't have been that bad, right? But I felt deeply like the editor could've definitely helped define some of the characters a bit more, and helped the dry plot move a bit more quickly. ( )

Rating is based on the average rating from Good Reads. There are 2,964 ratings and reviews of this book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25116429-famous?from_search=true&from_sr... ( )