Audrey, Wait! review

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

Summary (from the inside of the dust jacket): Audrey Cuttler's life hasn't been the same since that song, "Audrey, Wait!" hit the airwaves. All she wants to do is go to concerts, hang out with her friends and maybe score a date with the cute boy who works with her at the Scooper Dooper.

But now, her ex-boyfriend's song about their breakup is at the top of the charts and she's suddenly famous! The paparazzi won't leave her alone, the tabloids are trying to make her into some kind of rock goddess, and the Internet is documenting her every move!

Will Audrey ever be able to have a normal life again? Get ready to find out, because it's time for Audrey to tell her side of the story.

Review: I'm trying really hard not to go all fangirl-y and "squee" on you guys, but seriously, it's that good. "Squee" and "eek" and "omgitwassosuperdoopergood" good.

Plot: The storyline actually reminded me a bit of the All-American Girl books by Meg Cabot, but by no means is that a bad thing because Meg Cabot is one of my favourite authors. Robin Benway's style of writing reminded me of Meg Cabot's too, actually, sometimes. Light and fun and absolutely hilarious, but not without substance. Anyways, back to the plot. The sudden rise to fame storyline isn't new, but you don't notice that while you're reading because it's handled so well.

Have you ever wondered how Delilah feels now? How it feels to have people blame you, even hate you, for breaking their favourite singer's heart? What if her name and address and phone number and email address got out? What would happen then?

That's what Audrey, Wait! is about. Hooked yet?

Characters: I love the characters! I was sitting there reading and cutting up a piece of paper to mark passages I loved about certain characters to share.

First of all, Audrey is just the coolest character ever, and so relatable, at least to me. She listens to her music so loud she's blown the speakers in her car twice (I do that to headphones far too often), cuts up her dad's tube socks for arm huggies, and possesses killer sarcasm. Audrey quotes(and appreciate these, I mildly choked myself and got really close to getting a paper cut on my chin to get them):

So we hurried upstairs, where I was right - it was empty save for an employee who was reading a magazine behind the information desk. Obviously no one had filled him in on the brouhaha downstairs, because he didn't seem remotely interested in me or James. (Side note: How awesome is the word brouhaha? I hearby resolve to use it more often.)

Her side notes are hilarious, don't you think? As you know, I'm rather fond of them myself.

(This next quote is from when she tries applying nail polish to her toenails while talking on her cell phone and balancing on one leg. She loses her balance and ends up covered in nail polish, the bathroom floor, too.)

My dad bent down and picked up the bottle. "Death at the Disco," he read. "Well, isn't that ironic?"

"Don't you think?" I said before I could stop myself. Damn you, Alanis Morrissette

Last one, I promise, about her giant cat (random thought, my other "A" book was Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, and it had a giant cat in it, too. How odd is that?), Bendomolena:

Bendomolena, disgruntled from being woken up so early, glared at me and then glanced at my picture on the computer screen. I swear to God, her little kitty eyebrows rose up in surprise. It was way too early to be judged by my cat, whose biggest accomplishment in life was rolling over. So I covered her eyes.

PG-13 stuff: There's some cursing, but nothing monumental, some... well, "adult situations" (I don't know what to call it, but that just feels dumb), and some underage drinking which I hate in books and out of them, too, but it was well written enough that it didn't bug me too much, and the number one reason Audrey breaks up with her ex-boyfriend is he smokes too much pot, so it's not taken lightly.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: It's not a big deal, but there's this one thing where a few of the words are spaced out l i k e t h i s and it's odd. I think it might be for emphasis or something, but they don't use it very often, so it might just be a spellcheck. Otherwise, I don't have any issues with the book.

Conclusion: Audrey, Wait! totally and utterly rocks. (Get it? Rocks. 'Cause it's a book about music... yeah, I only amuse myself.) It's funny, it's real, it's deep, it's about music which I love, and it's just all-around awesomeness. (Huh, what do you know, that's actually a word. Seriously, I spellchecked it!) Read it, read it, read it, read it! Four and a half roses.

Note to anyone who's read it: Don't you think Music is My Boyfriend or My Favourite Tune would suit Audrey just perfectly?

Peace and cookies,
Laina