Faketastic Review

Faketastic - Alexa Young
From besties to worsties and back again...

Team Havalon is reunited and stronger than ever. Avalon's on top of it all - fashion trends, friends, fun. But when her fellow cheerleaders decide that Avalon is out this time around, who's side will she really be on?

Halley's got her old bff Avalon back, new bff Sofee, great new clothes, and maybe a romance on the horizon. But when a plan Team Havalon concocts spirals out of control and is catalyzed by the meddling of their respective new buds, who will be left standing when World War Havalon seems inevitable?

Faketastic flows seamlessly from its predecessor, Frenemies. In this second installment, Alexa Young has delved even deeper into Halley and Avalon's love-hate relationship. The dynamic duo shed some of their immaturity and the story went beyond snarky fashion disses.

Characterization of the leading ladies seemed stronger and more hard hitting. A lot of the drama this time around came from the meddling of the supporting cast. The misunderstandings, effectively shown in juxtaposition of dramatic irony, allow readers to feel frustration and emphathize with what the characters are going through. Wade, although portrayed as a likeable character, did seem to been toeing the line of Gary Stu. Dreamy, confident, and suave with the girls at the ripe age of thirteen - is slight shallowness his only flaw? But this is a negligible detail (still pining over Dead Romeos. Gosh - what's in a name? Beautiful.)

The Style Snarks blog was a nice touch - and of course, the witty banter of the comments was amusing. Young's writing style just has that little zing that you can't quite phrase specifically, but effectively draws you into the story. The plot was more driven this time around, and overall, Faketastic seemed to be an improvement over Frenemies. The unique lingo adds flair. And even better? The messages [it] sends out aren't nearly as superficial as some of the other novels in this genre: it isn't all about brand names. If you can pull it off, go for it.

Faketastic is a charismatic series; something about Young's writing is just rapturing. The ending was a little abrupt here as well, but if the previous two are any indication, I'll bet that it leads smoothly into the next installment, Glamnesia. (Gosh - don't you just love these titles?) Out this summer, July 1st. A snarky light read. This is one series that I'm definitely going to be keeping up with. In this case, the saying holds true - don't judge a book by its cover. Because Faketastic will blow away your misconceptions of superficial-guilty-pleasure-type-read by providing insight on teenybopper friendships that just sneaks up on you.