Star Power by Zoey Dean

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 257
I think out of the whole series this one was the most disappointing. As an ending to a series it was very open ended. Through the entire book we see how Mac struggles to keep up her friendships with the Inner Circle while still maintaining her friendships.
With Emily, she is onset with her constantly and the leading actor, Davey, that Emily has had a crush on forever, starts to crush on Mac. Mac doesn't want to hurt Emily but really likes Davey too. In this way, she says she is going to try to avoid Davey but in actuality, she spends a lot of time with him! (She's a little hypocritical which I didn't like)
Mac also gets Becks into the Dixie Gals (a campaign for surfing), but ultimately ignores her friend and rarely helps her out because she's so buys helping Emily on set. Becks befriends the other Dixie Gals, and they seem nice but there's a twist at the end of the story that makes your heart really go out to Becks.
Finally, Coco. Coco is still trying to get out of her mothers superstar spotlight and she tries to perform her music in little known coffee shops so that people won't recognize her. However, this doesn't work and she goes undercover to attempt to see what people really think of her before they already judge her for simply being her mothers daughter.
The book was a little dry. I wished there had been more details about Emily on set, Coco performing, and Becks surfing and hanging out with the Dixie Gals. In the first couple of books I really liked Mac but she was so dull in this third installment. I needed some action! And I sadly never got it. Like I said before there was also a lot of open ended questions and problems that were never resolved from the first two books and I definitely felt there could have been one more book.
If I was rating this book I would give it 2 out of 5 stars but the series itself was a 4 out of 5 for me. Check it out for some easy reading!
See you soon!
Paige

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Almost Famous by Zoey Dean

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 303
This book was just as good as the first one! There was still tons of name dropping which I loved!
Almost Famous focused more on outside forces trying to divide the Inner Circle (IC) from the rest of the school instead of the girls fighting one and another.
In the beginning, Mac has a sleepover with Emily, Coco, and Becks. The girls prank their nemesis over iChat and afterwards they forget to turn off the iChat, and their enemy finds out a bunch of secrets that the girls spill about themselves.
Ruby, the girls' enemy, posts the audio clips of the girls online for their entire school to see and the IC becomes immediate outcasts. The girls must now follow Ruby's bidding to get back on her side and the schools. Mac has to be Ruby's personal assistant, Emily has to dress up as a grungy boy, Coco has to teach one of Ruby's friend's to surf, and Becks is the water girl for the dance team she was once captain of.
Ruby makes the girls suffer the consequences for a week and at the schools' ExtravaBAMSa she is supposed to reveal that the girls are actually quite nice and sincere after all.
Does this really happen? I'm not going to spoil that you'll have to read it for yourself! ;)
This book was also left on a bit of a cliff hanger so I can't wait to read the next one!
The underlying theme in this book was internet safety and bullying which is becoming an ever-increasing problem in today's society with teens. I really liked how Zoey Dean tackled these issues without clearly stating "Hey! Be safe on the Internet and don't bully people!"
Overall, a great quick and easy read, and I can't wait to read the final installment!
See you soon!
-Paige

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Talent by Zoey Dean

Read a synopsis here!
Number of pages: 288
So, in this book there is a group of three friends (Mac, Coco, and Becks) and they are 8th graders so they're about 12 years old and they live in Hollywood. All of the girls parents are rich executives or agents, so the girls often name drop about stars and fashion labels and up scale stores. (Think Reese Witherspoon, Louis Vuitton, and Fred Segal)
Mac, Coco, and Becks are the most popular girls at their school Bel-Air Middle School (commonly referred to as BAMS throughout the book) So they sometimes act stuck up but it's actually very occasional which I really liked. Anyways, there's a position that Mac (the leader of the group) is vying for called the Social Chair. Essentially the Social Chair makes all the decisions for the school and it's really like a popularity contest.
Mac thinks she has the votes in the bag for the position, but then another girl (Ruby) comes back over the summer from looking like a loser to a hottie. She is also now vying for the Social Chair position and Mac feels that she isn't talented at anything and needs to come up with an idea to prove she has talent so her fellow peers will elect her for this Social Chair position.
Mac decides to try to become an agent just like her mom and discovers Emily, who is visiting from Iowa with her mom and best friend Paige (eep! That's me! Hahaha!). Emily proves that she can truly act and Mac attempts to land her a role in the newest movie with Emily's celebrity crush Davey.
The story goes on through the twists and turns of the four girls' adventure of trying to land Emily this role. Coco and Becks also have smaller side stories that tie into the plot which are also enjoyable to read about. The ending was a little predictable but in a good way! Also, kind of a cliff-hanger ending so I can't wait to start the next book in this three part series.
I seriously loved this book. It was SO good! I love these trashy books where 12-year-olds try to act like their 20 and I adore all the name dropping of the fashion designers and stars.
The one thing that kind of irked me was how quickly Emily's supposed BFF Paige was dropped so quickly. Emily goes off to hang out with Mac, Coco, and Becks and Paige first off hardly even cares and Emily barely gives Paige a backward glance. (It was originally Paige who wanted to come to L.A. to become a star and now her friend stole that from her and she's being supportive? What!? I would've been furious! Maybe that's just me though...)
It was also a really quick read and since the story does take place in the summer I can imagine reading this by the pool or at the beach in the summertime.
I believe the next book takes place when the girls are actually in school so we will see if Mac is able to become Social Chair! I can't wait!
See you soon!
-Paige

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