Ever since the accident that scarred her and caused her deafness, Elise has been very self-conscious. She used the time after her accident to write a book series about Vikings under a pseudonym, which ended up becoming best-sellers. Except when her publisher asked her for a photo, she was too scared to give one of herself, so she found one on the Internet and sent that in. Now her books are being made into a TV show, starring Elise's celebrity crush. They want Elise, as the author, to be on set, to make sure everything is to her liking. But Elise isn't the beautiful girl from the photo, and it's too late to confess now. In a desperate move, she tracks down the girl from the photo and convinces her (with the help of a little money) to impersonate the author on set, while Elise acts as her assistent. A plan like this is bound to have flaws, which Elise finds out as she gets further into her role. The best policy is honesty - but by now she's in too deep.
This book had so much drama. In a lot of books that try to incorporate teenage drama, the situations become unrealistic and unbelievable. That was not the case in this book. Every situation that arose, no matter how improbable it may be in my life, seemed legitimate in Elise's life, because of her deafness and experiences. And I loved to read about a deaf character (although ironically, I was listening to the audiobook). Although I've read one other book series that had a deaf character, this is the first novel I've read that had a deaf person as the main character. I really enjoyed the attention Samantha Joyce paid to details such as ASL, lip reading, dancing through vibrations, and so on.
One thing I don't like reading about is weak characters. Not weakly written, but characters who make bad choices because of poor self-esteem. I could understand Elise's decision to find the girl from her author photo, but when she was forced to pay her large amounts of money to seal the deal, it irritated me. The only reason I kept reading was because at least Elise had an excuse for her insecurity - the scars and deafness. I am glad I kept reading, though, because Elise did gradually become more confident. I found all the other characters to be very well-written also. They all felt like real people, and every decision made had a reason behind it that fit into their age and experiences.
I also really appreciated the settings. Elise alternated between her university and the TV show set, and both seemed very realistic to me. This is important to me as a reader, because I am an actor and a university student, and I can tell when the author has never actually seen or experienced something first-hand. Joyce has either been to these places or done her research very well. Elise is also my age, and I think that the similarities between us helped me to relate to her more. By the end of the book, when she actually began to stick up for herself more and the readers finally discovered how the accident happened, I truly grew to like her.
This book wasn't exactly light, but it contained some of the humour that lighter reads do. I finished it in just over a day, and I want to read more. Apparently there's a sequel coming out, but I don't know if it will focus on Elise. Either way, I'll probably still read it. I would give this book a rating of four and a half stars, although if I were to choose between four and five stars, I would choose four. I truly don't understand why this book isn't more popular. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy reading about fame, deaf characters, and dark secrets.
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