Sweeter than the last
Lauren Conrad said in an interview about Sweet Little Lies, "...the storyline was a little more fun to write because in the first book I had to make character introductions, and set the scene and the situations they were in. And in the second book I got to just jump right into it."
Lauren Conrad’s at it again. Sweet Little Lies is a bit better than it’s predecessor, L.A. Candy. I guess Conrad picked up a few writing tips since her last novel. She sounds more grown up, however, this book makes me want to stop having friends. It’s amazing how well these girls can lie. They should teach a course on artificiality. It’d be really useful when lying to a potential boss like Jane and disclosing information from your friends, like Scarlett. The way Madison manipulates people around her in this novel becomes the equivalent to a war strategy. She knows how to spin things, who is amenable to her will, and how to eviscerate the people in her way. Unfortunately, Madison wraps little Jane around her finger, much to Scarlett’s dismay. Thanks to these characters, Conrad’s rolling in cash, with her first book on the New York Times Bestseller list, a movie will now be made based on the L.A. Candy series.
America is having a frenzy over the leak of inappropriate photos of L.A. Candy’s biggest star, Jane Roberts. Jane’s been dodging the paparazzi in Cabo, finding solace in the friendship of her co-star Madison. Fame-hungry Madison, however, isn’t the most trustworthy person. Back in L.A., Scarlett, Jane’s best friend, knows who released the photos of Jane cheating on her boyfriend, but is having trouble convincing her. Scarlett’s also sneaking around with a boy that the controlling producer, Trevor, wouldn’t approve of. And L.A. Candy’s other big star, Gaby, is as dimwitted as ever, in one episode even dries her True Religion jeans in the microwave. The girls’ show, L.A. Candy, has fell into shambles after Jane and Madison’s Houdini-like disappearing act. Trevor panicked and threw together some pathetic episodes including Scarlett’s awkward family Christmas dinner. Jane’s ex-boyfriend Jesse, the one who was cheated on, revisits his familiar black hole filled with drugs and alcohol. Basically, these girls’ lives are out of control and the fact that they’re on a reality television show does not add any stability at all.
Lauren Conrad understands the kind of public embarrassment that Jane went through when rumors floated around claiming that she made an inappropriate video with her ex-boyfriend. Since she’d been through something similar, Conrad had written Jane’s feelings in such a believable way. She draws so much from her life, I wonder how she’d fare writing a book about robots. Also, when Jesse starts to tumble downhill into trouble, Jane’s the girl who gets phone calls in the middle of the night from her club owner friends telling her to drag his drunk body home. The reason Conrad dumped Jason in the first place is because of his addiction to alcohol. She only started talking to him again after he went to rehab. I’m not the only one obsessed with finding the similarities in the book and in Conrad’s life. Audrina Patridge, Conrad’s co-star on The Hills, is reportedly upset about the novels. She believes the character Gaby was based off of her. Besides the way they look, both thin and brunette, they’re not really alike because Gaby is incredibly stupid and unambitious and while Patridge may be equally as dumb, she actually has hobbies and aspirations. Why would Patridge, who had been a best friend to Conrad on The Hills, assume she was the idiot in the novel? That’s a pretty sad friendship.
Conrad knows how to write twists in her novel. The plot can flip from good times to the bad times. She’s amazing at including suspense in her novels. I think that is the best thing about her writing. Although she’s excels in plot lines, Conrad continues to write as if she’s in 4th grade. Though she does use some curse words and talks about subjects that wouldn’t be appropriate for kids, it still seems as if she can’t write intelligently. I don’t know if she’s trying to relate to teenagers who can’t comprehend big words, but it makes her sound like the stupid one. All that aside, this book is still a fun, light read.
| # of pages: | 320 |
| Author: | Lauren Conrad |
| Pricing: | $17.99 |
| Cover: | hardcover |
| Stars: | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ |
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