The massive missile strikes have been hard to process, and I’m struggling. So I decided to start the year with a very light read by an extremely young writer. The Real Deal is about a reality TV show modeled on the one with the fat dance teacher and a group of little girls. Does anybody remember the name?
In any case, the book is very cute, very entertaining. Reality TV drama is all here, and it’s as overwrought and fake as ever. The author has an aggravating habit of saying “I was sat” and “I was stood” instead of “I was sitting” and “I was standing” but the story is enjoyable and reads easily.
The problem with the book is that, as I said, Caitlin Devlin is very young. I Googled her, and she’s a child. Aside from vague wokeness, she doesn’t have a point of view. As a result, she has no idea where to take her story or what to think of the characters. The novel has no ending, and a good, fun plot falls apart in a meandering, directionless collection of platitudes.
As I always say, life is unfair. Some of us have a point of view and a half but no imagination to create a story. Others can create great stories but have no intellect to fill them with meaning. Devlin still can develop in some direction, so I wouldn’t give up on her.
Nice book, entertaining but the last 30 pages a deeply boring.
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