Sex, drugs, rock and roll, and signing contracts without reading them first (Guitar Girl - Sarra Manning)

Member Name: slinkyindieninja

Product:	Guitar Girl - Sarra Manning
Date:	14/07/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good characterisation, plot decent, narrator realistic

Disadvantages: Story bit unoriginal, lacks the sparkle of some of authors other books

Molly Montgomery is being sued for 5 million pounds by her former record company, and she's suing them back, despite not being even 20 years old yet. Her lawyer, confident they will win, asks her to write the whole story of how she went from uncool teenager to front woman of The Hormones down, so that he can build a case. This account makes up the bulk of this book.

It's not the most original story - teenage fiction as a genre is filled with fantasies about ordinary teenagers who becomes celebrities - but it is unusually realistic. Molly forms the band with her best friends Jane and Tara, in the hope it would make them a little cooler, writing songs about Hello Kitty and magic markers, but it is soon hijacked by Dean and T, two boys who worm their way into the band by insulting them and promising that they could make the group sound better. Molly hates Dean at first but starts to fall for him as they are signed up by a record company and taken around the world on a tour. But their manipulative manager doesn't want them to date, and soon he starts to make other demands too, and things go from bad to worse as Molly's virginity becomes hot gossip and Jane tries to live the rockstar stereotype.

I have enjoyed all of Sarra Manning's books that I have read so far, but "Guitar Girl" is far from being my favourite. The plot was a little too predictable, and I don't think Dean makes an alluring enough romantic interest. However, girls in the age group it's aimed at (14-16 year olds) will really enjoy it, and it is more realistic, with more details about the music business, than any other book about teenagers becoming pop stars than I have read. The characterisation is strong, and Molly makes a believable teenage narrator.

If you read and enjoy this book, you will also want to check out two of Manning's other books - "Let's Get Lost", and also "Irina" from the Fashionistas series, because they feature appearances from characters in "Guitar Girl", and you can see what happened next.

Summary: A fun read if you don't mind your teens reading about sex & drugs!