The A-List by Zoey Dean

In a previous post I admitted being confounded by the praise some award-winning novels get. This novel is pretty much the polar opposite of that problem.

The A-List is what it sounds like: a novel about uber rich teenagers. Anna lives in Manhattan, but when her secret crush starts dating her best friend Cynthia, she decides she needs to re-invent herself. She jets off to the West Coast (as one does when a boy doesn't think one's hot), downing vodka tonics and trying to avoid being hit on by older men. She's saved by a gorgeous hunk named Ben. He invites her to the wedding he's going home to attend, which just happens to be the wedding of the biggest movie star on the planet. But Anna isn't the only one under Ben's spell. She soon meets his ex Cammie (who is determined to get him back and is not accustomed to not getting what she wants), his friend Samantha who wants to be so much more (and who is the daughter of the groom), and Dee, a ditz who also has a crush on Ben, and possibly hooked up with him at one point (although Ben may have been too drunk to know). Yes, it's a cast of characters straight out of Jane Austen.

It's a bit of fluff really, which isn't a bad thing. You can't read high-brow stuff all the time (or any of the time, if you look at my list). It doesn't strain your brain, but it keeps you entertained, so I actually kind of liked it. And now I have a new series to read (yay?). Overall, it comes off as a stepping stone to Jackie Collins. If you liked Clueless and Mean Girls you'll probably like this. As soon as I finish, I'm going to have to read something that uses my brain a bit more.

The series includes:

The A-List
Girls on Film
Blonde Ambition
Tall Cool One
Back in Black
Some Like it Hot
American Beauty
Heart of Glass
Beautiful Stranger
California Dreaming 

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