Blog Tour / Book Review: “Unrivalled (Beautiful Idols #1)” by Alyson Noël
Welcome to the Unrivalled blog tour! I’m the second stop on this chic, beautiful tour by the amazingly talented Alyson Noël! Today, I’ll be featuring an excerpt from the novel along with my review of the first book in the Beautiful Idols series!
Title: Unrivalled
Author: Alyson Noël
Published: May 10th, 2016
Publisher: Mira Ink
Find the Author: Goodreads
I received this book for review! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël comes the first book in the Beautiful Idols series. With mystery, suspense, and an insiders-only look at Los Angeles that echoes Gossip Girl’s racy and real New York, fans of Pretty Little Liars and readers who crave pulse-pounding romance will love Unrivalled.
EVERYONE wants to be someone.
Layla Harrison wants to be a reporter.
Aster Amirpour wants to be an actress.
Tommy Phillips wants to be a guitar hero.
But Madison Brooks took destiny and made it her own a long time ago.
She’s Hollywood’s hottest starlet, and the things she did to become the name on everyone’s lips are merely a stain on the pavement, ground beneath her Louboutin heel.
That is, until Layla, Aster, and Tommy find themselves with a VIP invite to the world of Los Angeles’s nightlife and are lured into a competition. The prize, or rather the target? Madison Brooks.
Just as their hopes begin to gleam like stars through the California smog, Madison Brooks goes missing. . . . And all of their hopes are blacked out in the haze of their lies.
EVERYONE wants to be someone.
Layla Harrison wants to be a reporter.
Aster Amirpour wants to be an actress.
Tommy Phillips wants to be a guitar hero.
But Madison Brooks took destiny and made it her own a long time ago.
She’s Hollywood’s hottest starlet, and the things she did to become the name on everyone’s lips are merely a stain on the pavement, ground beneath her Louboutin heel.
That is, until Layla, Aster, and Tommy find themselves with a VIP invite to the world of Los Angeles’s nightlife and are lured into a competition. The prize, or rather the target? Madison Brooks.
Just as their hopes begin to gleam like stars through the California smog, Madison Brooks goes missing. . . . And all of their hopes are blacked out in the haze of their lies.
Alyson’s novels have always been around me, right from the start of my blog. I always see her novels in book stores and that proves just how popular she is. When I was offered the chance to read her new series that was similar to the likes of Gossip Girl and a sleek, chic VIP world of Hollywood, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to be #OnTheList for sure.
Noël paints us a picture of a distorted Hollywood, peeling away the rose-tinted glasses we view it with and showing us the Los Angeles that Madison Brooks, Hollywood Starlet, knows. With a shock opener and a mystery clouded with questions, glamour and VIP nights, we’re lead straight into the mist of a multitude of mysteries.
Throughout Unrivalled, we follow four very different characters who along the timeline of the novel have varied motives, actions and personalities. There’s Layla, who’s the most likeable of the four. She runs a blog, which ultimately makes her more understandable to me, although with her dream of becoming famous, it’s to be a reporter. Aster’s character took some delving into to see beneath the surface of her true self. At the start, she seemed to be chasing fame at every chance she got, but when parts of her story and true self peak through, I liked her more and her struggle to step outside the family beliefs and tradition were very believable. The next character, Tommy, I had the most difficult time getting to know. His secret made him interesting, although not as intriguing as Layla and Aster. I can see his character development probably becoming more lengthily and compelling as the series continues.
Then we have Madison, who is the focal point of Unrivalled. She is wise and knows what she’s doing, and it’s gotten her far in Hollywood. But when she goes missing quite soon into the novel, her disappearance isn’t the only mystery that needs to be solved because all the characters have something mystifying about them that makes Unrivalled go from a mystery to a twisting cliffhanger that echoes the realness of the price to pay for fame and the consequences of the secrets we hide.
Throughout Unrivalled, we follow four very different characters who along the timeline of the novel have varied motives, actions and personalities. There’s Layla, who’s the most likeable of the four. She runs a blog, which ultimately makes her more understandable to me, although with her dream of becoming famous, it’s to be a reporter. Aster’s character took some delving into to see beneath the surface of her true self. At the start, she seemed to be chasing fame at every chance she got, but when parts of her story and true self peak through, I liked her more and her struggle to step outside the family beliefs and tradition were very believable. The next character, Tommy, I had the most difficult time getting to know. His secret made him interesting, although not as intriguing as Layla and Aster. I can see his character development probably becoming more lengthily and compelling as the series continues.
Then we have Madison, who is the focal point of Unrivalled. She is wise and knows what she’s doing, and it’s gotten her far in Hollywood. But when she goes missing quite soon into the novel, her disappearance isn’t the only mystery that needs to be solved because all the characters have something mystifying about them that makes Unrivalled go from a mystery to a twisting cliffhanger that echoes the realness of the price to pay for fame and the consequences of the secrets we hide.
Overall, Alyson has written the start of something so great. I found it addictive, like a reality show you can’t stop watching. I totally get the comparison of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, where the book seems to step into the more challenging aspects of real life and how deceiving things can be outside of the TV screen. When the mystery got started and things picked up after the introduction of the characters, I was truly hooked and I read it in just over a day. If you love big city mysteries, mixed with charm, glamour and thrills, you’ll love Unrivalled. I’m excited for the sequel for answers to questions that it leaves us with and it’s already on my TBR. Five stars completely – YA mystery at it’s best.
YA mystery, drama and thrillers. Fans of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.
Number One New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël has won numerous awards and achieved international bestseller status for her wildly popular young adult series, The Immortals and The Soul Seekers, and her middle grade series, Riley Bloom. Alyson Noël is an established global phenomenon with books printed in 36 languages and sold in over 50 countries. Now she is taking on the seductive world of L.A. nightlife in a new series using what she knows best: steamy romance and high-stakes Hollywood competition.
Alyson Noël is the bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including The Immortals, Riley Bloom, and Soul Seekers series. With millions of copies in print, her books have been translated in thirty-six languages and have made numerous international bestseller lists. Born and raised in Orange County, California, she’s lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan, and is now settled back in Southern California, where she’s working on her next book. You can visit her online atwww.alysonnoel.com
EXCERPT PREVIEW FROM PRETTY LITTLE MEMOIRS:
Despite the crush of tourists storming the sidewalks year after year, Hollywood Boulevard is a place best viewed behind a pair of polarized lenses and lowered expectations.
From the string of sagging buildings in various stages of decay, the tacky souvenir shops hawking plastics statues of Marilyn in her windblown white dress, and the seemingly endless parade of addicts, runaways, and glamour-deprived transients, it doesn’t take long before the sunburned, white-sneaker-wearing masses realize the LA they’re searching for does not exist there.
In a city that feeds off youth and beauty, Hollywood Boulevard more closely resembles a former screen siren who’s seen better days.The incessant sunshine is a harsh and brutal companion, intent on magnifying every wrinkle, every age spot.
Yet for those who know where to look (and those fortunate enough to boast a spot on the guest list), it also serves as an oasis of the city’s hottest nightclubs—a sort of hedonistic haven for the young, fabulous and rich.
—from “Prologue” of Unrivalled by Alyson Noël
Have you heard of Unrivalled?
Have you read it or added it to your TBR?
What do you think of the excerpt?
Let me know in the comments or @LittleMemoirs on twitter!
happy reading!
