Review: SOMETHING REAL by Heather Demetrios

Title: Something Real
Author: Heather Demetrios
Publication date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt BYR (Macmillan)
Source: YA Book Exchange

There’s nothing real about reality TV.

Seventeen-year-old Bonnie™ Baker has grown up on TV—she and her twelve siblings are the stars of one-time hit reality show Baker’s Dozen. Since the show’s cancellation and the scandal surrounding it, Bonnie™ has tried to live a normal life, under the radar and out of the spotlight. But it’s about to fall apart…because Baker’s Dozen is going back on the air. Bonnie™’s mom and the show’s producers won’t let her quit and soon the life she has so carefully built for herself, with real friends (and maybe even a real boyfriend), is in danger of being destroyed by the show. Bonnie™ needs to do something drastic if her life is ever going to be her own—even if it means being more exposed than ever before.

Review: 

First line: It took me four years, seven shrinks, three different hair colors, one Zen meditation retreat, and over six hundred mochas to get to his moment.

Reality TV. It's a horrible, but captivating thing. I admit it, I watch it and fully understand that it actually isn't realistic. I've heard before that they twist your words around and can do an impeccable editing job so it makes you look like a completely different person. And I still watch. Of course, some reality tv "stars" need to get OFF since they're being famous for being stupid, unlike actors who have talent. Anywho, this book? It was...what was it? Enthralling turned annoying? Yummy ice cream turned brain freeze? Yep, I'll go with that analogy. Reading this book was like indulging into ice cream and then midway through your carton, you get a brain freeze, which leads to a headache of course, then during all of this, you reflect back to how you got there and your stomach turns and you feel the need to counteract yourself with something productive...like squats. 

Something Real started off great. My sister can vouch for me because I think I told her several times how good this book was. I was captivated. Bonnie Chloe? had a fresh narrative and we really hit it off. We're introduced to Bonnie as Chloe. After the Baker family had been on TV for thirteen years, Bonnie changed her name along with other things to cleanse herself from the past. To not make things too confusing, I'll just reference her as Bonnie. 

Before I discuss the negatives, I have to reiterate that this book had me hooked for most of the story. I loved getting to know Bonnie and her family, I loved the relationship she had with her brother Benny, and I even liked seeing the reality TV aspects. For the first time in a while, I stayed up late reading chapter after chapter. 

Here's the not-so-fun part: somewhere after halfway through, I became increasingly annoyed. I want a mix of emotions, but after halfway, the only emotions I felt were rage and annoyance. We all know that Bonnie's family and situation were going to be bad. And it was really bad. Her mother was someone I wanted to like at first, but I slowly—then quickly—figured out that she was simply horrible. In the same way, I wanted to like Bonnie's stepfather and he turned into a dud. Her whole family was basically the Jon & Kate Plus 8 situation and sadly, only a little bit felt more dramatized. Really, I could see Demetrios following the Gosselin family around and just switching a few facts in this book. But while I was expecting that negativity, I wasn't expecting how my feelings for Bonnie swiftly took a nosedive. 

THOSE PARENTS. 

I sympathized with her for the most part because the poor girl just got over her traumatic childhood and now she was forced into this again. Then she kept making excuses. She would complain and whine about her life, her mother, and her family, but then wouldn't do anything to fix it. She was constantly given opportunities that she would turn away and then a couple chapters later, she went back to take those opportunities. Bonnie seemed to go back and forth with her mindset on her family constantly and by doing so, whenever she was faced with another frustration in her life, I didn't feel it was that horrible. The word "two-face" crept up on me a couple times while reading Bonnie's narrative. 

Unfortunately, while I was hooked and couldn't stop reading chapter after chapter, the aftertaste wasn't pleasant. What I read was actually a bit disturbing since the parents were awful, I really wanted to know more about the younger siblings, I thought Bonnie's love interest was just okay (see, I don't even remember his name), and everything felt too dragged-out for my taste. I thought of a TV show that had one season too many. Something Real just wasn't the something for me. 

Verdict: An interesting plot turned into a headache at the end with a "I ate too much candy" aftertaste.