Author: Lauren Sabel
Publication Date: June 3rd 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~
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Filled with surprising twists and poignant moments, Lauren Sabel brings a fresh new voice to contemporary fiction with Vivian Divine Is Dead. Creepy, clever, funny, and romantic.When a death threat arrives with teen celebrity Vivian Divine's fan mail, Vivian has no choice but to go on the run to Mexico. She soon discovers, though, that her Oscar-nominated performance killing villains on-screen did nothing to prepare her for escaping a madman in real life. Some people say he's a hero, others tremble in his presence, but one thing is clear: he won't stop until Vivian is in his grasp. Why didn't she pay more attention during those judo lessons for her role in Zombie Killer?
Vivian finds an ally in the mysterious and charming Nick. He is everything Hollywood boys are not-genuine, kind, and determined to see Vivian for who she really is. But even he seems like he can't be trusted-what could he be hiding?
Beat up, hungry, and more confused than ever about who she's running from, Vivian is living in a real-life blockbuster horror flick. But there's no option to yell "cut" like there is on set....
Lauren Sabel's Vivian Divine Is Dead is a creepy, witty, fast-paced adventure about family, fame, and having the courage to save yourself.
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Vivian Divine is Dead started out really strong, I was
loving it. And then it happened. You know, the thing that always happens in YA.
The love interest gets introduced and BAM. The Insta-love starts. It's a very
bad disease, people, it devours actual brains cells. The MC can't have coherent
thoughts when the love-
What was that? Nick just walked passed.
What was I thinking again?...
I'm not opposed to insta-love, but it wasn't even good
insta-love. The L-word was mentioned or thought in one day in meeting him, two,
tops. I can't even remember, I actually skipped some passages because I was
highlighting the shit out of it. There was no connection whatsoever and just
kind of dull. That being said, I love mysteries, I love murder crimes, I love
witness protection and though I'm not exactly obsessed with Hollywood, the
whole fact a teen starlet being on the run because of her predicted death
sounded too much fun and right up my alley. I should've enjoyed it.
It didn't happen.
Like I said, the beginning was good, maybe a little
dramatic, especially when it came to her now ex and co-star Pierre, she was all
"the love of my life" "My love, my life" "love this,
love that". Girl, you're what, sixteen? Yeah, suuure he's the love of your
life. Please. (But, considering the MC and their lives in that world) that
didn't bother me, Vivian was the person you expected her to be "too
much", but she also what you'd expect her to be. She wasn't exactly
snobby, she wasn't bitchy, or bossy or thought she was above everybody else.
So, on that part, congratulations Vivian, I did actually like you for a bit.
When did that change? When she's in Mexico on the run, when
things don't go as planned, when she actually has to live in that other world outside of glitz and glam,
she became that person you expected her to be. With her new "dress
down" makeover, she wasn't overly whiny, but she was demanding, and
condescending, and holy mother of God naive.
Which, coincides with the plot and shocks. They were a
little juvenile and predictable, I mean,
I was more shocked by the fact Vivian didn't even see it in the first place.
Everything was a little coincidental, and the believability of it was a
stretch. Okay, a starlet in disguise on
her own in Mexico and not being noticed? I'll give you that. But, Vivian was so
bewildered about everything, she pretty much scared for all of it (that, is
believable) but I mean, if anything, that would draw attention to herself, the
way she acted. And she's supposed to not draw
attention to herself. And she was way to freaking trusting and that's where it
goes downhill from there. The more the new characters were introduced the
structure was mapped out and it was obvious. The one that annoyed me though, which I can't
say much about since it'll ruin it but, I found it highly unbelievable that
this thing wasn't found out, especially since it's to do with Hollywood and
Celebrities, you've heard of the lovely hacking scandal, right? Which, I also
won't go into because it annoys the hell out of me while there are so much more
important news than celebrities getting their phones tapped. Anyway, my point
there is just that, we have phone taps, journalists looking for scandal,
paparazzi, so how the hell was that not found out? Sorry, I'm not biting.
Don't get me wrong, Vivian Divine is Dead is a fun, easy
reading book, it's fast-paced, there's just not much substance with insta-love
and just pretty average. AND THAT ENDING. IT IS NOT AN ENDING. It's not exactly
a cliffhanger either, and the way it did end wouldn't be so bad. It's not
exactly a happy ever after, all is well, free love all around, so I appreciated
that, and I don't mind that at all if there is closure. There was no closure.
That is not an ending. It's like a fraying rug, it'll unravel and take it down
with it.
Rating: 2.5/5
