A review by haynoelle96
Off the Record, by Camryn Garrett
3.0
In terms of enjoyment, Off the Record is probably more of a 3.5 star than a 3, but I'm rounding down based on the amount of "suspense of disbelief" that is required when reading this book. I liked what was covered in this book and how the author did it: feminism, sexual assault, thoughts about the future, and the confrontation of people who abuse their power and those under them. Though it was relatively short (which is another reason why I rounded down) I felt like it covered the topics well with the page count that it had.
Our main character really sold me on this book. I've never read anything by Camryn Garrett, but her writing of Josie totally convinced me to read anything else she writes. You can practically feel Josie leaping off the page with how realistic and relatable she feels. She's a fat, anxious, lovable, morally good journalist that just wants to find her place in the world and I loved it. Josie's interactions with the other character were also super interesting and fun to read. I will say that I didn't like Josie's siter AT ALL and though there was a discussion on how sometimes the way she says makes Josie feel bad about herself, I felt like there wasn't true catharsis for how Josie's sister interacted with her. All of the other side characters are a little flat, but I had such a fun time reading this book that I didn't mind all that much.
You really get into Josie's head while reading this book and that made it go by all the faster. It was super interesting and cool to read where Josie's head was at while she was trying to write an article on a young up and coming actor and also trying to gather information about a huge Hollywood producer that was and had sexually assaulted multiple people in the industry. The pacing was on point and I never felt like the book was boring or was super rushed at any point, except maybe the end.
There was a bit of suspension of disbelief that was required for this book, but it was a little too high for my taste. I'm not going to get into specifics because 'spoilers' but if you read it you'll get it. The suspension of disbelief didn't make the book less enjoyable to read, but if this irritates you, you might have an issue with Off the Record. Having the ending end the way that it did was an interesting choice, but I was left a little unsatisfied. Felt like the author could've added a prologue or something to show us a bit of Josie's future but that's just me.
And that's pretty much all I have to say on it!! If you read the synopsis and that intrigues you, then give this book a try!! You'll fall in love with Josie and her story and you root for her the entire time. I really hope everybody enjoys this book as much as I did or more!! Happy Reading!!!
And the romance?! For heaven's sake, there didn't really need to be one in this book, but I understand the YA genre so I get it. It wasn't really developed and felt super shallow. Both characters separate were great!! But the ending with them meeting up at the premiere or theater or wherever it was was weird and reminded me of the ending of that Disney movie Starstruck?
Also!!! How did their relationship turn out?? How is Josie handling the press?? The paparazzi??
The world may never know.
And the pacing of the book WAS good, but it still felt weirdly rushed with the story that Josie was writing about the sexual assault. IDK how to explain it.
Our main character really sold me on this book. I've never read anything by Camryn Garrett, but her writing of Josie totally convinced me to read anything else she writes. You can practically feel Josie leaping off the page with how realistic and relatable she feels. She's a fat, anxious, lovable, morally good journalist that just wants to find her place in the world and I loved it. Josie's interactions with the other character were also super interesting and fun to read. I will say that I didn't like Josie's siter AT ALL and though there was a discussion on how sometimes the way she says makes Josie feel bad about herself, I felt like there wasn't true catharsis for how Josie's sister interacted with her. All of the other side characters are a little flat, but I had such a fun time reading this book that I didn't mind all that much.
You really get into Josie's head while reading this book and that made it go by all the faster. It was super interesting and cool to read where Josie's head was at while she was trying to write an article on a young up and coming actor and also trying to gather information about a huge Hollywood producer that was and had sexually assaulted multiple people in the industry. The pacing was on point and I never felt like the book was boring or was super rushed at any point, except maybe the end.
There was a bit of suspension of disbelief that was required for this book, but it was a little too high for my taste. I'm not going to get into specifics because 'spoilers' but if you read it you'll get it. The suspension of disbelief didn't make the book less enjoyable to read, but if this irritates you, you might have an issue with Off the Record. Having the ending end the way that it did was an interesting choice, but I was left a little unsatisfied. Felt like the author could've added a prologue or something to show us a bit of Josie's future but that's just me.
And that's pretty much all I have to say on it!! If you read the synopsis and that intrigues you, then give this book a try!! You'll fall in love with Josie and her story and you root for her the entire time. I really hope everybody enjoys this book as much as I did or more!! Happy Reading!!!
Spoiler
It could be a family dynamic that I'm not quite understanding, but I thought the relationship between Josie and her sister needed to be discussed or handled more but because the book was so short there was no time. Sure, she was there when Josie needed her at times, but other times she was a little ungrateful and mean. Again, this was just my opinion.And the romance?! For heaven's sake, there didn't really need to be one in this book, but I understand the YA genre so I get it. It wasn't really developed and felt super shallow. Both characters separate were great!! But the ending with them meeting up at the premiere or theater or wherever it was was weird and reminded me of the ending of that Disney movie Starstruck?
Also!!! How did their relationship turn out?? How is Josie handling the press?? The paparazzi??
The world may never know.
And the pacing of the book WAS good, but it still felt weirdly rushed with the story that Josie was writing about the sexual assault. IDK how to explain it.