Format in which I consumed this book: hardcover
Did I like it/love it/hate it? Liked it
What’s it about? Well, the procrastination I feared would rear its ugly head has done so. I am writing this weeks after I’ve read the book and I already returned it to the library, so I can’t refresh my memory. Let’s hope I can do this book justice, because I did really like it.
The story is told by Lily, a woman in her 20s who has a fairly boring career and life in general. She’s pretty and of average intelligence, more of a follower than a leader. Since she doesn’t really see her life going anywhere, she joins a reality show in which contestants are housed together in a remote desert compound. They perform challenges to earn personal rewards for themselves, like spare clothes, jewelry, makeup, and rewards for the household, like food, a door for the bathroom, dish detergent, etc.
Like any reality show, the producers will sometimes give them tasks that create resentful feelings or cause the contestants to turn on each other. Several times, the challenge is to vote someone out of the compound. There are several other reasons as well that contestants could be kicked out.
Lily feels like this show, and its rewards for being the last contestant standing, is the only way for her to climb out of her dead-end job. She does a few back-stabby type things, but nothing too heinous that I can recall. She becomes a decent friend to one of the other women and sort of a girlfriend to one of the men.
My thoughts: This was highlighted in my local library as something that the librarians there enjoyed. Without that input, I’m not sure this is something I would have picked up on my own. I don’t really enjoy reality tv but I’m glad I gave this a try. Some of the contestants were portrayed as horrible people, but most were shown to have a good and a bad side. The ending was pretty satisfying to me as well.
Would I recommend this to my sister? Yes. She loves watching The Amazing Race so I think she might enjoy this.
So that’s review #5 in the bag! I’m writing this when I should already be in bed. But I have at least 8 drafts of other books saved and I know myself too well. If I get too far behind with reviews, I’m going to get overwhelmed and then I’ll just quit instead of trying to catch up. And I really, really don’t want to quit this year. Wish me luck!
