The Real Real by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown—your school—is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras.

Now imagine they've trained them on you.

When Jesse O'Rourke gets picked for a "documentary" being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she's tempted to turn down the offer. But there's a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she's studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for "what sells on camera." . . . At least there's one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse's crush has also made the cast.

As the producers manipulate the lives of their "characters" to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

I must say, I will never look at TV the same way again.

The Drama, the Love, the Hate...all fake.

The Real Real shows the line where "reality" becomes a fantasy. A Made-up, perfected fantasy. With jealousy behind the scenes and every not turning out who they are supposed to be, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus create a story which is hilarious, but also painfully real.

This book is so original! That's a really big reason why I liked this book. It puts a normal teenage girl into the fake and glamorous world of Reality TV. Speaking of the main character...I loved Jesse! She's just so amazing. She's funny, realistic, smart, and the most important thing, she's a realistic character. She makes mistakes just like everybody else (even though THAT part really caught me off). She seems to get along with  (almost) everyone and she just wants the money to help in funding for college. I just loved the Valentine's Day part. It was so funny, I think I giggled throughout that whole part.


*Sigh*....Drew. One word. DREAMBOAT. I wanna get on that cruise. *SPOILER ALERT* God, during THOSE parts of the book with Jesse and Jase, I just felt like yelling, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!?! He's so amazing. Another amazing guy to my amazing (amazingly long) hot/cute book guy characters list (I should totally do a post on that soon :P)!


Another character I found likeable was Nico, as even though she's the popular and perfect girl *SPOILER ALERT* she's not so perfect...if you get what I mean. With her hilarious messy eating and her sad family relationship with her dad, her world isn't crystal!


Jase. Not much to say except HATE HIM. I felt like screaming at Nico for actually liking this jerk. His friend (his name escapes me) seems sweet though. Like, a hilarious minor character. I also found Jesse's friend (who's name also escapes me) kinda mean and self-centered. I mean, friends are supposed to look out for each other and understand. The "friend" clearly doesn't do so. And OMG Trisha! Hate that girl so much, I think I would rather eat a whole tub of slugs then actually have to talk to that @#!^$.


Overall, The Real Real is a very humorous and well-put together book. With every shooting, a new element is added in which changes the characters, in ways that you won't expect. You'll be cheering on the cast as they progress through every painful moment. One of the best reads about TV Entertainment I've ever read! Should get my hands on the Nanny Diaries one day as well. Sorry for the short review, but trust me, The Real Real shows the truth behind what's real and the real real.