Alison Cherry

When shy, intelligent, eighteen-year-old Claire convinces her beautiful, popular sister Miranda to team up and compete against Miranda's cheating ex-boyfriend on a reality television show, Claire is the one to capture a fellow contestant's attention.

For Real

Sofie

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

Ahhh. :) That was perfect. Exactly what I needed to get me relaxed and smiling again. Sometimes books are heavy and take a lot out of me emotionally. Not this one. It was my guilty pleasure type of story, the kind that causes me to smile throughout and leaves me with happy feelings when I finish it.

Claire’s sister, Miranda, walks in on her boyfriend in a compromising situation. She’s extremely upset, as is Claire. No one messes with her sister. So the two girls decide that revenge is the best option to deal with this situation. They find out that Miranda’s exboyfriend is going to be on a reality tv show, and they set out to make sure they too can be on this show and beat the cheating exboyfriend, and embarrass him as much as possible in the process. Of course the producers are more than happy to hear about a drama-filled revenge story, and quickly cast the two sisters on their show.

I’m not a huge reality tv fan, but there are a few that I’m usually found watching. The Bachelor, especially. It’s like my hidden guilty pleasure. Yes, I’m aware that reality tv is anything but reality… but it’s still entertaining. For Real is that exact type of story. It very similar to The Amazing Race, yet there’s also a love component thrown in. So as the contestants are racing across the country, finding cards to tell them their next destination and accompany activity, they are also thrown into romantic situations in hope of finding a love connection along the way. Fun, right?! :)

I loved Claire! That girl had spunk! Though somewhat socially awkward and inexperienced when it comes to the opposite sex, she sprung to life and stepped up when it was needed. No one was going to screw over her sister, not if she had anything to do about it. Miranda seemed to look down on Claire a lot and point out her flaws, though most of them were flaws she had as a young child and not necessarily things she was dealing with at the current time. Miranda had great difficulty accepting that Claire has grown up quite a bit and no longer needs to be taken care of… and at times, walked all over by her sister. But Claire didn’t let this hold her back. She used these thoughts and actions of her sister’s to encourage her to grow as a person, become stronger, and beat what had to be beaten. I loved her character so much!

Claire meets one of the other contestants early on and quickly acknowledges her feelings for him. He’s sweet, kind, and has the smiley eyes of a God. She can’t help but feel butterflies when he looks at her. She wants nothing more than to be his teammate and win this race with him… as well as win his affection. But during this game there are times when team members are able to “steal” other team members. Though Claire was determined to stay with Will indefinitely, other contestants had their own ideas.

“I can’t believe she’s separating us,” I say to Will. “This sucks.”
 “She’s probably just intimidated by the hazardous level of awesome radiating from our lane.”

There were several games that really challenged Claire physically, as well as emotionally. I loved how each obstacle Claire tackled wasn’t just for the game… it was also a huge accomplishment in her life.

I wriggle out of my jeans and toss them onto a deck chair. And then I join Will at the pool’s edge, holding my head high like Dominique would. Who cares if I have a shoelace tied around my head like the biggest dork in the world? Who cares if my butt is covered in neon-colored smiley-faces? If I act like I’m the hottest thing ever, like nothing I’m doing is ridiculous or scary, maybe everyone else will be fooled.”

This story was SO MUCH FUN!! It was exactly what I needed, and I’m so happy I decided to grab it when I did. If you’re looking for a quick, cute, carefree type read that’s just FUN, I’d definitely recommend giving this a try. Though this is my first Alison Cherry book, it definitely won’t be my last.

(Thanks to Delacorte Press & Alison Cherry for the review copy!)


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For Real

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