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2011 Book Review #104: Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance
Title: Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance
Author: Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Thingummies: 2.5
Synopsis: Teen TV stars have been contractually forced to date for most of their high school careers, despite hating each other in real life. But when their show gets cancelled, they have an chance to escape. But while hiding out from the paparazzi, they begin to discover more to each other than they had realized.
Thoughts: I have to admit, I'm kind of a sucker for the "fake it til you make it" romance, so I found the premise promising. And the light, bantery voices of the two protagonists (the viewpoint alternates each chapter, and I believe each author exclusively wrote one voice) are engaging and exactly the kind of popcorn fun I was looking for after a rough day at work.
But oh, this book is such a mess. I do not think that the authors actually read each other's chapters, to start. It's like they sat down, came up with an outline, and then each submitted their chapters to their agent without ever exchanging them. The middle is particularly egregious, where each chapter ends on a cliff hanger that is completely abandoned. I particularly liked how they arrived in the cabin in Jenna's chapter and put dinner in the over, spent a week painting and arguing in Jonah's chapter, and then at the beginning of Jenna's next chapter she takes the dinner out of the oven, an hour having elapsed in her universe.
But it's not like the authors read their own chapters again, either--they clearly wrote one draft and stopped. Character motivations veer all over the place. Jenna believes that Jonah is a dumb faker at the beginning but three chapters later rolls her eyes repeatedly over how he's always such a showoff about books he's read. (Jonah can't decide how smart he is, either--it seems to change all the time.) Jenna had to sue her parents and get herself emancipated because they misused all her money, but she also later has an absent father who never spent time with her but talks about her all the time so really he's proud of her (sob!)
The last chapter is nearly incoherent, as Jenna's author sees the end in sight, babbles to fill out page count, and then brings everything to a completely dull, underwritten, and spiritless close.
What a terrible waste of potential.
Author: Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Thingummies: 2.5
Synopsis: Teen TV stars have been contractually forced to date for most of their high school careers, despite hating each other in real life. But when their show gets cancelled, they have an chance to escape. But while hiding out from the paparazzi, they begin to discover more to each other than they had realized.
Thoughts: I have to admit, I'm kind of a sucker for the "fake it til you make it" romance, so I found the premise promising. And the light, bantery voices of the two protagonists (the viewpoint alternates each chapter, and I believe each author exclusively wrote one voice) are engaging and exactly the kind of popcorn fun I was looking for after a rough day at work.
But oh, this book is such a mess. I do not think that the authors actually read each other's chapters, to start. It's like they sat down, came up with an outline, and then each submitted their chapters to their agent without ever exchanging them. The middle is particularly egregious, where each chapter ends on a cliff hanger that is completely abandoned. I particularly liked how they arrived in the cabin in Jenna's chapter and put dinner in the over, spent a week painting and arguing in Jonah's chapter, and then at the beginning of Jenna's next chapter she takes the dinner out of the oven, an hour having elapsed in her universe.
But it's not like the authors read their own chapters again, either--they clearly wrote one draft and stopped. Character motivations veer all over the place. Jenna believes that Jonah is a dumb faker at the beginning but three chapters later rolls her eyes repeatedly over how he's always such a showoff about books he's read. (Jonah can't decide how smart he is, either--it seems to change all the time.) Jenna had to sue her parents and get herself emancipated because they misused all her money, but she also later has an absent father who never spent time with her but talks about her all the time so really he's proud of her (sob!)
The last chapter is nearly incoherent, as Jenna's author sees the end in sight, babbles to fill out page count, and then brings everything to a completely dull, underwritten, and spiritless close.
What a terrible waste of potential.