Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Brooke Berlin's life is almost perfect. Her father is Hollywood legend Brick Berlin. Fellow students at her exclusive Prep School either love or fear her. She's about to have an epic birthday party that is sure to land her in the paparazzi photos that she so desperately wants. But all of that is threatened with the discovery that Brick has another child - a daughter who's been living in Indiana and is the same age as Brooke. Molly, her half-sister, is now coming to live with Brooke and Brick, but things don't start off smoothly. Can the two girls find a common ground, or will their relationship be permanently spoiled?

I almost feel like I should say something in terms of full disclosure. I don't know either Heather Cocks or Jessica Morgan personally, and they don't know me. But I have been fans of theirs for years - at Go Fug Yourself, definitely, but before that, at Television Without Pity. I first found it back when it was Mighty Big TV (to give you a hint of the time frame, I was looking for recaps of episodes of Making the Band. Remember O-Town?). I know with certainty that both Jessica and Heather are funny, funny women. (Jessica's recap of the Dawson's Creek episode "Downtown Crossing" should be required reading.)

ANYWAY.

I had an advanced copy of the book sitting around for awhile, but it was like I was too nervous to actually read it; I wanted it to be as good as I hoped it would be. Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. This is a very funny, smartly written book that has a lot of satirical observations but also a strongly relatable core. I was skeptical when, on the first page, I met a character named Arugula, but the outlandish Hollywood details are really just a background that lets the Berlin family shine. (Also, with the Arnold Schwarzenegger secret child news coming out recently, could this book BE released at a better time?) While I wouldn't want to have Brick Berlin as a father, he's very amusing in Spoiled. (Sharing some of Brick's plans for marketing himself would run the surprise of discovering them). I empathized with both Molly and Brooke at different times, but neither of them are perfect characters, and there are enough mistakes to go around. Spoiled leaves lots of opportunities for the sequel, and I'm already looking forward to the next book.

Find it at Amazon.

Read it with:
Go Fug Yourself: The Fug Awards by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Elixir by Hilary Duff
L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad
Why Girls Are Weird by Pamela Ribon
Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later by Francine Pascal