Book Review: Will the Real Abi Saunders Please Stand Up? by Sara Hantz

Publication Date: 6th May 2014

I liked the cover of this ARC. The image is definitely eye-catching and the title stands out. It's simple but effective. And it made me want to read the book, as did the blurb.

Abi Saunders is a kick boxing champion, but she'd rather be on the receiving end of a roundhouse kick than have all eyes on her. To please her coach, she auditions to be a stunt double for It Girl, Tilly Watson, in her latest movie, only to land the role.

But the life of a stunt double isn't all glitz and glammer. It's hard work. However, with the right wig and make-up, Abi is transformed into Tilly. Her costume is so convincing that even Tilly's gorgeous actor boyfriend, Jon, mistakes Abi for his Hollywood girlfriend. Abi quickly becomes smitten, with Jon and her new showbiz lifestyle, and suddenly she has little time for her old life.

But when the camera stops rolling, will Abi find that the celebrity lifestyle isn't all it's cracked up to be?

OK, I failed with the blurb writing this time, but that's because I'm NOT trying to sell this book to you. I really didn't like it. It was silly, boring and completely unrealistic. I think it's patronising to expect the reader to believe that Abi can put on a magic wig and paste her face with "Tilly" make-up to suddenly transform herself into the movie star.

But the real reason I disliked this book is because the main characters are all such awful people. Abi is quick to ditch her so-called nice girl image and her childhood friends, in favour of rich, arrogant and rude people in the moviemaking industry. Tilly is a bitch of the highest order, who mocks Abi's stutter, seizes every opportunity to make her feel like an idiot and generally treats everyone around her like crap. Despite this, they make excuses for her, saying how she doesn't have it easy, whilst often still bitching about her behind her back. And her boyfriend Jon is a no-talent, manipulative creep, who uses both Abi and Tilly to score publicity for his crappy movies. 

I requested this ARC because I thought Abi was going to be a strong, independent, kick boxing badass. Instead she was insecure, weak and easily manipulated. She allowed the Hollywood folk around her to treat her like rubbish, and she whined constantly about how her real friends were making her feel bad when she constantly ditched them for the Hollywood douches. I had no sympathy for her whatsoever. I kept hoping someone would swiftly deliver a roundhouse kick to her head, in hopes that that would finally knock some sense into her.

Overall, the story was boring and predictable, and the dialogue was awful. It felt stilted and it didn't engage me whatsoever. For this reason, I didn't connect with any of the characters because they all felt one-dimensional.


My rating: 






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