Unraveling: Catch A Falling Star by Kim Culbertson

Title: Catch A Falling Star

Series: N/A

Author: Kim Culbertson
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publication Date: April 29, 2014

A deliciously charming novel about finding true love . . . and yourself.

Nothing ever happens in Little, CA. Which is just the way Carter Moon likes it. But when Hollywood arrives to film a movie starring former child star turned PR mess Adam Jakes, everything changes. Carter's town becomes a giant glittery set and, much to her annoyance, everyone is starry-eyed for Adam. Carter seems to be the only girl not falling all over herself to get a glimpse of him. Which apparently makes her perfect for the secret offer of a lifetime: playing the role of Adam's girlfriend while he's in town, to improve his public image, in exchange for a hefty paycheck. Her family really needs the money and so Carters agrees. But it turns out Adam isn't at all who she thought he was. As they grow closer, their relationship walks a blurry line between what's real and what's fake, and Carter must open her eyes to the scariest of unexplored worlds - her future. Can Carter figure out what she wants out of life AND get the guy? Or are there no Hollywood endings in real life?

  

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My Thoughts

This book mainly got my attention because every time I read the title I would start singing that song from the movie Princess Diaries. So I read the blurb and it sounded like a cute light read. And I guess it kind of was, but not good enough.

I just didn't connect with Carter. At all. She actually frustrated me to no end. She tried coming off as this totally mellow, well adjusted teen who had all her shit together but instead she was just so into the self denial that I just wasn't buying any of the crap she spouted. I'm not saying she was a horrible, unrelatable character. I just didn't like her, personally. She was so close minded about almost everything. She, again, tried coming off as this totally great, forward moving person, but she just wasn't. She was trying too hard.

As for Adam, I couldn't really get a reading on him. At first he was a grade A jerk. Which didn't feel right to me. It actually felt like Culbertson was pushing him into this role because that's what was expected. Then they share one laugh together and suddenly he just isn't a jerk anymore. It was too much of an abrupt face.

The romance went along with the voice and atmosphere of the book itself. Slow, mellow, and a bit stunted. I just felt NO spark, no chemistry between them. What I got out of it was a nice start to a solid friendship, not a romance.

And that ending? It came out of left field. Again, it was like Culbertson was forcing it because the reader just expects that kind of ending, but I was honestly all for how things would have ended right before that last chapter. It would have felt much more real to me.

It wasn't a bad read, but it also didn't do anything for me.

So...

Would I Recommend it?

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