Title: For the Record
Author: Charlotte Huang
Release Date: November 10th 2015
Published by: Delacorte Books
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Source: ARC from Sunday Street Team
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If Almost Famous were a YA novel… a raw, honest debut celebrating music, friendship, romance, and life on the road.
Chelsea thought she knew what being a rock star was like… until she became one. After losing a TV talent show, she slid back into small-town anonymity. But one phone call changed everythingNow she’s the lead singer of the band Melbourne, performing in sold-out clubs every night and living on a bus with three gorgeous and talented guys. The bummer is that the band barely tolerates her. And when teen heartthrob Lucas Rivers take an interest in her, Chelsea is suddenly famous, bringing Melbourne to the next level—not that they’re happy about that. Her feelings for Beckett, Melbourne’s bassist, are making life even more complicated.
Chelsea only has the summer tour to make the band—and their fans—love her. If she doesn’t, she’ll be back in Michigan for senior year, dying a slow death. The paparazzi, the haters, the grueling schedule… Chelsea believed she could handle it. But what if she can’t?
My Thoughts
For the Record was an adorable and fun read. Once I started reading it, I was immediately engaged and couldn’t put it down! If you ever wonder what it would be like to be a part of a music band. This book will give you that chance, it will give you an insider look at the music business and what it would be like to be part of a tour with a rock band full of cute boys.
The characters in this story we’re pretty delightful and entertaining. They each had their story to tell and it was a very captivating one.
Chelsea is a female lead singer for Melbourne. She had a pretty crappy High School years and all she want to do is make it as a lead singer and never return to her home town again. Chelsea tries to make it work with her new band mates, but that seems more difficult than she thought it would be. She tries to fit in but only gets a lot of things wrong (What teen doesn’t) but manages to grow up and learn from her mistakes. I love how her character grows thru out the story but my favorite was the way she was able to stand up for herself in the end.
Mandy, Chelsea’s best friend was amusing and entertaining. She was able to go along on tour with Chelsea and be a merchandize seller for the band. Which was great for Chelsea since none of the band member wanted to accept her into the band. She had her BF to make it fun and interesting. Which let me tell you, she did!!! Which made me a bit disappointed with Mandy. The conflict between them should have never happened and could’ve been avoided if both Chelsea and Mandy supported their friendship more.
Lucas Rivers the movie star! He was everything a girl wanted him to be! The heartthrob with a big ego. That only cared for the way he looked and how many fans screamed his name. He was a ok character. I saw what kind of person he was from the minute he came into play. Everything he did seem to look like he was helping Chelsea. But to me it seem more to his benefit then one else.
The boy band (Melbourne) are pretty hilarious at times and I really felt their love for each other. I fell in love with a 3 boys they each had their own trades. You had the stubborn, friendly and the partyer.
Pem was the stubborn and difficult one of the group. I didn’t understand him or liked him. He give Chelsea such a difficult time and aggravation. But in the end I found out why he was the way he was. Everything started to make sense. But it still doesn’t give him the right to treat people bad but I understood and I did felt bad for him in the end.
Malcom was definitely the partyer and amusing one of the band. He made the story fun. But even so, he felt flat for me. I wanted more from him. I wanted to get to know him and his deal. In the end I really didn’t know anything Malcom which was a bit of a letdown.
Beckett was the friendliest of the group and the sweeties. He helped out Chelsea and made her understand how the group worked and filled her in on how to fit into the band! He had a rough past with the band that caused a lot of grief and let down. He was my favorite of the group and was rooting for him. But his past comes back to haute him which had him make difficult decisions. Which made me root for him even more.
In the end I understand why they we’re the way they we’re. The band had a rough past and they were only trying to move on. It made the story interesting and engaging.
I enjoyed following Chelsea and the other Melbourne band members and how each member grow up and dealt with each situation.
One thing that I was surprised at was the ending and I’d really love to see Huang write a sequel. Because hello I still have questions that need answers…lol. Don’t get me wrong I still, liked the ending. It was a brilliant twist and left me wanting more.
Overall, For the Record was a great debut novel by Charlotte Huang. There were a few things that I didn’t care for, (Lucas Rivers, ha-ha) but in the end it was a great novel. I look forward to seeing what Charlotte Huang will write in the future. It was a light read, perfect for those who are looking for a fun and exciting novel to read! I recommend this for fans of music and YA contemporary lovers.
Please don’t forget to visit this amazing author, the links are available below
About the Author:
Charlotte Huang is a graduate of Smith College and received an MBA from Columbia Business School, which is clearly something every aspiring writer should do. When not glued to her computer, she cheers her two sons on at sporting events and sometimes manages to stay up late enough to check out bands with her music agent husband. Charlotte lives in Los Angeles and is the author of For the Record (Delacorte, 2015) Rafflecopter
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Helena B
Founder and Editor at Book Nerd Addict
My name is Helena and I am a 30 something avid reader living in NYC. I love reading YA with a especially interest in Fantasy, Historical Fiction and some Romance Contemporary. When I'm not reading or blogging you can find me playing with all kinds of animals and taking pictures of beautiful places while traveling.
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This was a great review! I was bummed that I missed the chance to review this for SST, but I'm still eager to read it! Something about bands really intrigues me, so I think I'll have to pick this one up really soon
Plus, that cover is pretty gorgeous, and I love a good cover haha