Review: Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Spoiled
by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
June 1, 2011
Borrowed from Library
Goodreads Page
Amazon Page
Grade: B

16-year-old Molly Dix loves her ordinary life in suburban Indiana, so when her single mother passes away, she is shocked to discover that her biological father is Brick Berlin, world famous movie star and red carpet regular.

Equally intrigued and terrified by her Hollywood lineage, Molly moves to Southern California and plunges head-first into the deep end of Beverly Hills celebrity life. Just as Molly thinks her new life and family couldn't get any stranger, she meets Brooke Berlin, her gorgeous and spoiled half-sister whom welcomes Molly to la-la land with a healthy dose of passive-aggressive "sisterly love."

Set against the backdrop of a sparkling and fashion-filled Los Angeles, this deliciously dysfunctional family soap opera will satisfy every reader looking for their next lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous beach read.

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There’s no doubt that Spoiled is a really, really fun book.  I’ve enjoyed the Fug Girls’ snarky fashion and celebrity blog for years, and Spoiled is written in the same breezy and hilarious style.  The plot isn’t as fantastic as the writing style, but I wanted to forgive the book anything just because the ride was a blast.

As mentioned in the synopsis, our co-heroines are half-sisters suddenly introduced to each other after the death of Molly’s mother.  And their father just happens to be one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.  Very often Molly comes across as just too sweet to be real.  She forgives insult after insult and even when she decides to fight back, she instantly feels terribly about it.  Her naivety is also played up a little too much especially when she first meets Brooke.  Brooke’s insincerity and sabotage of Molly nearly drips off the page, but Molly doesn’t even suspect anything until she’s been publicly ridiculed for the results of Brooke’s actions.

Brooke, on the other hand, is delightfully mean though she doesn’t quite reach the heights of her hero, Blair Waldorf.  Her nastiness is a lot more interesting than Molly’s sweetness, and as badly as I felt for Molly, I tended to root for her mean girl sister.  Brooke’s dark secret is also maybe a little too easily revealed.  Once she’s hugged, she lets go of that mean girl image almost instantly to try to form a sisterly bond with Molly.

My absolute favourite character was the movie star father, Brick Berlin.  Every time he appeared, I couldn’t help laughing at the perfect satire the authors created.  He was hilariously over sincere, and his ever-present iPhone with its note taking app provided more than a few laughs even as the reader felt badly for any child of this self-absorbed man.

I definitely want to read the upcoming sequel to Spoiled.  None of the plot devices or characterizations (other than maybe the father Berlin) were terribly original, but the writing more than made up for it.  Also the authors really seemed to enjoy themselves.  You know how sometimes you read a book by established authors just entering the YA field, and it feels like they figured it’d be easy money so no need to actually write well?  The Fug Girls are the complete opposite.  The authorial voice is obviously having a great time, and it pulls the reader along for the ride.