Expected Publication: October 14th, 2014
Oh Yeah, Audrey!
By: Tucker Shaw
Amulet Books
ISBN-13: 9781419712234
It's 5:00 a.m. on Fifth Avenue, and 16-year-old Gemma Beasley is standing in front of Tiffany & Co. wearing the perfect black dress with her coffee in hand -- just like Holly Golightly. As the cofounder of a successful Tumblr blog -- Oh Yeah, Audrey! -- devoted to all things Audrey Hepburn, Gemma has travelled to New York in order to meet up with her fellow bloggers for the first time. She has meticulously planned out a 24-hour adventure in homage to Breakfast At Tiffany's -- however, her plans are derailed when a glamorous boy sweeps in and offers her to New York experience she's always dreamed of.
Gemma soon learns who her true friends are, and that sometimes, no matter where you go, you just end up finding yourself. Filled with hip and sparkling prose, Oh Yeah, Audrey! is as much a story of friendship as it is a love letter to New York, Audrey Hepburn, and the character she made famous: Holly Golightly.
Review
Sixteen-year-old Gemma Beasley lives an ordinary, boring life with her parents. Than her Mom dies and in her grief, Gemma starts a Tumblr blog about Audrey Hepburn, called Oh Yeah, Audrey! to pass the time. It's in doing this she discovers her favorite movie of all time, Breakfast At Tiffany's, and her idol: Holly Golightly. Through the blog she becomes friends with Bryan and Trina, other Audrey fans from other parts of the U.S. She even gets someone named Telly involved, who constantly makes hateful comments. The friends make a plan to meet in New York, for an Audrey themed day, ending with a revival showing of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's shaping up to be a day to remember, when Gemma is presented with the opportunity for adventure of the romantic sort, with a mysterious weathly boy named Dusty. But is he everything he seems? And can her friends forgive her for ditching them? Will Gemma's adventure be everything she wants it to be?
This book is extremely light. Yes, it's chick-lit, but that doesn't mean that at least the characters can't have substance. I have to say, that the plot was really cute (if unbelievable at times, especially a plot point involving Gemma getting her hands on one of Audrey Hepburn's dresses). I liked the friends hanging out and for the most part Bryan and Trina seemed pretty cool. Probably the low point for me with their friendship was how judgemental they were of Telly when she came to apologize about putting down Audrey. She tries to tell them all the great humanitarian things Audrey did, but Bryan brushes her off. She basically says, "Who cares about the fashion?" and Bryan shallowly tells her that's all that really matters. Then near the end when Gemma learns Dusty's true colors and finds out what a slimeball he really is, Trina is EXTREMELY mean and judgemental. She basically wants everyone to shun Gemma.
Basically the book ends with the friends reuniting and woo-hoo, it's all better! Not! The author brought in a subplot about Gemma's unresolved feelings about her Mother's death and it seemed really abrupt/unfinished. Not to mention, the whole thing is set within a 24 hour period and it just really doesn't allow for a lot of depth. Gemma was basically an any-girl, cardboard cutout and I was never really able to picture her through the whole book. Overall, I just felt like this book was too shallow to be good reading. There's a difference between fluff, and wasted potential. This is the latter.
VERDICT: 2/5 Stars
*I reviewed this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is October 14th, 2014.*
