Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss

The queen of YA contemporary is back and she’s taking it to Hollywood this time. In Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss, Lacey is starring in her first movie, a historical zombie film, and with a raging star of a costar, a hot tutor who won’t let her get away with not doing her homework, and mysterious happenings on set, things are going to get interested quickly.

Lacey is 17 and starring in a zombie historical film alongside a teen heartthrob known for his spy movies.  She’s so grateful for the opportunity, honestly, but she’s also underage so along with the hassle of a movie, she’s also got to worry about an overbearing dad, a curfew, and homework. But Lacey doesn’t really like doing homework. Enter the tutor her Dad hires–Donavan. He’s a clean cut guy and just wants to help Lacey do her homework, but she’s got other plans. Because she’s concerned about her chemistry with her co-star, the mean things people are saying online about her, and some weird things going on on-set. Missing makeup pieces, ripped clothes, is someone out to destroy Lacey’s career before it can even get started? And how is Lacey supposed to be focusing on all this with a cute tutor who bends to her every whim, even if she’s never kissed a boy unscripted before?

I’ve read everything Kasie West has published, the vast majority of it this year. This was my ninth Kasie West book of the year, so I kind of know what to expect going into one of her novels. And while I enjoyed Fame, Fate and the First Kiss and liked how “different” it felt being set in Hollywood, it wasn’t my favorite Kasie West book. The inclusion of “scenes” from the movie didn’t feel super…insightful, and they were so short I just couldn’t get into them. I didn’t love the way the “mystery” of who was sabotaging Lacey was solved because it felt…both obvious and rush and also kind of pointless in the end because it didn’t actually affect anyone? The love story in this one was enjoyable as West’s romances always are and made me swoon a little bit but…I expect nothing less from her.

Overall, I think this book was interesting. It won’t be an instant classic, but I think fans of Kasie West will enjoy her latest rom-com and I am already looking forward to the next one, which is actually a major problem since Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss doesn’t come out until February 2019…