Backstage Review

This time I am reviewing Backstage by: Jacqueline E Smith! (This is the second book in the series, so there are bound to be spoilers from the first book. Duh.)

Melissa Parker briefly enjoyed the high of her new relationship with her best friend and member of the hottest boy band, Sam Morneau, before being knocked back down by discovering a scandalous affair involving other members of the group. Sworn to secrecy, Mel is now holding information back from her best friends, information that could rip the band apart. Lies and half-truths begin to pile up. More and more, secrets are invading the group and everyone wants Mel to keep her mouth shut.

I cannot fully express how much I love this book. I’ve been desperately (and somewhat patiently) waiting for Jackie to write this book and release it. This one is just as good (if not better) than the first book and well worth the wait.

Like I’ve said in a previous review of Jackie’s work, she has an amazing knack for breathing life into all her characters. They all have so many quirks and feel so real. This book lets us learn even more about all the guys in the group, The Kind of September, and their personalities all shined in it. I just love all the guys! Sam, of course, is my favorite member of the group (more on him a bit later.) Oliver and Josh are great too! Josh is the life of the party and I always laughed whenever he entered a scene. He would brighten anyone’s day. Oliver is so sweet and courteous. He’s dependable and so many times I wanted to give him a hug. Jesse tries so hard to be funny (and he’s just not). I really enjoyed seeing his growth in this book. Cory is, sadly, so blinded by his love for Terrible Tara. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention Joni. She’s so strong and blunt. I love the friendship she has with Mel and how protective she is of the group.

Now, onto the real stars of this novel: Sam and Mel. I love both of them so much! Their relationship is beautiful, breath-taking, sweet, and just so adorable. I might have fallen in love with Sam right along with Mel over the course of this book. He’s just so amazing to her. Ever since reading the first few lines of Boy Band, I’ve loved Mel and her personality. Her voice is so unique and her wit is spot on. I also loved that she didn’t enjoy keeping secrets from everyone. She knew if the truth came out, especially that she knew something and didn’t tell, it would blow up in everyone’s face. It’s so refreshing that she was realistic about it and didn’t delude herself into thinking keeping secrets was okay.

The song lyrics were stunning in this book and each time I read them, my mind started putting music behind them automatically. The tweets from fans always made me laugh. #TOKS #Meliver #JoshAndPizza I’m so glad they were included in the book, it really added an amazing dynamic and made it feel so real.

All throughout this book, I found myself hiding a smile or attempting not to burst out laughing. So many emotions played through me while reading this and kudos to Jackie for really making everything so palpable. The whole time, I felt a kinship to everyone and they felt like great friends I got to spend a few amazing hours hanging out with.

Drama, drama, drama. That’s all I can say about some of the later events in this book. Well, really the whole book is filled to the brim with drama. I’m so glad that the ending gave us a moment to breathe after the crazy, wild ride the book took us on. I really can’t wait till the next installment in the series.