Audrey, Wait! by
Robin Benway Published by Razorbill on April 10, 2008
Genres: Contemporary Romance,
Romance Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover Source: Purchased Add to
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Amazon California high school student Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, the lead singer of a little band called The Do-Gooders. Evan writes, “Audrey, Wait!” a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous!
Now rabid fans are invading her school. People is running articles about her arm-warmers. The lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse. (And the Internet is documenting her every move!) Audrey can't hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi.
Take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, has outrageous amounts of fun, confronts her ex on MTV, and gets the chance to show the world who she really is.
Audrey, Wait! is one of those hidden gems that hardly anyone seems to know about. I know I have heard very little about lately, what with all the buzz for new releases lately. This story is hilarious and so much fun, and I am so glad I read it!
1. The idea behind the story is magical. We’ve all dumped someone, but I’m pretty sure not all of us became a band’s muse because of it. I’m also confident in saying that not all of us have a hit song written about us. This is Audrey’s life, and her story is so funny.
2. I love how the entire book is Audrey talking to the reader. She wants us to hear her side of the story, since we obviously read all about it in People magazine and saw it on the news. As she is telling us her story, she adds additional parenthetical thoughts like “(I’m sure you’ve heard The Song by now.)” I really liked the fact that we were included. I felt like I was hearing about this over junk food at a sleepover.
3. Audrey is someone I would have been friends with in high school. She is down to earth, funny, a little eccentric, a music lover, and she marches to the beat of her own drum. And honestly, she handled this overnight fame like a pro. All she did was dump her boyfriend! That’s it! And all of a sudden she’s being asked for autographs, hit on by celebrities, stalked by the paparazzi, and ripped a part by teeny boppers on online message boards. I loved, loved, LOVED her voice. She is just so funny! This is my favorite quote, and sums her up in as few words as I can think:
“Oh Jesus, they had heard the song. They had heard the song and listened to the lyrics and then got totally paranoid and hacked into my email account and figured out that Evan and I had slept together, and now I was going to have to sit through some intervention where my parents talked about sperm and condoms and responsibility and teenage pregnancy statistics. And then they’d probably ship me off to one of those wilderness camps where they give you a name like Little Running Bear and make you scavenge for food to build up your self esteem until you swear to be abstinent for the rest of your natural life.
I’ll tell you this right now: me and nature? Not so much.”
Perfect, huh? I read this quote two or three times, and laughed each time.
4. Really, I loved all the characters, except for snotty Sharon. Evan is the typical boy band boy, but we get to see him grow up and change with his fame. It was refreshing to discover that I liked him more after he became a famous musician than before. Usually that goes the other way. Victoria is Audrey’s best friend, and the kind of person I need in my life to push me into adventures. She’s spunky and a lot of fun. She’s in total contrast to Audrey, and it was so much fun to read about their friendship. I also love Audrey’s new love interest, James. He’s a nerd and he’s shy and sweet, and he says some of the most swoonworthy things. I love how he adores Audrey. I just want him all to myself!
5. Bendomolena, Audrey’s fat cat, is definitely one of my favorite characters in the book. And seriously what is with that name? I would love to hear the story behind that name. Anyway, Bendy is amazing. Even though she does not get to say anything, she says enough with her mannerisms. I am a major cat lover, and I think this is the first book I’ve read with a cat as a character. She made me smile.
6. My main complaint is all the swear words. I can not tell you how many f-words there were in this book. This young adult novel had more swear words in it than most adult novels I have read, and I started to get really annoyed. I also did not love the characters as much as I could have. I really dislike profanity in books.
Overall, this book was an adorable romp through the life of a teenage girl whose claim to fame did not get the best of her. When she finally got to confront the World she did it with style and panache that I could not help but cheer for. I loved it!