Review: Just Play Pretend by Jennifer Ann Shore

    I was sent a digital review copy of this book in exchange for my voluntary and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

    Just Play Pretend is a YA contemporary romance novel that follows disgraced child star Alexandra Sutton as she returns to acting and falls in love with Cole Keller. Early into the story, Alexandra meets Cole after breaking into her neighbor Tess' backyard to float in the pool. It turns out that Cole is Tess' cousin. They spend the summer together working on a show at the local theater and eventually begin dating. Alexandra's parents tell her that they are getting divorced, and an opportunity opens up for Alexandra to attend Julliard for theater. Despite her parents' wanting her to stay in Pittsburgh for a free college education at the university where her father is a professor, Alexandra goes to New York with Cole and pursues theater.

    Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. The concept had loads of potential, but the characters simply could not hold it up. Alexandra is painfully lacking in substance and personality. She never makes any mistakes with real, lasting consequences, and even when she does things that are a little questionable, she faces absolutely no repercussions or difficulties. Even the divorce of Alexandra's parents doesn't seem to phase her at all. Cole isn't much better, and his romance with Alexandra is baseless and unsubstantial. Their "chemistry" feels fake, forced, and unnatural. The only character in this book who seemed to have any sort of character or individuality is Tess.

    The plot left a lot to be desired as well. Sure, it's a romance, but that shouldn't mean that there's nothing to be lost, no stakes. The one thing that could've been used to add a bit of urgency to the story was Alexandra's pursuit of Julliard. However, she didn't care much when she was rejected, and the only time her commitment to acting was mentioned was at the end of the story.

    My final gripe was the ridiculously short paragraphs. A rough estimate would have me saying that about two-thirds of the paragraphs in this story were one sentence long.

    Overall, I'm not impressed. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea, but Just Play Pretend felt like a cliche young adult romance trying to be a deeply changing coming-of-age story and falling far short of the bar.

Rating: 2 Stars