Review: Another winner by Cecilia Gray!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 29, 2012
I received a review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.First I have to say OH MY GOODNESS. MY NAME IS IN A BOOK! If you check out the acknowledgements in the latest installment of the Jane Austen Academy, you'll see ANGIELEIGH.THAT'S ME!!!Now that I've had my moment...I don't really recall Kat from the other books; I'm not sure if she wasn't really mentioned or if she was just so unimportant to me that I blocked out her name. This was the first in the series so far to be mostly set outside of the Academy, which was weird, but fun all the same.Kat needs to be an actress. She doesn't just desire it, she needs it like she needs air to breathe. She's not a snob nor does she think she's better than anyone else; she knows she's damn good and everyone who's ever seen her agrees. She grows up so much in this book and learns some very important lessons.Josh, as always, is a complete and total tool. He asks her to be his personal assistant, but only leaves her orders without giving her any clue how she's supposed to make things happen. It's my suspicion that Josh wants her to fail because he's pretty sure his career is over. In fact, I'm almost certain that Josh is jealous of Kat because she can really, really act and has had the lead in all of the school plays; I think he's probably the most insecure person out of them all.I'm so thankful that Cecilia didn't have Izzy be a total and complete wench. She had her moments when I wanted to strangle her, but eventually Kat figures things out and stands up for herself.Henry and his dad were just WEIRD. I'm not sure why, but every time Henry's dad was mentioned I thought of Tom Cruise. Henry and Kat had more in common than either of them thought they did, but of course in true boy fashion, Henry pushed her away.I really enjoyed getting to know the side of movies that you don't ever get to see...what it's like in an actor's head when they're preparing for a role. I hope that Kat and company get their own series somewhere down the line. Especially Megan.Oh and there's a tease at the end of the book hinting towards what's to come in the next that has me totally and completely exasperated. What is up with Franny?!As always, Ms. Gray knows how to pull you in time and time again as you get lost in the retelling of Austen's classics. It's my goal to read them all - Ms. Austen's books that is - this coming year. Unfortunately, I don't see them being half as interesting as the Jane Austen Academy books.