Fireworks

This is a perfect summer read Lighthearted, fun,revolving around becoming a girl band and set in the 90s Overall I enjoyed this book, I didn t love it If your looking for a quick, summer read I would recommend this

Olivia was meant to become the IT girl, not Dana.She was supposed to get everything she ever wanted, but the day Dana accompanied her to an audition changed everything.Dana was invited to become part of a girl band She s a natural singer and dancer, apparently Without any professional experience whatsoever No classes, either Ever.Basically, she s been discovered I thought this was a romantic and fairly revealing contemporary book that shows both the good and bad side of being in the show busines [...]

I received an advance copy of this book for free Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss What are you going to do if you don t do this she asked I mean it I m sincerely asking Are you just gonna stay here forever This was a YA contemporary story, about two girls auditioning to be pop stars.I liked Dana, but I felt like her relationship with Olivia was a bit one sided Olivia seemed to always be the one deciding what they were doing and pushing Dana to do things that she maybe didn t want to do, and [...]

Thank you Giveaways and Harper for the opportunity to win an advance reader s edition of Fireworks.Fireworks is a standalone, young adult novel written by Katie Cotugno The fictional plot line consists of two best friends who earn a spot in a major singing competition Life lessons include the strain on friendship during competition, the shifting of group dynamics, sacrifices and boundaries, self image and confidence issues when in the spotlight, and how to keep your head up when people disappoin [...]

Fireworks is the 90s stardom book I never knew I wanted The hard work and intense training shown in the story is exactly what I love to see, and the main character has a complex backstory and is so likeable What I especially adored is the female friendship between the two main characters, since it is actually goals Fans of Katie Cotugno s previous books will not be disappointed with her latest work As a sucker for any book related to the arts, I naturally loved this one What I especially enjoyed [...]

Sososo excited about a story about boy bands and girl bands set in the 90s Unfortunately, the part of the book I read did nothing for me Dana is pretty but an average singer, yet still gets picked to be in a new girl band for her looks She s a pretty unexciting narrator and a girl who doesn t even seem to care about the band, except that her talented best friend gets picked too and they can do this together cue squealing But ugh of course they both like the same boy Who is in a boy band Guys, I [...]

This book was cute, and I definitely plan to read books by the author I sort of just felt like the romance in this book was kind of unnecessary when the real star here should have been the friendship between the two girls.

Review originally posted on Mostly YA Lit Fireworks by Katie Cotugno features Olivia and Dana, best friends who live in small town Georgia in the 90s Dana is poor, with a mother who drinks too much, and no prospects after high school Meanwhile, Olivia has been dreaming of being famous her whole life When the opportunity to audition for a new girl group by a famous producer comes up, Dana accompanies Olivia to Orlando and ends up being picked as part of Daisy Chain as well.I m a sucker for any ki [...]

Disclaimer An ARC of Fireworks by Katie Cotugno was provided to me by Indigo Books Music in exchange for an honest review This does not effect my opinion in any way.Actual Rating 2.5 Stars Initial post reading thoughts YeahI don t think this one was really for me Things just moved too unrealistically fast and the insta love was just a no for me While it was fast paced and it kept me intrigued, I was never really full invested in this story and its characters And that ending Not a fan What I Like [...]

3.5 Just not my favorite.

This review was originally posted on Andi s ABCsSometimes you pick up a book and you just don t know how it is going to go for you You ve read books by the author and enjoyed one and was conflicted on the other You like the premise but know it has the potential to go in a different direction than you expect Because of these things you are almost scared to pick up the book This was me with Fireworks I was worried how I would feel about it I was scared I wouldn t love it I was scared I would be di [...]

This was exaaaactly what I wanted it to be Loved it And for anyone who approaches 90s set books with apprehension, this did not give me any author trying to relive her childhood vibes there s nothing that should be remotely difficult for a current teen to connect with here Those of us who were kids in the 90s will recognize this as being O Town Eden s Crush esque, but for kids who weren t, it ll just feel like being behind the scenes at a slightly tweaked American Idol Also, I ship it hard.

Fireworks is a standalone Young Adult contemporary romance.The narrator is Dana Cartwright The book is told in 1st person POV.The book starts off in 1997 in Jessell, Georgia Dana and her best friend Olivia are 18 and have just graduated high school Dana lives with her mom and they are very poor Her mom is a drunk who is never there for her Olivia is in an opposite situation She comes from a loving family and they don t struggle with money the same way Dana and her mom do.Olivia has been performi [...]

When I read Katie Cotugno s books, How To Love and 99 Days, I instantly fell in love with her writing style and the home y and cozy worlds she built I couldn t help but compare this book to her previous ones, and realize how to different it was and not exactly in a good way.What I realized was how important Dana and Olivia s friendship was in the story But here s the thing what we got was a recap of a couple of memories showing how close they were are I personally didn t see anything special in [...]

Quick review for a progressive read Katie Cotugno s Fireworks was a struggle for me to read in places, but in the end, I m glad I read it, especially considering the turns it took in the story The ending was bittersweet and not quite the impression and direction I thought it would go given the beginnings of the story Yet even saying that, I ll admit I struggled to hold interest in the novel for a while The story is told through the viewpoint of Dana, a young woman stuck in a small town with a mo [...]

Initial Impressions 6 1 17 and full review as posted on The Book Addict s Guide 6 5 17 3.5 starsHeads up, talking about specifics so there will be SPOILERS This book wasn t quiiiite what I thought it would be and that was okay but there were things that just didn t quite fit I liked Dana a lot but it never really felt right for her to be a part of this pop star world I feel like it would have been a little different if there had been an expressed interest in singing before she took Olivia to her [...]

I picked up this audiobook because I had heard great things about this and I wanted a cute fun contemporary for my long roadtrip Good news it was cute and fluffy and I did enjoy most of it Bad news is that I didn t really like the ending and I m very much sick of the romance in this I didn t like the main friendship ESPECIALLY because of the ending Like I am still mad that Olivia just took the tour and disappeared WHO DOES THAT

Originally posted on Super Space Chick Personal Thoughts As I may have definitely mentioned, Katie Cotugno is one of my favorite contemporary YA authors In fact, she s definitely in the top three I love her words to pieces so when I heard that her newest novel would be set in Orlando in the 1990 s during the boy band craze, I couldn t possibly be on board And the cover And the endpapers While Fireworks didn t end up being my new favorite of her s the number one spot still belongs to How to Love [...]

Having just graduated high school, Dana is faced with a bleak future a lousy home life in a dead end town When she tags along with her best friend Olivia for an audition for a new girl group, no one is shocked than Dana when she s chosen Now thrust into a new situation with girls who are hungry for fame, Dana finds the bonds of friendship tested in ways it never was before I was excited for Fireworks because 1 I really enjoyed Cotugno s 99 Days and 2 the 90 s setting screamed nostalgia I was we [...]

Actual Rating 3.5 starsI loved Katie Cotugno s other novels They re about teenagers in uncomfortable, polarizing scenarios Like cheating or teenage pregnancy They are stories about love and forgiveness They make you think hard about what it would be like to live in their shoes and wonder how you would deal with the hardship.Fireworks is nothing her other books And I was disappointed It felt less complex It lacked the uniqueness or something I wasn t as emotionally invested in the characters I st [...]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight This one gave me a pretty serious case of the sads I really liked the author s last book, 99 Days, and was therefore super eager to get my hands on this one Plus, as a child of the 90s, I was psyched The characters in this book were a bit older than I was then yes, yes, someone somewhere is older than me so I expected lots of 90s shenanigans I got not much There were a few references, mo [...]

So this was strictly a nostalgia read for me, although I m sad to say the surprisingly few references to mid late 90 s pop culture weren t nearly enough to salvage what ended up being a disappointing read on multiple fronts.Let me start with what I did like The 90 s vibe It was nice seeing references to Alanis Morissette, TLC, and other popular artists songs I listened to in high school and college Cotugno s writing style Simply put, I like it A lot Unfortunately, I disliked just about everythin [...]

Ah, I love Katie Cotugno Her stories have such a bittersweet quality to them They never quite end how I expect them to Dana always felt stuck within her small town routine Olivia, her best friend, was the one on the path to success, not her But after being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or perhaps the right place at the right time, Dana finds herself along side Olivia training to become Daisy Chain, the next big girl group With no prior experience in singing or dancing, however, Dana beco [...]

More like 2.7 stars

I d loved Katie Cotugno s stories in two different upcoming anthologies, but hadn t read one of her books before Great look at how perceptions of talents affect friendships, as well as a cute romance

This was SO GOOD Full review to come.

Actual Rating 4.5 Full review to come on Books Are My Fandomcloser to release date

To see review with Sabrina the Teenage Witch gifs click here.Note I DNF d this one at about 60 pages It was stale as old bread and predictable Cliche filled I was really hoping this would ve been a nostalgia trip to the 90 s but it wasn t Instead, it really could ve been in 2017 save for the fact we re not getting five million references to social media Which was nice because I often roll my eyes when authors decide to hide Twitter with Chirpy or whatever and Facebook by MyFace or whatever It s [...]

If you are of a certain age where you remember The names of various members of Backstreet Boys, N Sync and 98 Degrees The euphoric feeling of unwinding after school with Carson Daly and MTV s TRL counting down the hits of late 90s early 00s boy bands on Top 40 Radio s Top 8 at 8 and or the name of Lou Pearlman, the shyster Orlando based manager of several aforementioned bandsthen do I have the book for you Hint It s this one right here Fireworks author Katie Cotugno is one of my favorite YA writ [...]

Have to give a quick opinion Fireworks started out as a fun easy read with some ups and downs It was a bit underwhelming but overall I enjoyed the vibe I just really did not like the ending at all I suppose it s realistic but it just messed up my mood I m sorry I can t make much of this review I would say just read it and make up your own opinion about it