| Title | : | Between You and Me |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1439188181 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781439188187 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 |
| Publication | : | First published June 1, 2012 |
Twenty-seven-year-old Logan Wade is trying to build a life for herself far from her unhappy childhood in Oklahoma. Until she gets the call that her famous cousin needs a new assistant, an offer she can't refuse.
Logan hasn't seen Kelsey in person since their parents separated them as kids; in the meantime, Kelsey Wade has grown into Fortune Magazine's most powerful celebrity. But their reunion is quickly overshadowed by the toxic dynamic between Kelsey and her parents as Logan discovers that, beneath the glossy façade, the wounds that caused them to be wrenched apart so many years ago have insidiously warped into a show-stopping family business.
As Kelsey tries desperately to break away and grasp at a "real" life, beyond the influence of her parents and managers, she makes one catastrophic misstep after another, and Logan must question if their childhood has left them both too broken to succeed. Logan risks everything to hold on, but when Kelsey unravels in the most horribly public way, Logan finds that she will ultimately have to choose between rescuing the girl she has always protected . . . and saving herself.
Between You and Me Reviews
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Nope. Can't do it. Won't do it. I made it to 160 out of 288 pages and disliked everyone; some for being patently unlikeable (the parents of both Logan and Kelsey, the on/off boyfriend) or for being a complete milquetoast pushover (Logan).
I should've realized that this wasn't a book for me when the plot of the book reminded me of: A. The Nanny Diaries which I also disliked and DNF'd and B. Was an obvious, uncomfortable "interpretation" of the life of Britney Spears.
Pass. -
This book has left me utterly flabbergasted, I don’t know if I will be able to form a coherent review, it was such a raw, achy, and a heartfelt read. The entire time I felt like I was in an intense tug of war between the two main characters; Logan and Kelsey, being yanked one way one minute and then the other way the next.
Between You and Me centres around Kelsey, a famous singer and cousin to Logan. Logan and Kelsey haven’t spoken since they were younger and Kelsey’s family abruptly left. You’re never really clued in about the back story behind their fallout until much later on, so you kind of find yourself picking up little clues along the way. Being a massive star, Kelsey’s schedule is choker block and with her assistant Delia leaving and a chance invite brings Logan to stay over, Logan finds herself taking Delia’s job, she had barely anything left back home anyway and she missed Kelsey not being in her life anymore, so she’s hoping this job will make up on the missed time.
It wasn’t the dream job being Kelsey’s assistant, she never had a moments rest, and she was constantly on the go. At times I truly felt for Logan, yes she was family but she didn’t have to feel obliged to Kelsey, or feel like she had to do everything. There was constantly so much pressure travelling from city to city in a few days, organising everything to miniscule detail, it must have been a mind numbing experience for both of them. I’m surprised the cracks didn’t start to show sooner.
Then there was Finn, who seemed to be the perfect guy for Logan, with the crappy love life she’d had she totally deserved her time with Finn, but their relationship was tested to the extreme with Logan being at the constant beck and call of Kelsey.
There’s just so much to take with Between You and Me and the choppy style of writing through the book makes it a lot harder to adjust to, one minute you’re dealing with Kelsey having a tantrum and the next you’re thrown into a scene a few days later. It did take a while for me to get my head around it, but the characters especially Logan pulled you into the story so immensely that you overlook the choppiness and just want to keep reading.
I still can’t explain what I feel about this book, on the one hand I want to recommend it to everyone as it’s such a dark intense and achy book and it deals with everyday issues in such a brilliant way which makes the book seem even more realistic. But then there were some aspects which left me frustrated, like some of the decisions the characters made. One thing for sure this book definitely packs a punch, it just toys with your feelings in an instant, you can be feeling one thing one minute and then bam you’re shocked into a silence the next.
Also normally endings which are left open ended generally irritate me, but I liked the way this book was brought to a close, everything’s not hunky dory, but your left to make your own interpretations of what happens to the characters.
I have to praise Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus’ writing in this book, I adored their book The Nanny Diaries, it was an enjoyable read which I devoured, but this is just a huge step-up from that. I’ve come to realise that some of the best books end up being the ones that keep you awake at night rethinking things, its constantly in your head during the day, with you recapturing parts which you actually can’t believe happened and just simply blew you away. Books which end up being so memorable, that your thoughts are completely chaotic afterwards. I’m sorry but this may be one of the most jumbled reviews I’ve ever written, this book was so gutsy and gut wrenching that I would never be able to explain just how awesome it was.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this book.
This review and more can also be found on my blog: The Readers Den -
I felt as if I was at the epicenter of a name-dropping universe with Rachel Zoe, Jessica Lange, Zoe Deschanel, Elton John, Annie Leibovitz, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Kanye, and will.i.am to keep me company. And locations as diverse as Los Angeles, New York City, Rome, Munich, London, and Stockholm to help me in my travels.
Needless to say, BETWEEN YOU AND ME reminded me of some sort of alternate universe with the Wade family bringing new meaning to the term dysfunctional family. If there was ever a family that could make the Lohans and Kardashians look good, the Wades would lead the parade with trombones, saxophones, and trumpets in tow. Let’s start with Andy and Michelle Wade who treat their only daughter Kelsey like some sort of moneymaking machine, redefine crazy, own her like she’s property, practically kidnap her, and yank her marionette strings hard enough to dislocate both shoulders and seriously realign her miniskirt. Kelsey, on the other hand, is a train wreck filled with enough nuclear devices to blow up Russia. And she takes uncommunicative to a whole new level even with her cousin Logan, showing she can be both spoiled and self-absorbed in equal increments. Her concept of reality may be a little skewed, but she can thank her extremely screwed up parents for her current predicament.
This novel made me thank my lucky stars that I’m not talented enough to be in the entertainment industry. From fame whores to assembly line interviews to back-to-back-to-back tour dates to conservatorship contests to telephoto lenses to unfeeling parents to attention-seeking doctors and ridiculous lawyers to stairwell sex, this novel had it all, and not always in a good way. But, in the end, nothing is as bad as it seems, especially if you can pop a few Vicodin.
I received this book for free through NetGalley. -
I started out thinking it was a light, easy read. Listen to the big buzzer. Definitely not what I thought it would be but definitely much more meaty than I had anticipated.
What the story achieves is allowing the reader into the world of the rich and famous without all the glitz. Of course, there is glitz, but I found myself thinking about this novel for days afterward. Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jackson, and so many other stars trying to transition into the adult and also normal world have so many more walls to punch down.
The gist of the story is that Logan Wade is Kelsey Wade's cousin. Although once inseparable, tragedy struck, there was a hospital stay, and Kelsey left to L.A. and became famous. The tragedy is not the main story although it explains a lot about the relationships when Logan finally remembers.
Kelsey and Logan haven't seen each other in 15 years. Their fathers no longer speak and Logan's mother would never approve. Now Logan is Kelsey's assistant and gets a first row seat in the world of paparazzi, magazine pic spins, slander with no recourse, and the ultimate stage parents who push and push their child who is no longer a person but a multi-million dollar vehicle. Logan watches as Kelsey grapples with the idea of love, marriage, being accepted for who she is not what she can do.
Logan is not a strong protagonist. In fact, she's kind of slutty. This is not a YA book. There is a lot of sex, a lot of strong language, and a lot of adult themes. That said, the book is not without merit. I found it thought provoking and disturbingly probable. -
This book is very obviously loosely based on Britney Spears' life (or what the authors think Britney's life is), which I wasn't aware of when I started it and would have avoided because who wants to be depressed like that? However, once I realized what was happening, I was already invested in finding out what happened in the story, so I kept on keeping on.
The premise was interesting and fairly timely given our obsession with celebrities and all of their head-shaking mistakes (Lindsey Lohan comes to mind). But the history behind Logan's rift with Kelsey and her family was both foreshadowed too much and not enough. I knew there was something behind the curtain, but then I was kind of like "...huh?" when it was finally revealed. The writing was choppy and sometimes the authors would just randomly decide to skip to another scene with nary a transition to be found. I also never felt like I really got to know any of the characters or feel much sympathy for them, which in Kelsey's parents' case was a good thing because they were some of the most unsympathetic characters I've ever encountered. By the end of the book, I wanted to put Kelsey out of her misery and physically remove Logan from her own story. Or slap her. There were those urges, too.
I loved The Nanny Diaries, but something about reading what I felt was a thinly veiled allusion to a real person's life kind of gave me the heebies. That coupled with the weak writing and meh characters had me rushing through the last parts of the book until I thankfully got to the (WTF-y) end. -
I love to read books that initially come across as light material, a summer read so to speak, but by the end I find it has changed my way of looking at the world. Between You and Me starts off as a look at the excesses of being a young, mega-successful pop star and slowly turns around to a deeply moving statement about the unquenchable thirst the public has for celebrity, and cost in real lives that has. You will not look at the tabloids quite the same way again after this book.
Much like reading Curtis Sittenfeld American Wife and thinking Laura Bush the whole time, if you are like me you will not be able to separate the pop star of this book from Britney Spears. It is the story of a young girl thrust into stardom with her controlling parents, to begin a journey on a runaway train called fame. It doesn’t matter how much you wish for normality the minute you step off it seems that ride will be gone forever. So you keep on to keep on until ultimately something just breaks inside of you.
It is easy to sit back and watch the TMZ style news and pass judgment on the celebrities, thinking to ourselves “Well I would be different if I was famous.” But we are not famous and we can not imagine what that pressure and loss of privacy is like. I kept coming back to Craig Ferguson’s impassioned monologue at the height of the Britney meltdown. The notion it doesn’t make us good people to attack the vulnerable.
They say if you truly want to understand another person you should walk in their shoes a little while. Between You and Me allows you do that, at least for a little while, for the young and famous. One of my favorite quotes is from a Henry B. Eyring speech, “When you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, and you will be right more than half the time.” We should not be so quick to judge others, especially people we know nothing of substance about. -
Remember a few years ago when Britney Spears dumped her husband, shaved her head and lost her mind? Remember how the courts instated her father as her legal custodian, rendering her - the mother of two children - a child with no rights? Did you ever wonder what was really going on in the Spears home?
When you read Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus's engrossing book Between You and Me, you might get some answers.
Logan Wade is twenty-seven and struggling to carve out a happy life for herself in New York. She has a high pressure job, a handful of friends, and shares a shoebox of an apartment with another girl. Her boyfriend seems more interested in sex than a relationship. So when her cousin Delia asks her to come to Los Angeles to surprise another cousin, Kelsey, Logan decides to make the trip. But Kelsey isn't just some girl living in LA. She's KELSEY WADE, world famous singer and performer, and she and Logan have not spoken for over a decade.
Kelsey is tended to by Delia, as well as her parents, Andy and Michelle. As the story evolves, we learn that Andy has had substance abuse problems and that while with him, Michelle and Kelsey, Logan was in an accident, the nature and circumstances of which come to light later in the book. Neither Kelsey's parents nor Logan's are happy with Logan's visit, and Logan herself isn't sure it was a smart move. She barely sees Kelsey. In fact, the highlight of Logan's trip is meeting cute guy Finn in a bar and later rocking the headboard with him at his hotel.
But then Andy fires Delia, and Logan is there, and there is a job opening, so Kelsey makes an offer: stay here and work for me. (Later, Kelsey is offended that Logan views this as a job; Kelsey believes Logan is just "there" for her.) Almost before she realizes what she's gotten into, Logan is booking hotel rooms, securing rental cars, helping Kelsey select interview outfits, coordinating Kelsey's schedule, and even drawing her bath for her. But it's a giddy life, being so close to all of that fame, and Logan enjoys it. Sure, the paparazzi are pests, but to be a part of something like Kelsey Wade and to reconnect with her cousin - that's alluring for Logan. Meanwhile, she keeps up her correspondence with Finn, who has an interesting job himself.
What I liked about this book was, well, pretty much everything. I enjoyed seeing how difficult it is to separate yourself as a daughter versus a boss to your parents and how insulating that life is. If you want to know what a personal assistant to a major star does, this book walks you through it. When Kelsey talks about wanting romance, you feel for her. She doesn't have normal relationships, and, after a while, neither does Logan. Through Logan, we see Los Angeles for the perversion it is:
From this vantage point of relentless comparison, I've come to find L.A. disorienting in its proportions, the women having paid more than I can comprehend to look like cartoon caricatures. I wipe my spicy fingers on a cocktail napkin as the producer holding "auditions" in the white leather wing-back returns with his stack of eight-by-tens. If tonight is typical, a stream of nervous beauties will swap out in thirty-minute intervals, their vulnerability palpable. I wonder what his method is.
At its heart, Between You and Me is about family. How do we define ourselves within our families? What happens when one relative - your best friend - becomes a superstar? What happens when it's your daughter? Should family work for family?
This book also is about finding yourself, and Logan has to undertake that quest. But - and here is where I'm going to have some spoilers, so look away, kids. LOOK AWAY IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ ANY SPOILERS. You can scroll down to below the dots to pick back up. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Okay. So Logan sets out to figure out what she wants out of life, but does she? How much of what happens to her is voluntary? In fact, my beef with this book is a big one: why does it take Kelsey firing Logan for Logan to get out of a very toxic (no Britney pun intended) situation? Does Logan learn nothing? Does she grow at all? I know that Kelsey paid for Logan's college tuition under the guise of a scholarship, so perhaps the intention is for Kelsey to be the wiser person in this relationship. She sees that Logan needs help, and she knows that Logan can't get out of her own way.
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This is an entertaining, engaging book. I really enjoyed Logan, up to a point, and I adored Finn. As for Kelsey, she made me think about poor old Britney Spears. Did I judge her too harshly? Were her mistakes her own, or were they the result of her trying to have some autonomy?
And now I'm going to go listen to "Lucky," a Britney song about a girl who seems to have gotten what she wanted, but did she really know what she wanted in the first place?
Published on
cupcake's book cupboard. @VivaAmaRisata
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview. -
Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus follows the career of Kelsey Wade through the narration of her cousin, Logan. Logan hasn't had contact with Kelsey for years and suddenly is flown out to be with Kelsey and instantly becomes her assistant. Kelsey is loosely modeled after Britney Spears - the meteoric rise to fame, dysfunctional family, controlling parents, and spectacular meltdown and fall from grace.
Between you and me, Between You and Me was all over the place and not much was good. The writing is good. McLaughlin and Kraus are good writers technically. The story itself jumped over facts and transitions that would have made the plot more credible. Why, after being estranged from her cousin and her aunt and uncle for years, would Logan, who supposedly has a MBA, drop everything to become her assistant. Why would she tolerate the treatment Michelle and Andy, her aunt and uncle, dished out to her. They are both domineering control freaks.
The bottom line is that I didn't like or connect with any of the characters and Logan's behavior, in most ways, actively annoyed me. It also reminded me why I need to stay away from chick lit. Setting the lack of morals and inability to set healthy boundaries aside, Logan's promiscuous behavior is dangerous today.
But I did keep reading to discover what the big secret was that caused the original estrangement between Logan and Kelsey's family. Once I had that answer, truthfully I no longer cared, beyond wondering, which I had been doing long before the big reveal, why Andy was even allowed in her life. And why the media hadn't released that story years before.
Between You and Me has too many holes in the plot development and too many implausible actions by characters for me to recommend it unless you are a Britney Spears fan and want to look for the similarities between her career and Kelsey's.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of via Netgalley for review purposes. -
Awful.
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Between You and Me has one of the most unique introductions to the main character that I have ever read. We are introduced to Logan as she is participating in a spinning class, and trying her best not to collapse. As the chapter progress we find out she lives with her friend Charlotte and has a sort of boyfriend who doesn't always turn up like he says her will. This is shown during her birthday party, where she spends most of the night waiting for him to arrive, when she finally gives up and makes her way home he arrives, only to end his visit quickly. By the time Logan gets home she has a message from her cousins assistant inviting Logan to come and visit. Logan wastes not time in accepting the offer and soon finds herself on and aeroplane flying to her cousin. The time spent in her cousin's house at first is completely different than her life in New York and although she likes it, feels disappointment at lost years between Kelsey and her family. This is more obvious as she peruses the family photographs. Upon meeting her cousin, Kelsey, things are not what they seem and Logan soon finds herself being hired as Kelsey's assistant
I loved getting to see life on the road and the amount of detail that went into each show. I can not imagine the research that went into just writing these parts alone. Although I am very organised I doubt that I would be able to do that job. The amount of meetings, and organising hotels for every single person was all left for Logan and although you could see the crack begining to show she holds it together amazingly well.
As Between You and Me progresses you get to see the strain it causes, not only in the relationships between kelsey and Logan, but also between parents of both girls, love interests and it soon breaks apart and crumbles before your eyes. You can see it happening, and even though you expect it to, it still leaves you shocked and speechless at how far things are taken.
I have never read any previous books by either of these authors and I found myself really enjoying Between You and Me. The characters, even the famous ones, are believable and I found myself feeling sorry for both Logan and Kelsey at various parts in the book. Logan has been thrown in at the deep end yet somehow manages to keep her head above water, whilst Kelsey has had a somewhat sheltered upbringing and isn't ready to be thrown into real life. When it all starts to fall apart at the seams, even though you knew it was happening you didn't want it to actually happen, and all I could do was sit and read about how they try to make it better. Although we don't get to see exactly what happens with Kelsey, we do get a glimpse into Logan's future.
I really enjoyed Between You and Me and I will definitely be looking at more books by these great authors. -
I am a fan of the authors' other books including the Nanny Diaries. So I was super excited when I saw that they had written another book together.
The version I read was not the finished product (so I'm not sure if any changes were made). But in the version I read there were a number of instances when the book jumped time from paragraph to paragraph. For instance one minute someone was talking about going to London. And the next paragraph out of the blue they had been there for 2 months. I don't mind so much that the story had to jump ahead. But I need a new chapter or something.
The story was good for the most part. I did enjoy the narrator Logan. Twenty-seven year old Logan Wade had made a life for herself in NYC. But then she got a call to be her cousin Kelsey's assist (she was a famous popstar). They hadn't seen each other since they were kids. So the story revolved around Kelsey's crazy lifestyle. Although there was some romance for Logan too. Also Logan was in a mysterious accident as a child. And she spends the book trying to uncover exactly what happened to her.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book in New York City. And I also enjoyed when Logan arrived in LA. It was interesting to see a glimpse of the popstar lifestyle. I even sort of liked Kelsey. She was definitely troubled. I loved Finn. I think the most controversial characters would be Kelsey's parents (Andy and Michelle). Whoa! At times they were merely overprotective. But at other times they seemed manipulative and really mean.
The book ends with an epilogue where instead of finishing the story we had a letter detailing some of what had happened. I can't decide if i like this or not. I liked the idea of the letter. But i would have also liked actually seeing the events transpire.
Also in this book we have Logan's life. And Kelsey's life. I just did not feel at all satisfied with the story arc for the latter. It just wasn't really a satisfying ending.
I've seen a lot of people have mentioned the Britney Spears connection to this story (that it seemed Kelsey was loosely (or more) based on her). I'm definitely glad I didn't know this before i read the book. And I do totally see the connection.
I think if people like Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus' other books then they should definitely give this book a try. It was definitely an interesting read.
Thank you to netgalley and Simon & Schuster, Inc. for letting me read this ebook. -
FULL REVIEW AT
Talk Supe
The story had no resolution, I can't even say the ending was a cliffhanger, it just fell of the cliff.
There were a couple of funny interludes and the writing isn't that bad. The character interactions were OK and since the story is familiar, the scenes that played out were convincing enough. I'm disappointed because aside from the names, the story obviously isn't original. I find it hard to believe that this is a COLLABORATION! How can TWO PEOPLE came up with this and agreed to make a story out of it?! -
I really liked this book! It was fast paced and wasn’t anything I have read before! Summary: Part 1: Logan is at an early morning bike workout hungover. It’s her 27th birthday. She lives in New York but is from the Midwest. She knows her mom isn’t happy with her daughter’s life. She’s has an on again off again relationship with Jeff. Roommate is Charlotte (met through friends) and later that night Logan isn’t having fun at her party. While leaving, she runs into Jeff and they kiss. He doesn’t go in the cab when they leave. Her cousin, Delia, Kelsey’s assistant, calls and she and Kelsey want to meet up with her. Kelsey is a really famous singer but her latest single isn’t as popular. Logan and Kelsey’s dads had a fight and that’s why they don’t see each other. Logan agrees to meet.
Part 2: Logan becomes Kelsey’s assistant and she learns about the crazy life of celebrities. Kelsey tours Europe and they go to parties, have commercials, and have drama. She’s super busy. Logan’s mom calls many times and after a few weeks learns what her daughter has been up too. She doesn’t like it. Logan meets a guy named Finn and they go out a few times but nothing happens. Kelsey’s parents randomly leave without telling the girls, so Logan has to take care of everything for Kelsey. They come back after a bit and say they needed a break. Kelsey has a panic attack while filming a commercial and Logan has a flashback. Kelsey met Aaron in the States. She also hangs out with Travis but nothing happens between them. A scandal/tabloid is made about K and A. K’s parents are furious about it. During an interview, K announces she’s engaged to A. Everyone is stunned.
Part 3: Logan’s back in LA planning the wedding. At a bar she meets Mark, an event planner and they kiss. Later Finn brings food and they talk. The next morning Logan’s mom calls and says a publicist called her. It could be Mark. She and Logan’s dad don’t want to attend the wedding in 3 months. She remembers her daughter having tubes coming out of her while Kelsey’s parents were Bedazzling their daughter. She judges Andy for his drinking and smoking. Logan explains he isn’t like that anymore and she should consider coming. Logan doesn’t know how but the next thing she knows she is on a plane reading a direct quote from her mother in a magazine. Logan apologizes for her mother. It comes out that Aaron sold drugs to 16 year olds when he was 16. Kelsey’s parents are pissed. When Logan can’t sleep she talks with him and he says he loves her and that he’s changed. L believes him. Kelsey comes out and they chat. She’s stressed. Kelsey gets Married to Aaron in a small ceremony but it costs a bunch and everything is rushed. They go to Hawaii for their honeymoon and Logan stays with Finn. L remembers K leaving and riding to her house I her bike. Her dad staying behind but then left too. L’s friend calls and thanks L for the wedding gift. L couldn’t attend due to K’s wedding. L finds K in shock because she’s pregnant. L to the rescue to find a new house to live in after the tour is over. Andy worries about K continuing the tour. While having sex with F, we learn Andy ran L into a tree when she was 13. She knew she had been in an accident and hadn’t seen her aunt and uncle until this year. K’s having a girl and announces she wants to move to Oklahoma. Then near Christmas L finds her talking on the phone buying a house. K’s parents will live with her, but her mom doesn’t approve. L’s having odd and intense dreams. Aaron goes to get Christmas decorations and is moved by fans and paparazzi. Thugs are better between L and K; L just doesn’t want to be the last to know K’s plans. Aaron’s singing career isn’t going so well so he goes to record an album in London. K’s baby comes early and L remembers when she was a patient after the accident. The baby’s name is Jessie and she gets many gifts from famous people including K’s exboyfriend. Aaron’s single drops but everyone hates it. Jessie has colic and the tabloids try to claim K as a bad mom after she runs in a gas station to pee. Her mom wants K to put J in a Gap ad but K refuses. Her mom says she loved the contests when she was little but K says she loved it because she got away from her dad. For their anniversary, A and K have a photo shoot that is a disaster. Later at the party, K becomes engorged. Finn is drunk and gets in a car accident. K has a panic attack when they get home. Her mom thinks she’s drunk. L prays everything is going to be okay. L wakes up and calls her mom saying she doesn’t remember there being an accident. She claims her mom is a liar. A is about to leave for his album and he and K are fighting. He wants to work and not live on K’s income. He’s mad they couldn’t hang out because of her leaking. A leaves for a month and doesn’t have much contact with K. She has L take home divorce papers so he’d come him but he has a petition suing K for Jessie.
Part 4: lawyers get involved and when the custody agreement is finalized A gets to have J every Wednesday and every other weekend. On her first night with A, a nanny comes to pick up J. K goes out to forget everything that’s going on. K continues to go out on the nights J is away. She meets rude friends. K’s mom and L are looking through old photos for an event when L needs to drive her to a party. After the party, Finn and L find K sobbing with a cop. Cocaine was found the the vehicle K totaled it). Aaron reopens the custody case. K needs to have a new single and when she performs she’s drunk and makes a fool of herself. Eric, K’s ex boyfriend sees her before the show. Delia is there and is working for Fergie. She had talked to Andy and said K would break if she kept going the way she had. Her label also dropped her. K avoids all paparazzi. At the house, the nanny takes care of J. K and L notice the parents have been there and they learn they are helping Aaron get custody because of their daughter’s partying. K can’t let go of this like all the times her mother had a black eye. She fires them and gives them 1 day to leave. L talks to Finn and he says she should leave. While at a hotel, L finds K in the bathroom having a panic attack. K has gone crazy and asks L to leave. L considers it. While at dinner with F, news breaks that K had sexual relations with a guy. L is pictured. L needs to get to K, but F doesn’t think she should go. She leaves. L arrives to a swarm of paparazzi at the Wade house. Andy, Michelle, and a doctor are with K. He has been diagnosed with bipolar like her father. Andy announces it to the press. K is scheduled to have an observation day. On the way, K stops to by new shoes and has a panic attack. They go to Disneyland and when feeding her, K goes crazy. The social worker calls the police and while K and L lock themselves in the bathroom, L remembers Andy throwing her up against the tile wall when she was 12 and K having a panic attack in real time. Andy says he thought L was K.
Part 5: L, Andy, and M go to the psych unit K is on in the hospital, but can’t see her. A few days later K has a hearing and she’s given temporary conservatorship to her parents. At a ranch in the middle of nowhere, K is adjusting to her meds and isn’t doing much. When K gets up L sees a chain with Delia’s photo. When K learns her parents are there she wants to explain to the judge she fired them. Andy explains he freed her from the hospital, and K says L knows everything about his past. When he asks if she’s rather go back to the hospital than stay there, she leaves. L visits F and learns he’s moving. He can’t understand how she can stay with K’s family. He was jealous at first but now he’s glad he doesn’t have to deal with the craziness. Everyone moves back to the Wade house but K wants to go to her own. Her parents sold it. Jessie may be coming. Terrance is excited for the new music. K is slow when rehearsing. L calls lawyers. At a family dinner, Andy demands L stop calling the lawyers. L believes they she ask their daughter what she wants, and she’s going to tell the court about what he did to her. For the past 2 years, L has been trying to think he’s a changed man but he hasn’t. L knows K is damaged because of them. A has a document for L to sign but she doesn’t. During the middle of the night K wants L to stop trying. K knows doing what A wants will get Jessie back. She wants L to sign the document. L apologizes for not being perfect, and K fires her. L wants to know that K will be okay and K will let her know. L drives home and calls Delia. She informs her about K wearing the necklace and regrets inviting Aaron on tour and making him get a job. Delia says K paid for her tuition to live her life so she should live it.
Epilogue: a letter to Logan from her mom. It explains she feels badly for for the way she handled things after she found out L was working for K. She always thought she preferred M when she was younger. She judged and sulked. She and her dad didn’t want to lie to L and she thought things when get easier when the Wade’s left. She feels she failed her daughter. L’s best friend left her. She’s been in awe of K for her strength. She’s willing to go see L when L is ready. -
I was a little behind on The Nanny Diaries. I didn't watch the movie until about two years ago and didn't read the book until after that (this was backwards for me as I'm normally a read-the-book-then-watch-the-movie kind of girl). It's really unfortunate that it took me so long to get around to reading Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus' first novel because that meant it was awhile before I discovered how much I enjoyed their work. Because I did like the two Nanny books I was very happy to have had the chance to read their latest, Between You and Me, before it was released (thanks NetGalley!). It was really enjoyable and had a great storyline.
There are all sorts of secrets in this book that are slowly revealed, one by one. You think you have an idea of what happened but it turns out you really don’t. I liked that there was a build up and that the secrets weren't all given away at once. I can't say I was totally surprised by any of the revelations but they were still unexpected. For example, I knew something awful had happened between Andy and Logan when she was young. Because I was waiting for the explanation I wasn't shocked but it was still a surprise to find out exactly what happened. I hope that makes sense! Long story short - I really liked how they revealed the many secrets in this novel.
I have to admit that I wanted a different sort of ending. Everyone seems to end up as they should and there’s a resolution but it’s done in a way that left me wanting more. The epilogue is a letter to Logan from another character (I don't want to give anything away so I'm not telling you who that character is). While it lets the reader know what happened to some of the other characters, I wish I had had Logan's final thoughts. I think I would have rather seen her end up in the destination she obviously ended up in (how's that for vague), reading the letter there, and that be the end. I do really like the letter though as it shows an acceptance of Logan and an explanation from this particular character.
Part of the fun of this book is a sort of behind the scenes look at a pop princess' breakdown. Remember Britney Spears' meltdown? This is reminiscent of her spiral down to Crazytown. It was so sad to see this pop idol crash and I had the same feeling while reading this book and learning about Kelsey's story (and yes, I loved Britney when I was young and will still sing along to her songs today). At the same time, it was really neat to see what "really" happens with these types of situations. Sometimes you forget that the people who are on those tabloids are actual people with real problems, just like us. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.
Overall, I enjoyed Between You and Me. There are all sorts of things I can talk about - the family relationships, Logan's romantic relationships and what she had to learn from them - but I think I'll just tell you all to get a copy of this book (you can probably find a ton of giveaways right now as the book is being released tomorrow) and read it yourself. I think you'll enjoy it just as I did! And lucky for me, I have a copy of Dedication to read as soon as I can fit it in my reading schedule! :) -
Other reviews at
The Book Babe's Reads. Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.
Honestly, the most that I took away from Between You and Me was the fact that I didn't particularly like it. Sadness doesn't even begin to describe how I felt about the familial relationships in this book - it doesn't even begin to cover it at all. I can't imagine having a family that only wanted you because of what you could do for them, which is what Kelsey has. And to tell you the truth, I feel so so bad for her, and I don't even really know how she feels about it - because her cousin Logan is the main character, and there are no alternating points of view.
Logan runs the show, and to be honest I really didn't like Logan. Not to say that she was unfeeling or anything... but girl was a little cold! Not to mention the fact that she had terrible taste in men, only thought about herself, and completely abandoned her immediate family... let's just say that we wouldn't get along.
I just didn't like her. On top of being unfeeling and cold, she was also incredibly dense. Like the kind where you just want to be able to hit them over the head with information - that's how I felt about her.
To make matters worse, I really couldn't follow along with the story very well. There was a lot of skipping around, coupled with unneeded drama. There's no scene where Logan gets hired to be Kelsey's assistant - first few chapters she's just staying there, and the suddenly she's the assistant. I don't understand how we made the jump, honestly. The "fractured memories" didn't even come up until 3/4 through the book, and it was just for added drama. It didn't add to the story in any way - in my opinion, of course.
I feel so much for Kelsey for some reason, but I can also say that I don't particularly care for her personality. She does what she's told, and anything that she does by herself is remarkably immature, because she's been sheltered for most of her life. She behaves like a teenager. Her problems & quasi relationship with Aaron do not bring that up. She still behaves like a teenager. She lets her parents control her without ever fighting for it - and they suck. They push her so hard. So hard. Everything has to be perfect, and if you're sick it doesn't matter sweetie... we've got you covered. This girl is on stage 24/7, and it's obvious that it's starting to wear on her. The more the book progressed, the more I just felt horrible for Kelsey - who is, again, not our main character.
The ending was terrible too - nothing was resolved, and that was what I was counting on. Now I still have no idea what happened, and to be honest I don't really care anymore. It just... ended. All in all, I really didn't enjoy Between You and Me. I would recommend giving it a shot if you enjoyed The Nanny Diaries. -
Have you ever wondered about what life is really like for a pop star ? What effect it can have on families ?
As the saying goes "Fame and Fortune Comes with a Price Tag" . That saying rings true in Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin's new novel "Between You and Me".
Years ago, cousins Logan Wade and Kelsey Wade were inseparable , they were like twins. Where one was the other was right there beside them . They thought nothing could ever separate them but little did they know that a moment in life can change things for almost forever. Kelsey Wade went off to star on talent show "Kids Incorporated" , this reminded me of the hit show "The Mickey Mouse Club" which saw to the beginnings of singers like Christina Aguilera , Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake. As one thing lead to another, Kelsey became more and more famous and eventually became a top Pop Artist. As Kelsey became famous though, her parents became more dominant and Logan was left on the sidelines. The pair went there separate ways keeping in touch when they could only to eventually cease contact. That is until now, five years have passed and Delia - Kelsey's assistant has contacted her to let her know that Kelsey wants to see her. As the tale progresses we read as Logan is pulled into a world of fame, fortune and the paparazzi. However, it isn't too long until Kelsey starts to spin out of control and Logan is the one to pick up the pieces. When things start to hit boiling point , can Logan walk away before she too becomes entangled in the drama and spotlight and has lost herself or will she find that enough is enough and that in order to save herself , she must separate from Kelsey's life once and for all.
Between You and Me reminds readers that behind closed doors, more often than not the life to Fame and Fortune is a rocky one and that Childhood stars are the ones that can get hit the hardest as they have to learn to grow up too quick.
As Madonna quotes in the introduction " When she was six , she lost her mother . When Michael Jackson, was six he became a superstar. He was worst off , at least Madonna still had her childhood" -
Fuckkk this book was a disappointment. I wanted something dark and emotionally messy and revelatory. I wanted a book equivalent of crying in a bathtub and instead I got a book equivalent of someone jerking their thumb in the direction of the bathroom and saying, "Uh, I think she's crying in there."
About 30 pages from the end, this book starts to become what it should've been - and at that point (225 pages in), it's just incredibly too fucking late.
Here's what I wrote halfway through, which remained relevant up until the end:
I’m about halfway through this book. It’s been bothering me and I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m bothered, and I think I finally figured it out tonight.
Logan Wade, cousin and assistant to a Britney Spears-pastiche named Kelsey Wade, is an unlikeable female protagonist accidentally. By that I mean, Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin don’t seem to want her to be unlikeable, but she is. I define unlikeable protagonist as something who you don’t necessarily “enjoy” spending time with, but they make you feel. Logan doesn’t make you feel. Logan is also a whiner. So far, I’ve read 119 pages of Logan going “UGHHHHHH” over and over again. She’s the sound and the fury of “UGH,” so far signifying nothing.
I deeply love “unlikeable” female narrators. I love them because when done well, they capture the kind of deep emotional truth that the best lies (fiction) produce. I love them because it’s like they’re my mirror/my mirror staring back at me.
Logan doesn’t want to be unlikeable, she doesn’t want to mirror me. She’s a superficial mess; her mess is superficial because it’s vague. Boys don’t text her back! Her roommate sucks! There is no texture, just gloss.
I share almost no biographical details with Shelia Heti’s selfcharacter in How Should A Person Be? or teen sex-haver Myra in Tamara Faith Berger’s Maidenhead or even fucking stubborn-to-the-point-of-unlikeability Katness Everdeen, but those women and girls make me feel something deep, something visceral, something other than the sound of “UGH” ringing in my ears. -
I quite enjoyed this novel. This isn't my typical type of book, but like I said, I was in need of a lighter read. The characters in this novel were bratty, but I liked them (for the most part) anyway. Logan is whiny and Kelsey is spoiled yet kept under her parents thumb. Add the fact that they are all family- Lo included- and then toss in the ridiculousness that is fame, and you've got a fun and engaging read. The authors wrote a fairly convincing story, especially all the aspects of fame and overbearing parents. Kelsey is completely controlled by her parents. McLaughlin & Kraus did a great job drawing out that codependent relationship and really showing the underbelly of dysfunctional (famous) family dynamics. They also played up the mysterious scar that Logan has on her head quite effectively. It was woven in throughout the story, and as we read on we uncover the darkness that lies within the Wade home. This novel is both easy to read (and something I could categorize as 'fluff') and has some deep undercurrents. It shows the nitty gritty of life as an assistant; as well as a peek into the life of the rich and famous. Between You & Me also highlights the "typical" cornerstones of young, rich, and famous: sex, drugs, and partying. On a parting note- I was reminded of Britney Spears and her fall from grace when I was reading this. Maybe it is because I grew up around the Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, NSync, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees era, but it seemed almost painfully obvious that they were tearing bits and pieces from those late 90s early 00s pop stars lives. Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It was easy and fun to read. It just felt like a summer read. I liked how it was light and airy but at the same time gave me pause. This is definitely a warm weather beach read.
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Audiobook Review:
I've just recently started getting into listening to audiobooks, now that I have a longer commute to work I have more time to be able to listen to them and this is only the third one i've listened too, but I really enjoyed it. The narrators voice was easy to listen too and easy to follow. If I don't like a narrators voice I sometimes feel it's that much harder to get into a story, but that wasn't the case with this audiobook at all.
Between You and Me was really good, and if one things for sure It made me never want to be famous (or in least not in the spotlight). Kelsey is a pop star, her cousin Logan is just an average girl, but devastating events tore them apart when they were younger, and only years later after a surprise phone call to Logan, from Kelsey's assitant Deliah, do they start to reconnect. Circumstances lead to Logan becoming Kelsey's new assistant and is taken on the ride of her life through the ups and downs of fame, fortune, and the perils of paparazzi.
This book sparked a lot of different emotions in me. At times I was laughing out loud, other times my jaw was hanging wide open in shock, other times i had tears in me eyes. Emotionally it had its highs and lows, but overall I really enjoyed the story. I liked the characters and although Kelsey wasn't super-relatable as far as her career goes, I felt personality wise she was easy to connect too, she wasn't a whiney, concieted, spoiled brat of a celebrity, but a normal girl wanting to find love and start a family of her own. If you like audiobooks or want to give them a try, I would definitly suggest this one to you guys, it's a fun, sometimes sad, othertimes down-right hilarious adventure of a book. -
In essence this more or less mirrors the story of Britney Spears with the exception of a few minor details of course. That isn't really an important factor, because it could be the story of any child star with a certain level of celebrity.
The interesting aspects of this story were how we as a society believe that we own public figures. Singers, actors, stars or any type of public figure. Society believes they have a right to know every single detail about them at all times. The media provides the fodder for the feeding frenzy.
I don't believe any person should be subjected to that kind of scrutiny. We do not own public figures even if they choose to live their life in the spotlight. They have a right to their privacy and to not have assumptions made about their characters or rumours produced about them to sell articles.
In the fame game this is often the Achilles' heel. You need the media to make you a star and then the media becomes the weakness that can bring you down in one foul swoop.
Anyway I digress.
Aside from the basic mainframe of the plot the storyline and interaction was very over dramatic and in some scenes didn't make a lot of common sense.
There was a very good lead up to why both main characters are connected to and feel responsible for each other. The solution or crescendo was realistic and made sense from a behavioural point of view.
But...
What happened after the great awakening didn't really gel well for me at all. No real confrontation or change in attitude. Everyone just carries on like before.
How very depressing and disappointing.
The story reminded me of a Jackie Collins minus the naughty scenes.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley. -
I'll skip right to the chase: I give Between You and Me 2 stars and I put my ARC into the recycle bin after finishing it.
I'll skip a plot synopsis; the Goodreads synopsis sums it up really well.
So... Between You and Me is basically a very thinly veiled, barely fictionalized retelling of Britney Spears' life in 2007. (That's the year she shaved her head, etc....) The entire book I kept thinking "this is it; this is the alluded to "unraveling"" and then... wait for it... two pages later Kelsey makes an even more stupid decision. That's the book. Bad decision after bad decision after bad decision. No one is happy. Everyone is falling apart at the seams. And Kelsey seems bent on self-destruction. I kept asking Logan why on earth she kept sticking around when everything was so obviously wrong. Of course, she's a book character and couldn't answer me. Not like she'd have a good, sane reason to give me anyway.
Between You and Me got 2 stars because I do think there's a limited audience for this book. It was well-written enough and there are teen girls out there who thrive on drama and celebrity. And, crazy enough to think about, a lot of teen girls would barely be aware of Britney Spears' ultimate train wreck so the plot might feel fresh to them.
I also appreciated how the authors gave us just enough insight into Kelsey and Logan to make us like them a little; make us kind of want to root for them. At least pity them. But ohmygoodness the bad life decisions! I just can't get over it.
If you are a teen who is blissfully unaware of Britney Spears' 2006-2008 train wreck and you thrive on drama and celebrity and People magazine, I recommend this book to you. -
Logan has just celebrated her twenty seventh birthday. It was not anything to really cheer about. Logan kind of has a boring life. This probably would explain why she does not think twice when she receives an offer she can not refuse. Logan's cousin, Kelsey is a celebrity. She is going to join Kelsey on tour as her assistant. Logan will be in for the ride of her life.
I was intrigued to want to read this book. When I read the words Britney Spears, I admit that caught my attention. This book did not keep my attention. I wanted to like it more than I did. I probably could have liked this book better if most of the other characters did not rub me the wrong way or were more exciting. Logan started out a mouse but by the end of the book she had grown into a woman. Kelsey, I actually felt sorry for. I did not expect to as I thought she was going to be protrayed as self-centered but she bleeds like the rest of us. She was lost in a world of purple haze. For anyone who thought being a celebrity assistant sounds like fun, than you should check out this book. It is not all fun and games. In fact it can be a thankless job. The only real perk that Logan got was that Kelsey was her cousin and she did meet a nice guy. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus do make a good duo. They write seamlessly that I can not tell where one ends and the next one picks up the story. -
I liked the concept of this book a lot, but the execution could have used some work. Girl's cousin is a Britney Spears-like singer whom she hasn't spoken to since they were kids due to an incident that Girl can not remember. Their other cousin is Britney's (not her name, but I'm gonna use it for here) assistant and invites Girl out to LA to visit. Girls life is going horribly bad so she accepts. Cousin gets fired and Girl takes over her job in a matter of days. The story is told from Girls point of view and pretty much everything that happens to Britney, really happened to Britney, so if you are in the know, I am not ruining anything here, except for some minor changes, which are hardly worth mentioning. There is a guy involved with the Girl, but I didn't care about that. It seemed like things happened from out of nowhere, which I guess is how they happened to the real Britney? I don't know, I was out of the loop for most of it. Also, the reason the cousins didn't see each other for years comes out, which was kind of lame. I don't know, I didn't like that part too much. I just didn't like the format at all for this book, I wish it was fluffier, but oh well. Meh for what it was.
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This is one of those books you get through quickly. What looked like typical pseudo-real fiction with lots of brand name dropping turned out to be a fair bit deeper.
Your mileage will vary on this, of course, and you may not get past the first chapter. I mean, the main character is positively annoying at first. But you slowly get a sense as to why she is that way, and why her world is the way it is. I really loved the ending, and felt like it was a good way to come full circle with everything. I've seen some complaints about the big looming thing in the characters' history being something of a letdown; personally, I think trauma is trauma, and it doesn't have to be particularly flashy to have an impact.
They could have fleshed things out a bit more in areas, but then, it wouldn't be as smooth of a book to get through. The point is to get through it quickly, I think. No problem in that. Not all books are Literature, after all.
Basically this is a good summer read with some thinky bits, exactly what I needed at the time.
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You can think of Between You and Me as a fictionalized, compulsively readable account of the life of Britney Spears - complete with a Justin Timberlake character, a (more sympathetic) Kevin Federline character, and a cringe-worthy public downward spiral. As a long-time Brit Brit fan who gobbles up tabloid magazines with zero guilt, I thought Between You and Me was fascinating.
At its heart, it's the story of a dysfunctional family - a famous pop star and her abusive, manipulative parents - and how they use fame to avoid dealing with their problems, causing much bigger problems as a result. The pop star - Kelsey Wade - is the one who suffers the most and who falls hardest. Kelsey's cousin and best friend, Logan, is along for the ride and watches desperately as Kelsey does herself in. Although I think the authors borrowed a teensy bit too much from the Book of Spears, Between You and Me was really interesting, sad, and - ironically - pretty genuine. -
Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
This is a story of Kelsey who has now become a rock star and her cousin Logan. She does come to visit in Hollywood and gets to see how Kelsey's life is-so different than her job behind the desk in Oklahoma.
When it becomes apparent the assistant is not going to work out Kelsey wants Logan to work for her and she accepts. We travel with them and the details are so well described that I felt like I was there with them.
All the little details come out and I especially liked the path near her house and what treasures they find there.
There are many family problems along the way..and some secrets should not be told.
I received this book from Net Galley via Simon & Schuster, Inc. Atria Books in exchange for my honest review.
