Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
3 Stars
Celebrating their 10th Anniversary, Atria Books hosted a “Galley Alley” where they sent copies of their newest titles to bloggers, booksellers, librarians and others in the industry. I chose to receive Between You and Me, the newest book from Nanny Diaries authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus.
Living in New York City, twenty-seven year old Logan Wade has been trying to distance herself from a difficult childhood in Oklahoma. When she gets an unexpected call asking her to fly to Los Angeles to spend time with her famous cousin she hasn’t seen since the two were children, she jumps at the chance. Since they last saw each other, Logan’s cousin, Kelsey Wade, has become a pop singer and is one of the world’s most powerful celebrities. After becoming Kelsey’s new assistant, Logan soon finds that due to the tension between Kelsey and her parents, memories of the past and the pressures of celebrity at a young age, Kelsey’s life isn’t all that glamorous. When Kelsey’s life publicly unravels, Logan must decide whether to stand by the cousin she’s missed for so long or save herself and any normal semblance of a life she may have.
Although Logan is the main character of the story, most of the plot surrounds her cousin, Kelsey. This book is basically the novelization of the Britney Spears breakdown: Kelsey has a typical Hollywood marriage leading to a painful divorce; she has a child at a young age and because of her immaturity and career, she can barely care for her; her parents are overbearing and want to control every career move; the paparazzi constantly follow her and misinterpret her actions. All of these factors lead to Kelsey’s emotional breakdown after which she is placed under the conservatorship of her parents. (Sound familiar?)
Meanwhile, Logan is in the background (although she is the narrator), supporting Kelsey and trying to help make the right decisions for her. But we barely get a glimpse into Logan’s life except for a few missed phone calls and emails from family and friends and an awkward romantic relationship with another celebrity’s assistant. Logan seems so consumed with managing and fixing Kelsey’s life that she misses out on living her own.
A big theme in this book is family relationships. We find out early on that the reason Logan and Kelsey haven’t seen each other since they were children is because of a dramatic falling out between Logan’s parents and Kelsey’s. A deep friendship between the young Logan and Kelsey is alluded to throughout the book, but I never quite saw any evidence of that connection in the present day. It seemed a little strange that Logan would drop her entire life in New York and move across the country to be the assistant for a cousin she hasn’t seen or communicated with in years.
Despite McLaughlin and Kraus’ past writing success, this book just isn’t put together as well as it could be. I felt like important parts of the plot were skipped over, leaving holes and questions.
While I did enjoy this book (it was an easy read for my Thanksgiving break), I felt like the plot was lacking. Being that I noticed so many parallels to public celebrity breakdowns, I was a little disappointed in the lack of creative thinking on the authors’ part. And having a main character act more like a secondary character seemed like a bit of a backwards way to tell a story.
Between You and Me was published in 2012 by Atria Books. I received a copy of the book from the publisher.
