UNRIVALED – A BEAUTIFUL IDOLS NOVEL by ALYSON NOELL :: REVIEW

First book in a thrilling suspense trilogy about how our most desperate dreams can become our darkest nightmares.

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Reviewed by Gitte & Jenny

“Just how far will you go, to get what you want?”

We absolutely love this Author and have a soft spot for her from our memory of inhaling her Evermore series years ago during our paranormal binge. So when we saw Alyson Noël had a new series out, we grabbed Unrivaled. This is book one in the Beautiful Idols series and it could not have been any more different to what we were expecting, whilst this deflated us a wee bit it did not mean we didn’t enjoy it for what it was. It was very in your face and almost like car crash TV. Unrivaled is one of those books you hate to love, in our opinion. It’s full of arrogant and unlikable characters and reads like a reality show full of arrogant and backstabbing people- some spoilt and rich, some bored and indulged, others chasing their dream. It was a bit of a hot mess but we could not look away. Think Gossip Girls and the childish, selfish dramatics of High School with a menacing twist and you’re there.

‘…the whole freaking world read it – it’s all anyone’s talking about.’

So, our main players are: Layla, Aster, and Tommy. Each have their own POV and backstory. Layla is a Blogger of celebrity gossip, but really she has aspirations of moving to NY and becoming a respected journalist. Her boyfriend Mateo was a star for putting up with her. He sounded lush and we would’ve gladly taken him off her hands. Aster is a self-indulgent cow. Sorry, but we disliked everything about her. There were no redeeming qualities and the woe is me act did not work with us. As for Tommy, he didn’t harbour those petty and ugly characteristics and he could have easily made revelations to change the game, however at times he was quite the weak character…

‘Where the contest was concerned, they were all puppets in his twisted theatre, with Ira yanking the strings.’

Now, for the game, basically these three characters find themselves invited, amongst other players, into the glamorous world of the Los Angeles’s nightlife. Each given the task of night club promoter for several of the enigmatic Ira Redman’s clubs. The aim is to make the assigned club the most successful and luring the famous Madison Brooks to frequent it.  A huge cash incentive is used as bait. However, is all as it seems??

“In the world of nightclubs, the younger, the hotter, and the more famous your gets, the more points they’re worth…Each week, the promoter with the least points will be eliminated, while the promoter with the most points will earn cash to spend on marketing and party planning for their clubs. The promoter with the most points at the end of the summer wins.”

The biggest mystery of them all; Madison Brooks, the latest IT Girl with her own secrets. Even though we got her POV we were only given snippets of secrets, power plays and hints of something sinister. It was all very clandestine and cloak and dagger so we are dying to find out what happens next….

“Impress me. Dazzle me. Wow me. But whatever you do, do not disappoint me.”

We can’t deny that this story intrigued us, especially as we came to realise how dark and creepy it was really turning out to be. The beginning thrilled us and the end had us riveted, so it was a shame that the middle let it down a bit by being quite slow and uneventfully repetitive. However, saying that – we will definitely continue with this trilogy as it had a delicious what the @%$£ ending!

3.5 Stars