Unrivaled
Written by Alyson Noel
Narrated by Kyla Garcia
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël comes the first book in the Beautiful Idols series. With mystery and suspense, fans of Sara Shepard, Kimberly McCreight and E. Lockhart will love Unrivaled.
Everyone wants to be someone. Layla Harrison wants to be a reporter. Aster Amirpour wants to be an actress. Tommy Phillips wants to be a guitar hero.
But Madison Brooks took destiny and made it her own a long time ago.
She’s Hollywood’s hottest starlet, and the things she did to become the name on everyone’s lips are merely a stain on the pavement, ground beneath her Louboutin heel.
That is, until Layla, Aster, and Tommy find themselves with a VIP invite to the world of Los Angeles’s nightlife and lured into a competition where Madison Brooks is the target. Just as their hopes begin to gleam like stars through the California smog, Madison Brooks goes missing. . . . And all of their hopes are blacked out in the haze of their lies.
Alyson Noel
Alyson Noël is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including the Immortals, Riley Bloom, and Soul Seekers series. With millions of copies in print, her books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have made numerous international bestseller lists. Born and raised in Orange County, California, she’s lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan and is now settled back in Southern California, where she’s working on her next book. You can visit her online at www.alysonnoel.com.
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Reviews for Unrivaled
22 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is the first in a trilogy, centered around three young adults trying to make it in Hollywood. When the man who owns the biggest clubs in the city puts on a contest to find his new club promoter, Layla, Aster, and Tommy can't resist the chance to realize their dreams. But when Madison Brooks, the most popular starlet around, disappears, the three find themselves sucked into a mystery that may just be of their own making.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This surprised me. In a good way!Opening Sentence: Despite the crush of tourists storming the sidewalks year after year, Hollywood Boulevard is a place best viewed behind a pair of polarized lenses and lowered expectations.The Review:I didn’t have very high expectations from this book but Noel surprised me with her captivating writing and absorbing characters. The story begins with a mysterious kidnap of a high profile celebrity. Then the story goes back to events that led up to the kidnap. Before the ‘event,’ an odd bunch of teenagers enter a competition as nightclub promoters for the infamous Ira Redman. As Tommy, Aster and Layla compete against each other, the reader is trying to figure out who kidnaps Madison because almost every single character, not just the MCs, in the story is somehow linked to Madison. The question is, who has the strongest motive?Aster, Layla and Tommy were interesting choices as the main characters. At first I thought I would like Layla the most because of her biker chick / edgy personality but the competition brought out the worst in her. Like Mateo predicted, she got sucked right in and her search for a story to further her career in journalism ended up in Layla being very cruel and selfish.Still, ignoring the mean girls was never an option. It hadn’t worked then, it wouldn’t work now. Girls like Aster had a loud bark, but Layla had a sharp nasty bite. Aster would be a fool to underestimate her.Out of the three, Tommy was probably my favourite because I felt sorry for him. He had awful people skills and started off as the weakest of the entire competition but then exceeded everyone’s expectations, including his own. My only frustration was that I kept expecting his secret to be exposed but nothing ever happened. There was so much build up but no explosion.“What’s up?”The question was simple enough, but Ira chose to turn it into a moment. An awkward moment. Or at least it was awkward for Tommy. Ira seemed content to just stand there, his gaze fixed like he was assessing Tommy’s right to exist.Aster was a weird one. In her search for fame she discovers the harsh consequences that come with it. I didn’t think she was capable of feeling much but turns out that appearances can be incredibly deceiving and who was a better example of that than Madison herself. Madison appears to be the perfect A-list celebrity but the reader gets to see that Madison is cloaked in secrets. The author gives tidbits here and there but I couldn’t help wonder what Madison’s enormous secret was?Aster gnawed the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit she’d yet to cure herself of. “You’re not going to ask for the soul of my firstborn child or something, are you?”Layla rolled her eyes. “Why would I want your illegitimate mistake?”Aster sighed. The girl was a nightmare.I wasn’t convinced that this book was for me when I first started reading but the events soon pulled me in. It wasn’t a gripping read as such but it was certainly engaging, hence the 3.5 stars (rounded up). More likely than not, I will continue this series…Notable Scene:Madison hadn’t become Hollywood’s hottest young celebrity by hoping, wishing, or depending on others. Discipline, control, and steely determination steered her ascent. Although the media loved to portray her as a frivolous party girl (albeit one with serious acting chops), beneath the salacious headlines was a young and powerful girl who’d seized control of her destiny and made it her bitch.FTC Advisory: Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins provided me with a copy of Unrivaled. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.