Title: FortuneAuthor: Megan Cole
Published: HarperCollins Children's Books (July 8th 2010)
No. of Pages: 402Grade Rating: B-
Fortune tells the story of three very different girls – Madison from New York, Simonetta from Rome and Sapphire from London – who all receive mysterious invitations to the 50th birthday of Brad Masters, billionaire record executive. But what could the girls possibly have in common? The truth shocks them all, and turns three strangers into something much closer and more dangerous – after all, family make for the deadliest enemies...
Most of all, though, Fortune is something totally new in the booming teen romance market. So it's time to wet our lips and unashamedly embrace the glitz and glamour of the snogbuster.
Fortune is a glitzy, glossy read certain to be gracing poolsides this summer. Combining first love and the lives of three of filthy rich daughters of one prestigious billionaire, this debut read is perfect for a lazy day at the beach. Best served with a fancy cocktail.
Upon arrival, I clutched this book in both hands and counted down to the perfect summer day until I could finally begin to read. With backstabbing, billionaires and boys, where could this book possibly go wrong? The truth is, it did go wrong in quite a few places. Fortune replicates the life we all want for ourselves with lashings of designer clothes and private islands thrown in for good measure. Fun, scandolous, girly reads are admittedly my forte so I was dissapointed when Fortune fell rather flat. It's a good escapist read not to be taken to seriously that you could happily throw in a beach bag and dig into whilst sunbathing. But don't be fooled by the gorgeous cover; Fortune had its flaws.
Fortune wasn't very well executed. It could have benefitted from alternating chapters between the three main characters: Madison, Sapphire and Simonetta. The third person narrative was very choppy. At times, you didn't really know who you were meant to be focusing on as the direction of character focus shifted at the start of a new paragraph. Although Madison and Simonetta were described often, Sapphire was the main female protagonist and generally the nicest. Even though most of the attention was on Sapphire, you never really felt any connection to her because of the way the book was written. I would have liked to have ventured into the mind of Madison on more of a regular basis as some of her plans and thoughts must have made for good entertainment. If there had been first person narrative, you would've felt a deeper connection to the characters and there emotions and as Simonetta was very aloof, I didn't feel like I knew her very well.
I don't feel as if Fortune brought anything new to the table. As it was described as the start of generation (massive overstatement by the way) I was expecting something that was never really there. The speech between the characters felt forced and unrealistic and the pace just moved too quickly. Cole told you about all of the glitz and glamour taking place but I never felt immersed in that luxury lifestyle.
Despite my mixed feelings, Fortune is still a carefree summer read that is good as long as you don't over-analyse it too much. I still found myself laughing and gasping along with the plot but hopefully this isn't the best book that I will read about the life of the rich and famous.
7 comments:
This one got me interested when I first saw it on Goodreads - it sounds like such a fun summer read, but I have to say I've read a LOT of mixed reviews. I actually haven't seen a review where somebody really loved the book.
Maybe one to put on the backburner...!
Aw, that is disappointing. It look like a fun, fluffy read.
I did really like this, but it's interesting to read your review and see where we differed on it. I haven't read anything like this before, so for me it was a one off and I loved the escapism and the easy-to-readness of it all. I actually might look out for some more light hearted 'scandalous' reads, having read this one. Any suggestions? :D
Sad to see it'd didn't meet expectations. It sounds like it could have been a good, deep read. Maybe I'll pick it up when I'm looking for something light...
Kerleisha @ Collegiate Bookworm
I didn't really like this. The narrative style annoyed me to death.
Leanna - I reviewed it and loved it, LOL :)
Taking the good with the bad I think I would still give it a try
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