Review – It’s Up To You, New York by Tess Daly

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Holly Collins is stunningly beautiful. She spends her days fielding phone calls from angry customers at the ‘Vitaslim’ call centre and dreaming of a better life. When her best friend, Meg, hears about a new Top Model type television show called Street Scout, she tries everything she can to get Holly spotted. Holly is soon thrust into a world of glitz and glamour, but are the people surrounding her all they seem to be? And when Holly finds herself having to deal with devious contestants and problems with her personal life, she has to decide whether the life of a model is really what she wants. For fans of Tess Daly’s debut The Camera Never Lies, I’m sure that her latest instalment won’t disappoint. It’s full of the same glamour and sparkles, and depicts the material world of modelling vividly. It’s clear that Daly has drawn on her own experiences and used them to create a world that is believable. The book did take some getting into. Initially I liked Holly – she’s stuck in a dead end job that she hates, but is eager make a change and pursue a real career. While I enjoyed her drive, she eventually became a bit of a wet blanket. This was further heightened by the fact that her best friend Meg was so bold. I had hoped to read more about Meg but unfortunately she didn’t have a plot line of her own. As the book progresses we see Holly tackle her feelings towards her unsupportive boyfriend and question, numerous times, whether she should be part of Street Scout. But I never had much empathy for her; there were plenty of opportunities to make her seem a lot less superficial, but they were never taken.  The most appealing aspect of this book is that the modelling world seems accurately and vividly portrayed. If that is something you are interested in then you might enjoy this. But I’m afraid that, for me, the underwhelming protagonist let this story down.  6/10 MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK