Amaterasu Reads: Review: Fanfare by Renee Ahdieh

According to smart, headstrong heroine in this book, Cris:

"Love is not supposed to be convenient or easy all the time. Love is all-consuming and irrational."

People who've been burned once tend to avoid the file, and people who've been hurt by love fear it. It's the same case with Cris. And this is her story.

Title: Fanfare by Renee Ahdieh
Pages: 240
Release Date: May 31st 2011
Published by: Revolution Publishing
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon

Summary (from Goodreads):

Cris Pereira hates starring in a cautionary tale. Alas, her recent heartbreak relegates her to this unbecoming fate. The only good thing about being dumped a foot from the altar is the newest layer to her punchy sarcasm. All she wants is a do-over, but this is not your average fairy tale, and wishes don't come true in the real world. One Sunday afternoon, she meets a movie star. Tom Abramson is intelligent, charming, and impetuous. In other words, he plays the role a bit too well. She isn’t falling for it. She knows better. All British men are not descendants of Fitzwilliam Darcy, and movie stars are genetic mutations gone awry: X-Men with statistical disadvantages and emotional handicaps. Keep your knight in shining armor. A modern girl can rescue herself, thank you very much. After all, dreams are for the foolhardy, nightmares are just a part of life, and . . . this is not your average fairy tale.

Cris was trying to recover from a failed relationship. She thought Ryan was the one, but he left her for someone else. And now Cris thinks love is some sort of capitalistic thing to do.After her experience with Ryan, she had some interesting theories about love, and she wasn't about to delude herself that love will come her way anytime soon again. But it did, in the form of handsome Thomas, or Tom. The only problem was, Tom is an actor. A very popular one at that.

I've felt the easy going vibe in this story as soon as I started. Cris has a lot of things to say when it comes to relationships, most of which are things we should also think about. I love just how much I can relate to this. Though Cris comes off as a cynical, bitter person at the start, she was just being honest. She struggled moving on from her relationship and that was no secret. Despite the horrors and the hurt she had experienced, Cris for me is strong, she had no qualms about saying what's on her mind. Sassy is a word I'd use to describe her. She had this fire in her that can't be crushed even by the jerk who dumped her.

She was like a breath of fresh air for Tom. I think movie stars do crave some sort of normalcy with the chaos of their lives and Cris seems to be at the right place at the right time for Tom. It was amusing to read how the chasing was done by Tom and Cris was fending him off. She was being real. How often do you get to talk to movie stars, let alone have them call you and tell you that they like you? Cris was trying to convince herself that wherever her relationship with Tom was heading, it was wrong. But they just have this chemistry when they're with each other that you'd just think they were meant to be.

Also, Cris had such amazing friends. I loved Hana and Gita! They can be brutally honest but they had the the right reasons for doing so and their genuine concern and love just warms my heart. They also give great advice. And I wonder sometimes how they can sound so wise. They make me appreciate my friends more. You know they're always there when you need them, those late night phone calls and endless conversations about boys and relationships or just life in general.

Though I loved Cris in this books there were times where I just want to give her a slap or two or maybe a good shaking because sometimes SHE was the problem. She was so afraid to let Tom inside her heart and that fear just makes everything hard not just for her but for everyone around her. And letting Ryan back was so wrong. Very very wrong. Because him coming back means bringing up all the bad memories Cris had with him, confusing her. Which makes me think how Cris was all sassy when he wasn't around and seeing him just turned her into the person she was before. It was ridiculous but to be expected.

Tom is such a charming, patient guy and for me, he doesn't deserve the hurt Cris brought him in her moment of weakness. And he sounds very different from what you'd expect a celebrity will be. He seems so down to earth! I think I might be too deluded with my fantasies of celebrities all living glamorously. Tom's a great testament that sometimes, celebrities are just like us. But it was pretty interesting to see Cris cope up with Tom's life as a celebrity.

I am such a fan of happy endings, so you can just imagine how much I loved it when the people I think should be together end up with each other, which is why I loved this book more. Happiness comes to those who let it come to them, and that no matter how many times we might fall or get hurt, let's get up on our feet, try to learn as much as we can from it and move on with our lives for the better.

Fanfare provides great insight about love and relationships through Cris' experiences. Readers will pick up a lesson or two through the character's experiences and thoughts. Fanfare has such dynamic characters that will immediately catch the reader's interest, a great love story, and fantastic moments that will make us love every minute of reading it.

Content (plot, story flow, character):

Great story, Renee!