Member Reviews
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Disney Book Group for providing this book for review.
My granddaughter and I both read this book and we both really enjoyed it. While there was a lot about reality TV, as the whole family had a series about nothing but themselves, both of us were impressed by the author's convoluted thinking. It was easy to figure right off that no one had died, but trying to figure out what really happened was difficult. Liked Bentley character so much, not sure about the others. ASA was just too convenient with the perfect connections. Still, we both enjoyed the book very much, except the notes were irritating in this format.
I'm not sure if I just had the wrong expectations for this book, but I didn't even make it through two pages before quitting the book. I did not expect it to be told in what appeared to be news stories and a book being edited, and I just didn't have the time or patience to try to make sense of it. I do however think this book has an audience, but it just wasn't me.
I didn't love the story and I struggled to get into the story. I do think some of my students might enjoy it but it just wasn't for me.
I really wanted to love this book, but I just liked it. I wanted more over the top camp from my reality TV stars. I did really like Bent and was pleasantly surprised that she was not a diva. I think this novel will appeal to readers looking for a light, fun story.
This was one of those light reads that helps you keep you mind off of your work. If you like reality television, then you will get a kick out of this book. Have you ever wondered what the Kardashian is like when the cameras aren't around? Have you ever wondered how much of a reality show is actually scripted? This book shows "behind the scenes" of a fictional reality television show family. It also has a little mystery.
An interesting satire in the world of reality tv ala the Kardashians. Good plot twist I did not predict for a change. I was a little annoyed by the footnotes (and I usually am in any ebook) but in regular book I am sure it will work better.
I was given an advanced copy from the publisher via netgalley and this didn't not effect my opinion in any way.
I enjoyed this book a lot. The plot was super intriguing and unpredictable. I kept trying to predict what happened or was happening but I'm afraid I was clueless. It very much reminded me of a good Agatha Christie mystery in that regard.
Confusing at first. The more one reads, the more one understands. Hilarious at times. Students laughing over the duck scene.
With a sassy front cover and labeled as a "laugh-out-loud funny romp with an LA noir twist" I thought whats not to love when I first requested the galley. Honestly this book was full of klunky, mindless dribble and held characters that made me want to beat my head against a table. The story is supposed to be a satire towards reality TV but just isn't funny. If this is supposed to be the new direction of YA books, I think I am officially too old to read them now.
The Royce family is famous for being famous. Their reality television shows and product lines mean the difference between fame and obscurity, which of course, isn't an option. Bentley, the younger daughter, has aspirations of college and her future despite her show persona. With the next season on the line, Bent feels that everything rests on her shoulders to preserve her family.
This story took a bit for me to get in to, but after I got going, I enjoyed it. I found the production notes extremely distracting especially in the beginning and eventually just skipped over them. They showed up in the middle of sentences and thoughts. I was surprised by the twist at the end, but I am not the best as figuring out where the story goes. There were certainly a lot of misleads. Maybe the production notes that I skipped would have tipped me off. They just didn't make a lot of sense.
This book is very much a jab at reality tv culture. It's also a mystery. The book starts by saying the MC is dead. So while reading the past, you're trying to figure out what actually happened. At times it's entertaining, but ultimately a bit confusing.
Royce Rolls is about Bentley Royce (yes, all the characters on this show are named after cars...) who is part of her family's reality TV show. It's currently fighting against a reality show about ducks (think a cooking show mixed with Duck Dynasty) and losing. So the Royce family is trying to come up with something to boost their show's ratings. Bentley wants out of the reality TV life but to save her family, she must save the show.
I think my favourite thing about this book was the amount of satire and the format it was written. This book is written with footnotes from the director of the show, showing how much control there really is. I didn't find the footnotes all that useful or fun, but it just adds to the atmosphere. I did like that there were excerpts of a playbook that the main character had to follow. On her show, she had a character that she had to follow and there is a guide for it. There are also pages of a blog that is posted and the tweets of the characters are shown. Ultimately, it does create a really good atmosphere.
Some of my other thoughts:
-I did find the plot twist to be a bit unbelievable. Didn't see it coming (yay) but you get to that point and you're like, seriously? I went through all of that for this?
-I did like seeing this world unveiled in a novel. It has the drama that you want in a YA contemporary novel and reality TV. But at times, it was a little over the top, which was the point, but still.
-I'm the kind of person who loves books based on characters. I found these characters hard to like and hard to dislike so I found this book a bit bleh.
If you are looking for a dramatic novel that makes fun of reality TV culture as well as a book about family, pick up Royce Rolls.
Margaret Stohl has been a big name in our library in the past and I was hoping for a strong comeback with this book. Stohl did grasp the concept of the reality television world and interpreted it to her readers quite nicely. It was fast paced, cut throat, and a constant barrage that kept Bentley moving throughout the novel. Unfortunately, like reality television, it was cut up and often had too much going on at once. The first chapter, for example, was very hard to get through as we had no idea what was going on or who the characters were. It was very muddled and vague. I liked the characters and the storyline, but simply could not get over the style that the book was written in. In the past, I have had other novels with similar layouts (i.e. e-mails, texts, short hand text) and they simply did not check out. Unfortunately, I cannot take the chance with this one.
This book was different than what I was expecting. It took me a little bit to get into the storyline, but it was enjoyable once I did. Felt like I was getting to peek behind the scenes on reality shows and the productions. The characters were entertaining and could fit perfectly into the current reality shows.
When I started reading this novel, I didn't think I could read it. The format was frenetic like the life of reality shows and a world immersed in video. Then, I decided to give it a chance, and I am glad did. We are living in a world of "alternate reality." This book explains the inner workings of the reality show and its stars. The family in this novel is named after luxury cars. The youngest, Rolls, wants a normal life and escape her life formulated by her "bible." ( Through her, I can understand the Trump phenomenon, which is not what I had anticipated.). The novel takes us to her decision to either stay inside the insulated reality world or to break with it and go on to a world of her own making. This is a very good book.
The premise of this book is intriguing, and at first, the format reminded me of Libba Bray's "Beauty Queens" (which I loved). However, reading a digital copy of this book was difficult because the pretend-producer's comments were never aligned at a good place for me to easily flow between the main text and looking down at those footnotes. I like the idea of Bentley's rebellion against her wacko family, but I felt that it could've been trimmed down in several places. The plot and Bentley's personal thoughts ended up being somewhat slow and repetitive. Good concept, but needed paring-down to keep me focused and engaged.
Fast, fun read! This is a quick peek into the world of reality TV with a smart, young girl trying to figure out how to live her real life - and get her life set for after the cameras stop rolling. I think it's perfect for it's target audience, as it's exactly like watching one of the current crop of Disney films for young teens. A smart, witty, flippant main character, clever plot and dialogue, ultimately with more depth than you might think. The "editor" comments throughout were alternately humorous or distracting. But overall, this is a very nice story with a good message about what is really important in life. Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Books for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars!
I really wanted to like this book because I liked the premise. However, the opening dialogue was difficult to read. Can't see many of my 5th & 6th graders wanting to continue on or understanding what is going on. I tried to continue, but lost interest myself. Would probably work best for older students.
This entire book is essentially satire and I loved it!
Mind you, I was unsure of this book, as I am the sort of person who'd arguably rather gouge out my yes than watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Which this book is literally a parody of.
But Royce Rolls is self-aware of that, and makes fun of its self for it essentially. Which means I enjoyed it immensely.
The book is funny and witty, and mixes tropes and parody from a bunch of different reality shows in a way that comments on and makes fun of them.
The book is told in a mix of email/news reports and Bentley's first person POV. Literally mixed media. The over-arching story keeps you on your toes, and there is twists that I didn't see coming, I love seeing the way things unfold when you're not expecting it to be as hardhitting/intelligent as it actually was. It is more than dumb comedy.
The characters and the romances are all great, and I didn't see the ending coming at all, which was good.
I will say that it got bumped down to 4 stars because the ending felt a bit like it was getting ahead of itself, it confused its own timeline a bit, and didn't address some of the things it brought up (ex. why a certain someone left home in the first place).
Other than that, I thought it was a fun read. I recommend it!
I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it! The characters were fun, the whole premise was deeply entertaining, and the little touches were spot on. I had so much fun just being along for the ride.
BUT. I honestly couldn't give you an accurate timeline, even right after I put the book down. I couldn't tell you exactly what happened, let alone when or how. As much as I enjoyed the process of reading this book, I thought Stohl did herself a massive disservice with just a few too many plot twists and time hops.
For the life of me, I still can't decide if I would recommend this book. I think that means the answer is no.
Sigh.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a bit hard to get through since it was way over-the-top reality tv in LA, and I felt like several situations were forced/ laid on too thickly. However, the last 25% of the book made up for the first third. You find out later how many layers of planning go into the reality tv season 6. The romance part was hard to buy, but the ending was cute. Though the protagonist was 17, I would recommend this to preteens/ tweens age group.