OVERALL SERIES:
3.5 stars — I had both high and then low expectations for this series, and I came out with solid, but had so much potential to be better.

The biggest problem for me was that in binging the series, there were waaaayyyyyy too many tiny little discontinuity details that I picked up on. Unfortunately, my brain snags on shit like that, and while these authors tried to get some main facts straight, there were other parts that were different from book to book and it drove me crazy. Not just that, but in some books some of it was completely unrealistic to the point I had a bit of trouble suspending my disbelief.

They really needed a series editor to go through and make sure that the characters felt true in each book (it was pretty good, but Ryder in particular wasn’t always what I expected after his own story). And then to make sure that the basic logistics of the tour stayed consistent throughout. For example, in Ryder’s book the author had them sleeping in the *dressing rooms*…which is a) not done (hello, they’re usually locker rooms); and b) not consistent to the hotels/bus sleeping arrangements in the other books. It was done to help the plot, but surely the author could have figured something else out.

I know most readers probably won’t even notice that stuff, but for me it was aggravating because I can’t help it. Ah well.

AIMEE AND THE HEARTTHROB:
This is the one book I had read previously in this series, but it had been so long that I reread it.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
3 stars — And the slump continues. Overall I just couldn’t get into this one. I didn’t always like Aimee or Miles (though I think I liked Miles more), and I wasn’t always cool with the things they were doing. I’m such a non-rule-breaker, so sneaking around just isn’t exciting for me, even vicariously. And I was largely displeased with Nick’s various roles. As someone older, and a professed best friend, I guess I expected to a) see him more b) have him behave less irrationally and c) actually see and understand who his best friend was. If that makes any sense. Which it probably doesn’t, but oh well.

So while it had some great kissing scenes, and I enjoyed some of the hanging out that Miles and Aimee got to do (especially the writing session), in the end I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for realistic 16/17 year olds, I was looking for the more mature variety (which is on me).

ON REREAD:
3 stars — Yeah, did not improve with time. I mean, at least it didn’t get worse. The thing is, the cute parts were SERIOUSLY adorable! I could see all this potential for an even better story, but there just wasn’t enough of those moments to outshine the grrr and meh.

I think the sneaking around wasn’t quite as displeasing for me, but I still wasn’t happy with Nick…like AT ALL. I think my biggest problem is that some of the various conflict felt sort of contrived and not well executed — particularly everything surrounding Aimee’s blog. Joke was not the right word. And the reactions were just not as authentic as I would have liked.

So yeah. Not a great start. Bummer.

MIA AND THE BAD BOY:
3.5 stars — This one started out much stronger than the first one, and I think a lot of that had to do with Ryder’s depth. I mean, he was still a dick, but I could at least see lots of different pieces of him behind all that…reasons, you know?

And in general I liked Ryder. I mean, from how he is with his band mates, I expected him to be a pretty hard sell, but he really did have a lot of hangups from his childhood…and I felt like I did see little bits of growth in him — and fairly believable growth. His part in the conflict/climax didn’t surprise me, and I wasn’t too mad at him. It was predictable, but I was worried he was going to say something he couldn’t come back from, and in general I don’t think he did.

Mia had her ups and downs for me. I didn’t quite get her relationship with her parents, and their expectations of her. I feel like in some ways her being Mexican American was used as a plot device for those pressures from immigrant parents. If that was the case, I kind of wish it’d been explored more. It affected so much of who Mia was, how she buried her dreams in favour of her parents dreams, how she didn’t know who she was. And I think that could have been really interesting, but I don’t feel like her story got nearly the same time and care that Ryder’s did. I liked her, she was sweet and sassy, bold and innocent. I just wanted MORE from her. And I totally wasn’t on board with her reaction after *that* night. I didn’t quite follow it, and I didn’t appreciate the way she would test Ryder.

They were pretty cute together, I especially loved the times when they were alone and Ryder could let his guard down. Between studying, singing, and just “being normal”, it was fun to watch.

The ending was entirely unbelievable and completely unexplained from Mia’s parents perspective, which is a bummer.

I was expecting not to like this one as much, just because I’m not really a bad boy girl, and Ryder was numero uno dick in the first book. So maybe my low expectations helped me enjoy it more — I love when a book surprises me in a good way. Still not wow, but definitely a step up from the first book.

DAISY AND THE FRONT MAN:
3.5 stars — There were parts of this book I really loved, and then there were parts that made me want to beat my head against the wall.

I know this publishing line often has predictability to it, and sometimes I actually like that. But the outcome of this book was predictable almost from the very beginning, and that was a bit of a bummer. It’s like you know a train wreck is going to happen, you know exactly what the train wreck is going to look like, and I think it makes it a teensy bit harder to just let go and get lost and captivated with our characters.

I guess my main bummer with all that is that Daisy hung onto the revenge thing longer than I wanted and kept coming back to it. It didn’t always feel realistic, and more like just a plot device. Similarly, Trevin hung on to the bet thing longer than I wanted. They both waffled back and forth, but then they’d jump back on the train because without those things, the conflict wouldn’t have worked. And hence predictability. I think I was more bummed with Trevin, because the way he would banter back with Ryder about the bet made him seem like a dick, and he just didn’t feel bad enough about it.

Initially I thought this one might be my fave so far, but I think the above might have affected me more than I thought. So the endless debate about rounding up or down.

When they weren’t holding on to those plot devices, I actually liked both of them. Daisy was very jaded, but I got it. And I appreciated that we got to see some growth with her relationship with her Dad and stuff. And Trevin had some very sweet moments. It was fun to watch them date, even as they had these conflicting emotions in the background. I kind of wish that we’d seen some closure between Trevin and his Dad, otherwise why was it there?

So yeah. Writing all that out, I think I’ll be rounding down. It had great potential, but I wanted it to be more.

ANYA AND THE SHY GUY:
3.5 stars — Am I the only one that is bummed that we’ll never get Will’s story? Plus, then we’re missing out on a shy guy, and I actually really like a shy guy. But maybe I’m the only one. I was a Jonathan (NKOTB) fan if that tells you anything.

I kind of love the little bits of surrounding story that were with this one — homelessness for Anya, and drug addiction for *actual* Will. We didn’t get much on either, which is a bit too bad, b/c they’re kind of prescient topics, but what can you do.

So even though we didn’t get actual Will, Matt was pretty cute himself. I appreciated how hard it must have been to play this role, with so much riding on it. And while he was not at all shy, he was still pretty sweet and actually felt closer to his age.

And Anya had a rough time of it, but it was heartwarming to see her develop that friendship with Natasha, and learn that some people are worth trust.

And their romance was pretty cute in general.

I found this one felt quicker than the others. I’m going to be pretty bummed if LJ doesn’t get his comeuppance by the end of Nathan’s book.

ABBY AND THE CUTE ONE:
4 stars — Yay! This one was my favourite! I think it’s just really hard not to love poor naïve Nathan…and Abby was pretty great too.

The thing is, I love sweet good characters. Sure, they mess up and make mistakes, but deep down they have good intentions. The thing is that Nathan was pretty young, and kind of on his own at such a young age. So I guess I could believe that he was taken advantage of by LJ. I truly bought in that he believed that the fate of the whole band was in his hands. He’s lucky that he had a certain great security chief and some awesome (if oblivious) bandmates to eventually figure things out and help him.

I loved how sweet he was, how innocent in some ways. I loved how grateful he was for the opportunity, and how, of all of them, he didn’t take it for granted.

And Abby was super sweet too! It’s not that she didn’t have fire, she did…but she was just someone easy to love. It was exciting to see her have this opportunity, even if it was tainted by other stuff happening at times.

And they were so cute together. I loved them from their first meeting to the end. I rooted for them.

I was a bit bummed that LJ’s comeuppance wasn’t dramatic and on page, but ah well…can’t have everything.

We all love a rock star romance, right?
Well, I know I do.

And this one, while full of rock stars, was an interesting way to write a series. Different stories, different characters, different...authors?
Yep. Five stories. Five authors. A full boxed set of rock stars.

This is light and a bit of fun. Makes you remember those days when you crushed on your favorite boy band (or leading lady). And we all know how much fun those fantasies were!

After reading the first three books in the series I ended up deciding I won't up keep up with the rest of the books. I had a few problems with these books but mostly with the immaturity of all of the characters.

Seeing that is is not an enjoyable series for me I think it's not something I would like to keep reading. While this is not suitable for me there are probably a lot of people that would love these stories.

I've read books 1, 2 and 3 of this series, and I'm sadden to say that I won't be reading the final 2 instalments on this series.

The characters were my biggest problem with this series, followed closely by the plot and the writing.

The characters are all very immature, while all trying to appear and act older than they are. The serious would have benefited if the main characters would have been made slightly older, because they were just too hypersexualized for the ages they represented.

this in turn, made the plots too childish and yet unbelievable. For instance, in Mia, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that her super protective parents would have allowed her to go on tour with the band. The behaviors are not consistent and neither are the characters.

And overall the writing was just lacking something and it was silly at times. Life the fact that Ryder associates white Keds with virginity, or how Miles thinks that Aimee didn't shower because she's wearing a ponytail. I mean, seriously?

I’m sorry to say that I’m giving up on the Backstage Pass series, because it’s just not working for me. The characters should have been made a little bit older, and the plots less childish. It’s a huge contradiction to have the characters as they are described and hyper sexualized, and then have such plots. It’s just not for me.

Four stars! What a hot read! I wonder what this author has in store next! I was so excited to read all her Backstage books in one bundle!

Here’s the thing about Rock Fiction: if you don’t get the details right, you pretty much shoot yourself in the foot. The world building here matters because those of us in the know, those of us with industry background, will call you out.

And that’s the fatal problem with The Backstage Pass: The Complete Series (read as a box set and thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read it). The details of a touring band are so far off, it’s impossible to suspend disbelief for even a minute.

First off, I’ve never heard of any tour naming their tour busses. I even checked with a number of friends who currently have their hands in tours. Nope. That’s a new one.

The opening act is its own thing. It doesn’t travel as part of the band’s entourage. The headliner doesn’t pick up the expense of the opening act. Touring with a headliner is a privilege; why would the headliner pick up an expense they don’t need to? Profit margins on the road are slim enough as it is.

Band and crew doesn’t eat together. Not as one big happy family, anyway. There may be some overlap, but the two do such different jobs that… yeah, no. Besides, a band as big as this boy band is supposed to be is going to eat very differently than the crew. There are also no dressing room riders anywhere.

The authors of this series need to learn a thing or three about what a bunk in a tour bus really is. Sit up? Comfortable space for two? At first, I thought there were multiple busses, each with a bedroom in the back. It was the only explanation for how these so-called bunks would work.

I about threw my e-reader across the room when Ryder and his love interest spent the night at the arena, in their private dressing room. I still can’t get my brain around that. Spending the night in the arena?

Seriously. That one, right there, did it. Any authority the authors had flew out the window. You’re a headlining act and won’t extend the cost for a hotel room, especially when you do it at other times? Let me rephrase: you’re the headlining act.

Beyond the fact that spending the night in the bowels of an arena is creepy as hell, it’s crossed so far into fantasy that my brain keeps exploding the more I think about it.

The worst part is that it kept going. We’re supposed to buy that the GED tutor—who herself is a teenager, which again stretches credibility—has this amazing voice and magically becomes an opening act, with no record, no label, no fan base, no manager, not even a demo?

And why does this tour feel like a dumping ground for teenage girls in sundresses who can’t be at home for the summer?

Then the daughter of the bodyguard gets stood up by her band member sorta-boyfriend and instead of reaching out to her father, who is with the band, just assumes the worst and runs away. Yeah. Real smart there, kid. And how about the fact that we never once see the father be fatherly? And then we learn that no, he’s the biggest victim in the family drama that’s kept him from being a good father, but he still doesn’t do a thing to try to fix his relationship with his daughter by, you know, trying to get to know her. Instead, all he does is issue edicts about how she’s not allowed to do this or that.

And, of course, the biggest signal of all: tour manager and manager are two entirely different jobs, and they don’t overlap for a very good reason. When I see that in Rock Fiction, I know right off that we’re dealing with someone who hasn’t taken the time to learn what needs to be learned. In this series, the manager is of course a slimy loser jerk. While there’s a reason the roadie nickname for tour manager is asshole, that doesn’t mean how the tour manager acts toward the band. It means how the tour manager acts on behalf of the band. At things like settlement after a show. Because, you know, the band is essentially his employer. And take note of essentially there. It’s a lot more nuanced than that.

Add in bad editing, both in each book—sorry, but “he ratchet his brain” isn’t even close—and across the series—if you’re going to italicize the stupid bus names in two of the books, do it in all of them—and… yeah. This reads more like Rock Fantasy, not Rock Fiction.

One last note: when I was Skyping with Susan and venting about the errors, her daughter came in the room and listened. “Sounds like every other Rock Fiction on Wattpad,” she said with a shrug. “That’s why I don’t read it.”

Sorry, folks. In a category where there’s so much good, this one’s a pass. If you want really good YA Rock Fiction, look to Sarra Manning’s Guitar Girl, or Nick and Norah, or Fat Kid Rules the World. And those are just off the top of my head. I bet if I searched the archives here at The Rock of Pages, I’d find more. I bet you would, too.

This was one we got via NetGalley, and if you can’t tell this is my honest review, well, I got nothing for you. It sucks when Rock Fiction lets me down in such an epic fashion. It really does.

Eeee! This is absolutely my most favorite series ever! I mean, I love ALL of the titles that come from this publishing imprint, but this series! *dies*

Best characters, stories, authors! the works!

Not a bad collection, but reading them straight in order made them very repetitive. Otherwise was an okay series.