I really enjoyed this book. I think it did a great job of capturing how powerful people can have such a hold on others and on situations. Additionally, the representation of anxiety was well done. Josie's complicated relationship with herself and her body felt very realistic and it was nice to see the evolution throughout the story. I appreciate that the author expanded upon several important issues, and illustrated that even those with the best of intentions can have blind spots. I truly loved Josie's character - she was complex and interesting. I also loved how her relationship with her sister, Alice, developed throughout. I look forward to reading more books by this author. This is a great choice for teen and above readers that enjoy realistic books that have a "ripped from the headlines" feel.

Garrett's YA is so grounded, real, and responsive to teens today. I loved getting to know these characters and spend time in their voices.

3.5/5 stars. I liked this book overall but it felt a bit clunky at times. The protagonist, Josie, was supposed to be an amazing journalist, but it never SHOWED that. I get that she also has anxiety (same), but it felt like that trait was the only one featured when she interviewed various people for her work. I really appreciated the anxiety rep, but it seemed to overshadow everything else about Josie.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

A young intern gets in over her head in the music business. She finds her alleys and her nemesis, and looks to uncover truths that have long been hidden by the industry.

I really liked this book! In it you get to follow a fat black bisexual main character (Josie) with anxiety representation. Josie is easy to like and connect with as she wants to be seen as the journalist that she is. However she does have anxiety issues but tries to do her best. She's also proud of how she looks and doesn't get insulted by the word fat as for her, it's not an insult and shouldn't be used as one.

We follow her when she won a contest to write a piece on an actor (who she will develop a bit of romance with). But while doing that, she finds out the truth behind the scenes and that someone very famous and popular sexually assault girls on the regular through his job. She wants to take him down, and I was happy to see her pursue that goal!

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

This was a really good and important book, but it didn't hook me. I had to pick it up several times (not literally as it is digital) before I could get into it and I just never felt like I lost myself in it. It never felt hard to stop reading, but more so hard to make myself start with this one.

I really enjoy Camryn Garrett’s books! I found this to be a great YA read but it perhaps tried to tackle too much. There were light mentions to so many big issues and I feel they couldn’t all be developed.

I got host a panel with Camryn Garrett on it and was given this book as a part of it. i loved Off the Record and how it brings issues to light that we may not otherwise have known about.

I am relieved we can end this on a high note, as one of my most anticipated YA contemporary’s was a hit. I really loved this story as a student journalist (thank you to my advisor @themedialitteacher for my final copy) since it really made me connect with the story. I will say that some of this book was most certainly unrealistic, which is why I ended up docking a star, though it still was a very enjoyable read.

I was incredibly compelled by the story Garrett presents here, about a young journalist presenting a Hollywood scandal from a unique vantage point: a teenager with very little practical experience but real passion for her craft and attachment to the folks involved in the story that falls into her lap. This, I think, is the book's strongest point, and also its weakest.

Unfortunately, I struggle to buy any of the narrative progression here. As a journalist, Josie is incredibly compromised — she's too close to people intimately involved with her article's subject, too inexperienced to handle such mature subject matter, and makes really egregious mistakes on the way to the final product (ie: providing relatively identifying hints as to who one of her anonymous sources is to entice someone else into participating). It's hard to be convinced that she's the one meant to tell this story, though the narrative tries really, really hard to convince us that she is.

I find this novel to be emblematic of a lot of issues present in YA at the moment: there are so many lessons to be taught to young audiences, and authors often choose the most extreme and unrealistic scenarios to play them out. Garrett is very talented, and there is much to admire here in the way that she expounds on morality and the #MeToo era, but the narrative really collapses in on itself with a single questioning poke.

Camryn is such a talented writer. The romance is really sweet but she manages to write about such hard-hitting, relevant topics in such a unique way. I was really drawn in by this story and I could not put it down.

"Numerous articles published on high profile websites? Check. Application to dream college, Spelman College, submitted? Check. Uncovering a scandal that will shake Hollywood to its core? Processing. Josie Wright has always known she’s an exceptional writer. After all, she’s been freelance writing articles for years even though she has not yet graduated from high school. When she wins a prestigious writing contest, she has the opportunity of a lifetime: write a profile on a young actor for the magazine that inspires her. But Josie is not as confident as she seems on paper. When she begins to uncover the dark deeds of a prominent figure in the film industry, Josie has to fight not only her own anxiety but the potential that her future as a journalist will go up in flames by those who want to burn all evidence of the truth."

Camryn Garrett is one of the best YA authors of our time. Her writing is just absolutely fantastic and this book explores so many important topics. I will definitely be recommending this one.

Powerful, compelling, important. I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed this book, but the story it told was worth every second I spent with it.

Josie is a journalist who is selected to do a story on an upcoming movie and its star. In the process, she discovers a huge scandal and falls in love. An amazing book that needs to be in every high school library.

Thank you to negalley for providing an e-galley for review. Off the Record by Camryn Garrett refocuses the #metoo movement onto the teen sector. This is Garrett's second book and she takes social issues from a slightly different viewpoint so well. I don't want to spoil this one, so you'll just have to read it to see what I mean, and definitely read her first book, Full Disclosure. Off the Record speaks to teens have a voice, both in journalism and in abuse allegations.

Fun! I've recommended it to several students and purchased it for the library. I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

This book was emotionally challenging to read and is a book readers may need to be in the right head space to read. That said it’s an important book that tells a necessary story. A story that has readers grapple with difficult truths but they’ll be better for.

What a amazing book! I feel in love with this one. The story is spectacular, all the characters are super vivid. I recommend with my heart.