Book Review: Fanfare by Renee Ahdieh

Fanfare by Renee Ahdieh

Reading Level: Young Adult
File Size: 295 KB
Publisher: Revolution Publishing (May 13, 2011)
Language: English
ASIN: B0050VDB2S
Source: E-book received by publisher
Cover: For the longest time, I didn't know what that black thing was. I figured out that it was a top hat but it took me a bit longer than necessary. Overall, I like the simple feeling to this cover and I love the flash spots near the left hand side of the book!
First Sentence: "It's anti-capitalistic to love someone."

Mini-Review: A light-hearted romance that will have the reader smiling the entire way through.

Book Summary:

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.

Book Review:

Fanfare is one girl's journey from Burnville to true love with plenty of bright lights and loads of laughs. Cris is definitely a girl to get behind, Thomas is equal parts charming and thoughtful and it's hard to not root for them as a pair. Cris's inner monologue provides plenty of laugh out loud moments and reading this novel is like popping in your favorite chick flick.


Cris has been burned recently and it's obvious in everyone of her choices. She's funny, insightful and full of feist but also has a huge hard and more than her share of problems. I really liked her as a narrator because she could take care of herself and she was also family orientated. There is this wonderful scene in the beginning where she is taking her nieces to see the famous movie star Thomas and though she really doesn't want to be there, it's clear that she loves her cousins enough to suffer through it. Cris was also incredibly intelligent, great at expressing her thoughts to most everyone and was completely devoted to her work as a social worker.


Enter the movie star Thomas, who is this surprisingly deep and thoughtful. He acted as this incredible catalyst for change for Cris because he forced her to live outside her own head, even when she didn't get why he would. I really liked their relationship. It felt solid because it was slow and evolved over a lot of time. That made their bond all the more realistic. I will say that I kept thinking I was reading about Robert Pattenson at the beginning but as the story went on and we got to know Tom, that feeling dissipated. I particularly enjoyed when they traveled to London as I felt knowing his friends and family helped to flesh Tom out.


While watching them fall in love and Cris work through her issues was interesting, I'd have liked to see Tom a little more flawed. I felt like a lot of the time, their relationship was a little too easy. He was completely devoted but didn't really have any issues of his own to work through to be with Cris. All the hesitation was on Cris's part and in her mind at that, and I would have liked to see a little from the other side to warrants Cris's worries. All the perfectness did work to make the reader feel good throughout the entire novel but I'd have liked to see a little more flaw so that I'd be more invested. Regardless, everytime I opened the app on my phone to continue with Cris's journey, the smile returned.


The first person point-of-view was the perfect way to tell this story and the writing had a lot of really funny parts. It also helped display Cris's pride in her hertiage and it was always really great to see her speak and sometimes think in Spanish. At times, I felt like the prose skipped around a bit much and I was confused where I was. This might have had more to do with the fact that my format didn't always have spaces between the paragraphs and therefore, the time passage wasn't indicated. This also made the story drag in several parts and speed by to quickly in others. However, Fanfare delivers in it's promise of a sweet love story complete with the bright lights of the red carpet and the sweet moments in between.


Fanfare is an adorable love story between two good people who meet each other and hold on. Watching Tom and Cris fall in love and struggle with what it means when your partner is famous is endearing and addictive. Cris is easy to root for and Tom is sweeter with every honest word he speaks. Snuggle up with a blanket, some popcorn and this book if you're looking for a romantic comedy fix. Fanfare is sure to statsify!

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