Book 3: My Double Life

My Double Life by Janette Rallison.

Alexia is pretty, bilingual, and on the honor roll, but she's too poor to make much of a splash in high school; her main claim to fame is that she looks like pop star Kari Kingsley. When Kari approaches her about a doubling job, Alexia discovers their resemblance is no accident: Kari's famous singer father is also the father she never knew, who never knew about her--or did he? Against her mother's wishes, she decides to take the impersonation job--less for the money than for the chance of meeting her father and uncovering the truth about her childhood. But trying to fit into the world of celebrity, conspicuous consumption and paparazzi is complicated, especially when she gets to know Grant Delray, a charming young rock star that Kari dislikes but that she's always had a crush on.

Written with a light touch, this is very much a feel-good Cinderella story, yet it has a bit of an edge that kept it from feeling like meaningless fluff. Alexia is quite naturally envious and angry about the contrast between her life and Kari's, as well as troubled by Kari's emotional problems. Most of the characterizations are fairly shallow--Grant is pretty much all hair and cheekbones--but Kari, a dumb fake-blonde who is very serious about her work, is surprisingly interesting. I felt that everything wound up a little too clean and a little too perfect, but would recommend it to readers looking for a wholesome fantasy that doesn't insult their intelligence.

265 pages
Reading: 2 hours
Blogging: 39 minutes