Friday, 7 September 2012

Little Darlings by Jacqueline Wilson (Children's, 9 years +, 10/10)



February 2011, Corgi Yearling
410 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Themes; celebrity lifestyle, being new at school, having few friends, talent competition, one parent family, pretending your happy when you aren't, photoshoots, finding someone who 'gets' you, perils of living in an estate, delusional mother, bratty sister, confused little brother, embarassing moments, somgwriting & singing, raw talent, dysfunctional families, parents rowing, flings, love, sisterhood, a little humour, nostalgia


Sunset lives a life of luxury with her beautiful ex-model mum, her world-famous rock star dad and her two little celebrity siblings. But life on the red carpet is no compensation for parents who constantly argue, intensive scrutiny from the media, and and having no real friends.

Destiny, on the other hand, is an only child living on a rundown estate with a sickly but devoted mum who constantly tells her that she's really the daughter of a famous rock star . . .

When the two girls meet in unlikely circumstances, they are surprised to find in each other something they've been missing all their lives . . .


Nayuleska's thoughts

I'm still relatively new to Jacqueline's work, and I love how normal Destiny & Sunset seem. Their lives are crazy but parental conflict happens no matter how rich you are. Illness is also indiscriminating. Sunset and Destiny both have to grow up in different ways. My heart cried out as they passed the line from childhood innocence and accepted how ugly life can be. Accepted isn't the right word as no one likes accepting conflict, but it got to the stage where I really couldn't see The sisters' lives getting better. The end was a supremely wonderful surprise, a much needed reward for all the girlw had gone through in this 10/10 read.

You can find out more on Jacqueline's website.

Suggested read

I agree with the back cover's recommendation that readers who liked Jacqueline's Cookie will like Little Darlings.

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