Unscripted Joss Byrd

This book is one of my most anticipated reads for this year and I feel really lucky to have read it months before its release. I have always wondered how it’s like working on a movie set since I love watching movies, and this book gave me a peek!

This tells the story of Joss Byrd, a popular young actress, on the set of her newest project called The Locals. As cool as her life may seem, being an actress and all that, her life is far from perfect.

I really like the story and narration. It’s refreshing and unique, in such way that it offers the readers a realistic view of what is happening in a movie set. I also liked the characters and how they were written.

At first I thought Joss was like 15 or 16 in the book because she acts and thinks maturely sometimes, but it turns out she’s actually 12. It wasn’t easy getting into her character and fully understanding her but I saw the way how she grew and her character development was a delight to see.

I also liked how other characters were emphasized in the book. Chris was such a sweetheart. He and Joss were siblings in the movie. I thought of him as a potential love interest since Joss has a cute crush on him, but upon realizing Joss’ age, well that ship ain’t sailing. Still, their relationship was something to adore!

Viva, oh dear Viva. She’s really something. Well, for starters, I had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with her throughout the book. She’s definitely a stage mom, and I do not like stage moms. Anyway, I do know she means well, looking out for Joss’ future and all.

The pacing of the story started a bit slow and dragging but once I got into the rhythm, I couldn’t put it down. There were also some scenes that felt so out of place. Overall, I really had a great time reading this. It’s a great coming of age book that sits between middle grade and young adult. I do recommend this book so watch out when this hits shelves in August!