Fireworks by Katie Cotugno Full Review

TW: Eating Disorder, Drug and Alcohol Abuse/Use

With drama, scandal, and a reality singing competition, Fireworks by Katie Cotugno has it all. But does it really? Unfortunately, no. Fireworks wasn't a bad book by far - it does indeed have drama, but sometimes you just want to shake the characters and say, "Really? You're going to be this stupid?" So, yes, I'm going to give this book a 6.5/10. It has a solid plotline, interesting if annoying characters, but I don't regret reading it.

I'm going to give a short synopsis, for understanding. In 1997, Dana and Olivia have been best friends for life - and now, having just graduated high school, Olivia is set to go to college and Dana is set to stay in their small, lower-middle-class town in Florida. However, Dana is 'discovered' at Olivia's audition, and she and Olivia go on to practice and compete for a record deal. As the summer wears on, there are betrayals, backstabbing, and tears. Can Dana and Olivia's friendship survive the summer.. and can their dreams?

Sure, it sounds a little cliche. But I was willing to try it. Right off the bat, I could tell Olivia, Dana's best friend, was fake. Sure, their friendship seemed real enough, and I could tell Olivia cared for Dana, but she still seemed to be one of the most fickle characters I've ever come across. It's hard to put my finger on, but Olivia's inability to support her friend as Dana achieves something she's never even had the chance to dream of is shocking. Sure, put it down to insecurity, but any decent human should at least be happy for Dana. Instead, Olivia ends up talking behind her back, gossiping, and even sabotaging her once or twice. How selfish can you be to throw away a decade-long friendship, taking away your best friend's only opportunity at happiness when you have almost any opportunity YOU want? Olivia's character isn't all bad, though. She suffers from an eating disorder. Clearly, this shows issues of insecurity, in a a disease you have almost no control over. It evokes the reader's sympathy and is eventually the reason the Olivia and Dana reconnect, or make up.

However, Dana herself isn't a wilting flower. She ends up betraying Olivia and lying to her when she ends up hooking up with Alex, Olivia's maybe-crush and the lead singer of a 'brother' - type boy band to their hopeful girl group. After Dana talks to Olivia about him, it soon becomes apparent that Alex likes Dana. Instead of outright refusing him, or talking to Olivia about his advances, Dana kind of brushes him off, which easily translates to playing hard to get. It bothers me that Dana doesn't try very hard at all to solve the Alex problem. Instead, she ends up hooking up with him in pool the day after Olivia tells Dana that Olivia likes him. However, with an alcoholic mother and almost no choices, it's easy to see how desperate Dana was to get out of a life that she would have suffocated in.

It seems like I've only talked about the bad things, when this book wasn't really that bad at all. The plot itself was good, if unrealistic - I liked how it wasn't only about the competition to be THE singer of Daisy Chain, or only about Dana's romance with Alex, but mostly about the friendship and highs and lows of Dana and Olivia. I enjoy first-person books more, because it's easier for me to put myself in the character's head and the fact that Dana narrated and not Olivia somehow made this book much more bearable to read. Additionally, Dana's relationship with Alex didn't take precedence over Dana's self-esteem. I appreciated that Dana stayed true to herself when Alex hurt her feelings.

Overall, this book was enjoyable, even if the characters were selfish at times. With a 6.5/10, I would recommend that you read this book.