Finding Forever

Gr 8 Up—Gossip Girl goes Hollywood in Baker's first in a planned series. Brooklyn Brant spends her days investigating and writing for her blog, "Deadline Diaries." Taylor Prince, America's sweetheart, is turning 16 and just wants a party with no paparazzi or problems. But things take a turn for the grim when she's abducted from her bash and wakes up bald and branded, under the care of strange doctors who say she's in rehab. As Taylor struggles to stay sane under their dubious care, Brooklyn searches for the truth about what really happened to Taylor. This series opener rings hollow. The writing is full of brand-name dropping and clichéd, one-dimensional characters. Neither Brooklyn nor Taylor feel fully fleshed out, and traits assigned to them (Brooklyn's religion and obsessive compulsive disorder, Taylor's straight-edge leanings) feel tacked on. The story reads like a 1980s made-for-TV movie or a Lois Duncan knock-off; readers seeking mystery and a little bit of danger with an empowered female protagonist would be better served with a Nancy Drew novel. Neither Taylor nor Brooklyn go through any significant character growth or actualization, and Taylor in particular spends the entire novel victimized and passive. For readers who are big fans of E! Hollywood News, this might be an easy beach read, but with a plethora of quality YA out there to choose from, most teens will have trouble finding something worth engaging with here.