Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson Review

Catch a Falling Star, by Kim Culbertson
Published On: April 29, 2014, by Point
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Rating: ½

A deliciously charming novel about finding true love . . . and yourself.
Nothing ever happens in Little, CA. Which is just the way Carter Moon likes it. But when Hollywood arrives to film a movie starring former child star turned PR mess Adam Jakes, everything changes. Carter's town becomes a giant glittery set and, much to her annoyance, everyone is starry-eyed for Adam. Carter seems to be the only girl not falling all over herself to get a glimpse of him. Which apparently makes her perfect for the secret offer of a lifetime: playing the role of Adam's girlfriend while he's in town, to improve his public image, in exchange for a hefty paycheck. Her family really needs the money and so Carters agrees. But it turns out Adam isn't at all who she thought he was. As they grow closer, their relationship walks a blurry line between what's real and what's fake, and Carter must open her eyes to the scariest of unexplored worlds - her future. Can Carter figure out what she wants out of life AND get the guy? Or are there no Hollywood endings in real life?

C-H-E-E-S-Y! What does that spell? CHEESY. T-H-I-S-B-O-O-K! What does that spell? THIS BOOK. That’s exactly what this book gave me. *shrugs* Ugh. I was looking for something more and different and heart-warming, but this was just a plain old fluffy teenybopper-tween novel with no plot and character-building whatsoever. Well obviously, there were some good things. But most of this was flaws and ugliness.

“Think about it: There are so many stars in the sky, we can’t even count them—it’d be like counting every grain of sand on the beach. Still, they aren’t just up there. It takes something, the exact right sort of conditions to make a star.”

Before I get to a mini-summary, what the hell was this concept? Stars and superstars together? This couldn’t have been anymore cheesier and bland. It was so icky and gross. The fact that this had to do with a small-town girl falling in love with a superstar is kind of already not for me, and then the star-watching obsession is added in. I really don’t know what else could’ve happened to make this even more cheesier. It totally won the award of ‘Worst Book to Fall in Love With’ for me. Huh.

Little, CA. Yes, it goes by the name. That’s where Carter Moon (oh look, another star-related thing) lives and probably will never leave, as she doesn’t want to. And then Hollywood decides to come out of the blue and begin to film a Christmas-movie in her town. That’s where she meets Adam Jakes, superstar turned rebel. (Was this supposed to be like a new Justin Bieber?) And guess what? They fall in love.

I feel like barfing now. It’s been a week since I’ve went through this one, and I can’t stand looking at the cover because all of the corny stuff just pats me onto the head. Never mind, it whacks me onto the head. The concept didn’t go anywhere, and this is just some cutesy story that would be featured in a tween magazine out of the blue. Like really, this obviously happens in real life, and it doesn't teach us or take us anywhere. I didn’t really feel captivated and into the book, as you can see.

“That was the great thing about growing up. We got to write our own endings, thousands of them, over and over. That was life. It was a million little endings. But it was also a million little beginnings. Even when other people thought we were writing them wrong. I didn’t know if Adam and I could make our separate worlds work in the future, but for today — we had a tour to finish.”

Boom, pow. That was the ending not even spoiled for you, because we all saw it coming. Together forever, probably. It’s not like something we’d like to guess about and wonder about in the midst of the night. It’s something we’ll forget about in 15 minutes.

When I began reading, I guess you could say that I splendidly saw this coming. I was gifted this book, and decided to take the chance although it was way out of my book league of choices. I probably would’ve adored this when I was 10. Young Adult? — Not really. Take a second look before you go for the plot in this, to be honest. So as I noticed that this wasn’t for me, I kept reading because it was a mildly short read. It’s not like I’m wasting that much time. If this was 400 pages, then I’d definitely would’ve thrown it out of the window. 

One of the only positive things here were the characters, separately. As a whole, they probably weren’t the most memorable crew around, but Ms. Carter Moon was definitely a bright person to have around. The fact that she wasn’t hating her life or that she didn't know who she was turned my frown upside down. She wasn’t your average middle-grade teenager where all that she’s thinking about is love and cakes and pink stuff—she was someone who was loyal, especially to her friends. On the other hand, her bae, Adam, wasn’t that adorable as I would’ve liked him to, but whatever, I guess. He was like One Direction and Sterling Knight from the Disney Channel. Superstar turned rebel turned wrong. That’s a good catchphrase to add onto the back cover, haha. Together? Together they definitely weren't that cute — more like okay. I wouldn’t want to have Adam as my fictional boyfriend, absolutely, but at least they were happy? Man, I really don’t know how to add my opinion together.

*thinks deeply* This really could've pulled out for a middle-grade book for 11 year olds, honestly. It wasn't that good or horrible, either. But if this was a trilogy or a series, I'd definitely never go for any of the sequels or the author's future books. If you're looking for a cheesy romance with gooey details and no plot whatsoever, then you should take this into consideration. I know a lot of people like that kind of stuff, so here's a Disney Channel book for you.