Famous In Love Review (Books and TV)

Usually, I’m the person who reads the books first then watches the movie or TV show later but this time around, I saw the TV show first. When I heard that there was a series called Famous in Love that you can watch online, I downloaded a VPN app and watched the pilot. After that, I decided that I couldn’t wait to watch the show when it airs here (if it does, which is not likely since it has already been canceled in the US) so I watched all the Famous in Love episodes online. I liked the show and I couldn’t help myself. I just had to read both books: Famous In Love and Truly Madly Famously.

Photo from Sophkins on Pixabay

Famous in Love (the book) is written by Rebecca Serle and is about Paige Townsen, a young unknown actress who is cast in one of the biggest franchise films in Hollywood. It’s about how this girl who was once leading a normal life is suddenly thrown into a new world that she has to get used to while at the same time she is falling in love with two of the men who are with her in the movie.

First off, I was surprised at how many changes were made in the series compared to the book. Some changes were disappointing (would have been nice if they did shoot the show in Hawaii) but some I felt was for the better because it made the story much more interesting. I think that the series tweaked the weak parts of the book and made it better. They added more depth to the characters and more interesting plotlines.

I think the book was a bit bland compared to the TV show but then it is a book for young adults (late teens, early 20s?) so I felt that maybe I just wasn’t the market for the material. Having it from a point of view of a teenager was probably what made it a little boring for me despite the potentially exciting setting of a young girl thrust into Hollywood life.

I was surprised that the first season was basically the entire book (well, since the end was very similar to her having to choose between two guys). It had me wondering if Famous in Love Season 2 would tackle the second book, the part where Paige had already made a choice on who to be with and was dealing with the consequences of it. Unfortunately, that did not happen in season 2, which was too bad.

I think that the second book was more interesting than the first, but it still had the Paige POV which was, as I said previously, a bit bland for my taste. I do think that it would have been interesting to see how the series would have shifted the story to sort of adapt the second book but still stay true to their revised plot.

Reading the books and seeing the TV show has me conflicted about who I like for Paige. In the books, Jordan was the better guy, despite the bad boy image. BUT in the TV show, Jordan isn’t even interested in Paige. Rainer, as troubled as he is, seems to be the more interesting guy.

For both the TV show and the books though, I feel that Paige is blah. She needs to have more of a backbone and have more of a personality. I feel that there’s just something missing with that one. I was hoping that in the second season of the show they could have improved on the character because even if she is the lead, she can be a bit boring (at least they got that consistent with the books). Maybe that was the reason the show was canceled?

My opinion on the books? Read at your own risk. If you want to short cut it, watch the series instead. It’s much more interesting.