Confessions of a Karaoke Queen

by Ella Kingsley

Maddie Mulhern is suddenly in charge. Her mum and dad - former 80s pop duo Pineapple Mist - have left for the summer on a nostalgia concert tour, so Maddie must manage their struggling Karaoke bar, 'Sing it Back'. It suits Maddie down to the ground, in fact. After years of trudging through temping jobs, she needs a change. When Maddie spots an advert for a new prime-time show looking for a bar to be the setting of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, she has the genius idea that this is just the sort of exposure that the place needs. Together with the bar's old-timers (faded drag queen Ruby du Jour, suave barman Alex and wannabe actress/reluctant waitress Jasmine) she'll turn the karaoke bar around into a huge global brand and make pots of her money for her family. Simple. Right? Money-grubbing TV exec Evan and the seemingly too-smooth-to-be-true producer Nick might just have other ideas ...As the TV series builds to a live final episode, will Maddie see the truth in a Careless Whisper? Will Nick be able to keep his Poker Face? One thing's for sure, before the credits roll there'll be Blood on the Dancefloor ...

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2011

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really predictable. I didn't really like it much, but I hope my sister will like it more.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it cheesy and predictable? Yes. Did that stop me enjoying it? Not at all. A good light hearted quick read, although some of the references do date it to when it was written.

[Tasha Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review coming soon to www.finchbooks.co.uk

[Helena Lantz · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 7%. I’m bored and I don’t like the writing.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As soon as I saw Confessions of a Karaoke Queen I wanted to read it. The dazzling pink cover was eye-catching and promised Chick Lit goodness. (My favourite kind.) I was also intrigued by the fact Ella Kingsley is the pseudonym for a well-known Chick Lit author (oh yes, people, pseudonyms are still alive and well in 2011). I’ve had a nosy about, wondering how many twenty-something ex-editors there are living in London and, well, I have some ideas of who Ella is although I’m probably wrong so I won’t bore you with the details. Some lucky people managed to get early copies of the novel – those who pre-ordered it from Amazon! – and one lovely person sent her copy to me after she’d read it and I dived in eagerly.

Confessions of a Karaoke Queen is a fun enough novel, but it wasn’t one I loved. I think that at this moment in time (8th July 2011) I’ve hit a Chick Lit wall and nothing is amazing me. I’ve been on a run of novels that have been three/three point five star reads, and I keep waiting for a novel to come along and shock me out of that. I wanted Confessions of a Karaoke Queen to do that, I desperately did. And it did. For a while. I absolutely swallowed up the first 100 pages or so but then it started to veer towards predictable and there’s only so many times you can read about a TV producer who turns out to be evil and an ex-boyfriend who suddenly comes crawling back apologising. It’s not Ella Kingsley’s fault, or the books fault, but if it’s something you’ve already read a million times before… Well, it gets boring and it makes me roll my eyes.

The premise of the novel is brilliant. There aren’t that many Chick Lit novels that I’ve read that are set around karaoke or reality TV shows (I could perhaps could them on one hand) and I loved the unique aspect there. I liked how Maddie wasn’t a singer herself, how it was left to her parents, the 80s duo Pineapple Mist (BTW, that’s the most awesome band name ever, I loved it). I liked how the reality TV show aspect came into it, too. I love reading about reality TV shows and how, most of the time, they’re never actually that ‘real’. It worked well and I definitely enjoyed that aspect of the novel, although I do question Maddie’s inability to realise just how evil Evan was. I knew it from the off, even more so when Alex came into the novel and the naivete shown by Maddie was quite something!

I found the characters fascinating. Maddie carried the book well enough, but for me it was those around her who made the novel. Maddie was just a bit too wishy-washy and passive-aggressive. For once I’d love to see a female character take people to task. I’d love to have seen Maddie take Evan to task and then take Nick to task, too, but instead she sort of flakes out and it disappointed me. She did want to take Evan to task, but once it came down to it, her bravado failed and it made me cringe, because there’s nothing wrong with a heroine who’s a bit more feisty. I liked the characters (and I use that term in its most proper form, because the bar folk at Sing It Back were indeed characters) Maddie had around her. Her best friend Lou, the bar staff: Simon, Ruby/Rob, Jaz, Archie. I loved Jaz best, with her pet guinea pig. I was also sad we didn’t get to see more of Maddie’s parents, they seemed to be so fun.

For the most part I enjoyed Confessions of a Karaoke Queen. It was a fun and quick read, but like most books I’ve been reading recently it just didn’t blow me away like I expected it to. I don’t know why, but the predictability of the novel didn’t work for me probably because of the fact I’ve seen it so many times that for once I’d like a character to be a bit more up on the game, a bit more feisty, with a bit more oomph. My hope goes on. There was nothing tragically wrong with the book and people will undoubtedly lap it up. I liked the premise, thought it was executed well enough, but I personally felt there was a lot of potential left out. I’d have also liked for Maddie and Nick’s relationship to have been shown to us more. Sure, I liked hearing how hot/gorgeous/fit he was but as for any actual romance, it was rather slim on the ground. I would recommend the book, Chick Lit fans will love it, no doubt, and I do look forward to seeing what the mysterious Ella Kingsley brings us next, but as is the way at the moment, it didn’t made me want to hit the karaoke stage. (That was an awful pun, wasn’t it?)

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie Mulhern is suddenly in charge. Her parents - former 80s pop duo Pineapple Mist - have left for the summer on a nostalgia tour, entrusting her to manage their struggling karaoke bar, Sing It Back. Panicking over the dodgy finances, Maddie takes a gamble: she signs up for a fly-on-the-wall reality TV series. With her faithful staff (divalicious drag queen Ruby, shy barman Simon and wannabe actress Jasmine) she'll transform the bar into a huge success. Simple. Right? Executive Producer Evan Bergman knows that scandal sells. It's no coincidence that he hires cool, attractive Nick Craven as director. Evan wants drama on screen - and he'll do anything to get it. As the series builds to a live finale, will Maddie see the truth in a Careless Whisper? Will Nick be able to keep his Poker Face? One thing's for sure: we all do things at karaoke that we regret ...

This is another debut novel for 2011 that I've really been looking forward to. Ella Kingsley hasn't hidden the fact that the name is a pseudonym for another women's fiction writer, but it's apparently a hugely kept secret who that is, but I am very curious about it! I'm not sure about the need for all the secrecy but it seems to be a popular thing to do at the moment, writing under a pseudonym, so I do wonder if eventually it'll be revealed or we'll be forever guessing about exactly who it is! Anyway, I thought the idea for the book was great, and the cover is fantastic as well, a perfect girly cover that certainly jumps out at you. I loved the sound of it from the minute I read the synopsis, so I had really hoped that it would live up to my expectations!

The book centres around the character of Maddie, daughter of 80's popstars Pineapple Mist, and someone who is a bit embarrassed about that fact as well. Her parents own a karaoke bar, but she tends not to set foot in there because she doesn't do Karaoke, and it's her idea of a bad nightmare. However, when her parents run away on holiday and Maddie is left in charge of the karaoke bar, she takes it upon herself to sign it up to a reality TV show. Of course, some consequences occur and Maddie finds herself having to make a few hard decisions. I really did like her as a main character, and found she led the book really well. She doubts her decisions a lot of the time, but her heart is in the right place and I think she does well with her problems throughout the book, although she is a bit too naive about her ex-boyfriend for my liking!


I thought the setting for the karaoke bar was really great. I could imagine in my head Maddie's parents dancing around and loving every minute of it, and I felt Kingsley wrote those characters really well, even if they don't appear that much in the book. In fact, it was the other characters of the bar that were the best people. Drag Queen Ruby was fantastic, very camp and hilarious, fab American character Jasmine and even the awful TV producer Evan (the book's baddy!) were brilliantly written, and all came to life on the pages as I read. In fact, Evan is certainly the pantomime villain of the piece, and you can certainly work out what he's up to long before poor old Maddie does! The other character I liked who I felt we didn't see enough of was Nick, the director. I enjoyed his friendship with Maddie but wanted things to move faster than they did if I'm honest!


Overall, this was a really enjoyable and funny read that had me laughing in places, and cringing in others! Yes, perhaps Maddie was a bit blinkered and naive with certain things but other than that, it was really enjoyable and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It's one of those books you can pick up after a busy and stressful day and just sit and enjoy reading because you know you're going to like it. It's funny to read about all the old songs that come up throughout, and Maddie's real name as well... seriously?! Ella Kingsley has a great writing style whose first person narrative flows really well and immediately gets you hooked into the story to see how things will work out for Maddie and Pineapple Mist too! A great book to get stuck into, especially over the festive period where I'm sure we'll all be having an ill-advised go on the karaoke ourselves! Fab!

[PiMi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rezension PiMi
Maddie ist die Tochter des 80er Jahre Popduo Pinapple Mist. Und auf ihre alten Tage wollen eben diese Eltern noch einmal auf Tour gehen und die 80er wieder aufleben lassen. Maddie soll in dieser Zeit die etwas heruntergekommene Karaokebar ihrer Eltern leiten. Da Maddie aber unbedingt etwas an der Bar verändern möchte und Geld auftreiben muss, steckt sie plötzlich in einer Realityshow fürs TV. Und beim Fernsehen ist eben nicht alles Gold was glänzt.

Also zunächst einmal muss ich sagen, dass ich selten ein so kitschiges Cover gesehen habe. Es ist quitschgrün mit einem Hamster der eine pinke Herzen-Sonnenbrille trägt und noch dazu ein riesen rosa Herz in den „Händen“ hält. Außerdem sind auf dem Buchschnitt rosa Herzchen aufgedruckt. Also kitschiger geht es nun wirklich nicht. Hätte ich das Buch nicht bei vorablesen.de gewonnen, ich hätte es nicht gekauft. Da finde ich das Originalcover mit den High Heels und dem Mikrophone wirklich viel hübscher. Der Originaltitel passt auch besser als Dancing Queen, da es ja eine Karaokebar und kein Tanzclub ist. Und warum überhaupt ein Hamster? Ein Meerschweinchen spielt eine kleine Rolle im Roman, aber kein Hamster… Ok es kommt ja auf den Inhalt an und ich habe auch schon Meinungen zum Buch gelesen die gerade dieses für mich so grausige Cover total toll fanden...

Aber zum Inhalt kann ich leider auch nicht so viel Positives sagen. Die Handlung ist sowas von vorhersehbar, dass es fast schon weh tut. Die Figuren sind absolut übertrieben gezeichnet, dass sie unglaubwürdig und surreal wirken.
Da hätten wir zum einen natürlich Maddie, die zu Beginn des Romans noch recht sympathisch rüber kommt. Maddie wird von ihrem Freund verlassen und muss sich dann auch noch um die heruntergekommene Bar ihrer Eltern kümmern. Dabei gibt sie alles um die Existenz ihrer Eltern zu retten und sie ist in dieser Hinsicht wirklich ein Schatz.
Leider ist sie aber auch sehr gutgläubig und naiv und gegen Ende fand ich ihre Naivität einfach nur noch dumm und nicht mehr niedlich.
Mit den anderen Figuren konnte ich mich auch nicht anfreunden. Nick, der große Star der Reality Inszenierung, bleibt absolut farblos. Dabei spielt er neben Maddie eine der Hauptrollen.
Auch die Mitarbeiter der Karaokebar haben bei mir keinen bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen. Alles spielt sich eher oberflächlich ab, was ja an sich bei einem Roman in diesem Genre gar nicht so schlimm wäre, wenn die Handlung wenigstens witzig, spritzig und locker wäre. Aber irgendwie habe ich mich eher gelangweilt und gewartet, dass mal etwas passiert.
Von einer lustigen Liebesgeschichte fehlte mir hier ehrlich gesagt jede Spur. Überhaupt, habe ich nicht einmal gelacht. Vielleicht lag das an mir, aber diese flachen Witze und irgendwelche übertriebenen Situationen finde ich eher albern.
Ich weiß, dass ich von einem Buch mit diesem Cover keine große Literatur erwarten kann und das habe ich auch nicht. Aber wenn ich ein Buch lese, dann will ich wenigstens nett unterhalten werden. Leider ist der Autorin das nicht gelungen.
Fazit:
2 Sterne, weil das Buch einen wirklich netten und vielversprechenden Anfang hatte und ich von Romanen mit Hamstercover auch nicht allzu viel erwarte, aber mehr Sterne kann ich wirklich nicht vergeben denn vom Hocker gerissen hat mich die Autorin nun wirklich nicht.

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nach einer Leseprobe habe ich den Ausgang des Romans schon geahnt, inklusive des kleinen Comebacks von Pineapple Mist. Dazu benötigte man auch keinen hellseherischen Fähigkeiten. Meine Vermutungen haben sich grundsätzlich auch bestätigt, wobei ich die Details (Teilnahme an einer Reality-Show im TV) nicht wusste. Prinzipiell ist solch ein Scenario heutzutage ja nicht unrealistisch, wo es an allen Ecken und Enden Reality-Formate zu sehen gibt. Allerdings habe ich mich schon gefragt, wieso bis zur ersten Sendung so viele Verbesserungen an der Bar bereits getätigt wurden. Der Unterschied von vorher / nachher sollte doch möglichst groß sein bei solchen Shows. Aber gut.

Ansonsten war die Story recht ok, obwohl mir Maddie doch einige Male als zu 'schwach' bzw. teilweise auch naiv aufgefallen ist. Sie nahm sich immer vor, sich gegen ihre Widersacher durchzusetzen, und hat es am Ende doch nicht gemacht. Doch erst dadurch kam es ja auch zu Konflikten, die solch eine Chick-Lit-Story erst ausmachen. Irrungen und Wirrungen im Beruf und in der Liebe sind das Ah und Oh solcher Romane.
Am Ende hat mir auch ein bißchen der große Showdown gefehlt. Die 'Rache' an Evan hätte stärker ausfallen müssen. Und ich hab mir auch erwartet, dass von Loaf noch ein großer Knaller kommen wird. Das ist dann doch alles zu seicht abgelaufen.

Der Schreibstil ist gut und flüssig zu lesen. Doch obwohl einige Szenen in der Bar spielen hatte ich nie so richtig das Gefühl mitten drin dabei zu sein. Die Atmosphäre wurde nicht so richtig rübergebracht, vielleicht einfach zu wenig beschrieben?

Die Thematik des Buches rund um die Musik der 80er trifft jedenfalls voll meinen Geschmack, auch wenn es ein bißchen an der Umsetzung hapert. Es ist alles in allem schon ein nettes Buch, aber ohne den richtigen Biss eben.
Nach wie vor finde ich die Idee, zum Buch einen Soundtrack mit den Liedern aus den Kapitelüberschriften anzubieten, hervorragend. Vielleicht möchte das ein Verlag beim nächsten Buch mit ähnlichem Thema mal umsetzen?

[Anica · Rating 3 out of 5]

hat jetzt keine Lust mehr auf eine engl. Rezension, so!

Auf diesen Roman habe ich mich nach der Leseprobe total gefreut und konnte es kaum abwarten, ihn endlich zu lesen. Die ersten Seiten waren einfach so herrlich erfrischend, witzig, spritzig. Dazu die Kapitelüberschriften mit Songs aus den 80ern, großartig. Mal was Neues, wo ich sowieso Fan der Musik der 80er bin.

Leider verflog meine anfängliche Begeisterung mehr und mehr. Die ersten Kapitel sind durchaus witzig. Überhaupt lässt sich das Buch schnell mal weglesen, sehr flüssiger, schnörkelloser Schreibstil von Ella Kingsley. Aber meine Probleme begannen dann etwa ab der Mitte des Buches. Ich weiß nicht, aber Maddie ging mir zusehends mehr auf den Keks. Ihre "Stimmungsschwankungen" waren nur noch zum Haare raufen. Das ist schon nicht mehr naiv, sondern nur noch strunzdumm. Ihr Verhalten hat mich soooo aufgeregt. Aber die Nebencharaktere, die irgendwie alle doch recht blass blieben, auch wenn versucht wurde, sie besonders abgedreht zu gestalten, waren da nicht besser. Der reinste Kindergarten. Lächerlich, einfach lächerlich.

Ferner hatte ich mir von dem ganzen Buch auch etwas mehr Karaoke an sich erwartet bzw. Maddies Kampf damit. Aber das ganze Buch geht es nur nebensächlich darum, sondern vielmehr um das Aufhübschen der Karaokebar von Maddies Eltern. Fand ich doch sehr enttäuschend. Da hatte ich auf mehr Esprit und Komik gesetzt, mehr Auseinandersetzung mit Musik als solcher. Aber das trat ja alles sehr in den Hintergrund bei dieser Reality-Show-Sache. Schade.

Vieles ist auch sehr vorhersehbar. Am Ende gibt es zwar noch 2,3 Dinge, die halbwegs überraschen, aber den Epilog zum Beispiel fand ich total überzogen und unnötig. Sehr klebrig, das ganze.

Alles in allem ein Buch, das man so weglesen kann, das aber nur "nett" ist. Mehr nicht. Etwas mehr Charme und Humor wäre toll gewesen, bessere Figurenausarbeitung. So war es leider nur Durchschnitt. Leider.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up Maddie hated music and anything to do with it , as all her life she was known as the daughter of the duo Pineapple Mist. A duo that had a few one hit wonders in the 1980's and then as the years went by Maddie's parents opened their own Bar - a Karaoke bar named Sing it Back. When her parents head away for a reunion/comeback tour , Maddie looks at the bar and realises that it is in fact in the dire need for a spruce up , her dreams are answered or so she believes when she spots an advertisement for a new reality TV Show that will bring your Bar back to life. So Maddie applies to star and wham, bam she gets it. All is well in the beginning as things start to take off but soon the head manager Archie leaves , a new bar hand Alex appears out of nowhere with a fake CV and the director of the show Evan is a nightmare to work with. With her cast of crazies and best friends, we will read as week by week Sing it Back is transformed into it's original glory, the ups and downs of friendships , fun nights on the Karaoke microphone and the dreaded love triangles and in this book there is not just one but three that occur.
Confessions of a Karaoke queen takes us into the side of reality TV that we don't see and the parts that we occasionally read but gloss over, the parts in which the reality TV will claim does not happen at all.
Confessions of a Karaoke queen shows readers the story behind how rigged Reality TV can be and that sometimes even the ones starring in the show will have absolutely no idea.
Readers, I do have to say that you all should read this novel and if not for the reality TV storyline , you must to read and discover Maddie's true name and see how she definitely does not live up to it and we shall all be blessed that we had normal parents and not parents that name their kids Tallulah does the Hula in Hawaii ( that was an actual name in NZ, in which the child took the parents to court for giving her an out-there name).

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kind of three stars probably three and a half rating. Confessions of a Karaoke Queen is about a young girl, Maddie Mulhern, who's parents were 80's pop sensation 'Pineapple Mist', much to her embarrassment, who now own the local karaoke bar 'Sing it Ba k' (no miss-spellings there). Maddie who wants nothing to do with karaoke is suddenly faced with having to look after the run down business when her parents unexpectedly go on a nostalgia tour, on the same day that her boyfriend Lawrence dumps her because he wants someone more out there. Left to manage a business that makes no money and that she knows nothings about Maddie is supported by her best friend Lou, and the bars long time employees, Jaz the quirky Lady Gags fashion look a like waitress, Simon, Lou's crush, Ruby du Jour (Rob) the bars resident drag Queen and Archie the elderly bartender. Oh and Loaf, a Meatloaf (or possibly the real things) look a like customer who only sings Bat our of Hell every week without fail. In order to make ends meet Maddie replies to an ad in the paper about a new reality Tv show. At first Maddie thought it would be a good way for the bar to make some money but she soon finds out that reality tv is not what we have been lead to believe it is.
This book has some funny bits mostly at Maddie's expense. It has the usual girl meets guy, girl finds guy was lying about something, guy comes to girl rescue and they live happily ever after. With the slight difference that this happens to two characters not one. The build up to the reveal of the bad guys and his demise is not boring but it had me reading until the end fairly quickly.

[Andrea (mrsaubergine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, any book which mentions so many fabulous 80s bands cannot be all that bad. There were even ones I had forgotten all about, like Baltimora. So I was totally in my element reading about Maddie and her 80s one-hit-wonder parents, aka Pineapple Mist, who get invited on a reunion tour and leave her in charge of their failing karaoke bar. In order to pay the bills, Maddie allows a TV crew in to film a reality show, which turns out to be a series of manipulated events by the producer with a hidden agenda, Evan.

The plot was a bit predictable, but the characters were engaging and I enjoyed the story a lot. I could have done with more Nick - it was hard to gauge his intentions because he was hardly in it, but I guess that was intentional so we didn't know too much how he was going to act at the end. I can totally see this as a film or TV movie because the scenes all played out so clearly in my head.

Having said I loved it, I'm not sure how this book would translate to someone not so versed in British or 80s culture. Kingsley uses a lot of Brit slang and cultural references which I suspect many on the other side of the Atlantic wouldn't understand, and I can only assume she is about my age given her love of Prefab Sprout and OMD. I loved that aspect, though, as it set the story firmly in London and the present day. There were a few typos in my Kindle edition, but I forgave those because the whole thing made me laugh out loud so often. The cover is also very pretty.

[Kate’s Book Spot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win this paperback book from a giveaway run by @Btweenthesheets on Twitter. I hadn’t heard anything about this book previously but I loved the fun, girly cover and was looking forward to reading it.

This was a bit of a slow starter for me, it began with a brief introduction to Maddie’s life and swiftly moved on to her current situation – being dumped by her boyfriend in a rather hurtful way.

When Maddie’s crazy parents decided to go on tour again they left Maddie to take charge of their karaoke bar, understandably this made her feel a bit overwhelmed and unprepared. After a suggestion from the bars resident drag queen, Maddie decided to throw herself into trying to revive the place. This was the point where it started to get interesting for me.

Everything that followed this was funny and witty, although maybe a bit predictable at times, it gave me plenty of laughs especially during an eventful bowling evening and an interesting Beyoncé impersonation.

Each chapter was headed by a song title, this was a really nice touch and, even though there were a few I didn’t know, I found myself singing along to those that I did.

This book highlighted the darker side of reality TV and a particular betrayal showed Maddie that she may have made the wrong choice in getting involved with the show.

A fun story with lots of drama and a good old happy ending, perfect if you’re looking for a laugh and a sing-song!

[Carol W · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a fabulous cast of friends and work colleagues, Maddie and co entertained me with a nostalgic look back over the music of the 80's, even though some of them were seeing the music as retro 80's and had not been there themselves.


I had to pause at the beginning of each new chapter as these were each titled after a famous track from my teen years, and I had to sing along, in my head. On the downside, and this is only a little downside, was that I found the many references to music slowed the story down a little.


The characters, even those with dubious intentions, had their own part to play in the future of Pinapple Mist, the Karaoke Bar that needed reviving and bringing into this century.


My favourite characters were Ruby and Louise. I have to say, I did not like Maddie at the beginning of the story. She was a little too dizzy for me and I was not happy that she jumped into a contract so casually.
This would all change as I followed her story and I changed my view of her.


If you lived for 80's music or love the retro feel of the 80's you will enjoy this novel.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maddie's parents were pop stars in the 80s and now run a down-at-heel karaoke bar in Soho. They leave her in charge while they're away on tour and in order to increase business Maddie signs the bar up to be the base for a reality TV show. Things don't go to plan.

I liked that this chick lit book had the unusual setting of a karaoke bar and that each chapter title is a song title. I also liked some of the characters, but otherwise found it all a bit ho-hum.

There really wasn't much (other than the setting) that was original and I found the whole cliche of the heroine repeatedly saying she won't do a particular thing (can't say what due to spoliers) and then it being pretty much the first thing she does, deeply annoying.

I also found the mis-use of a particular word twice in the book, i.e. the author thinks a particular verb means something it doesn't, grating.

So all in all, it was ok but I won't be eagerly anticipating Ella Kingsley's next book.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a blog competition a while back and have finally got around to reading it!
I enjoyed the characters, and the way that they and the karaoke club setting were described meant I could easily place myself there with them.
As a debut book, I thought it was enjoyable and I will definitely read Ella Kingsley's next book when it comes out.

[Amiee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely didn't expect to enjoy this book. I thought it was going to be really cringey, in fact the only reason I picked it up was because of the title - I'm a karaoke lover and the bright cover definitely draws you in too, plus it was only 50c in the Op shop - WIN.
It's very well written and I quite enjoyed the storyline :)

[Kylie G · Rating 1 out of 5]

on reading the back cover, had such promise but the book did not live up to expectations. in fact the only memorable thing about it is the names of the chapters are all songs. made it a playlist on my iPod, very good!!

[Aileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an ok read for me, I felt in some places it was good and funny, but I got bored in other places. It did remind me a lot of the 80s. Not sure I would recommend.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome debut!

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't be bothered finishing this book. I got to page 130 and gave up. It didn't hold my interest at all.