Hollywood High

Hollywood High #1

by Ni-Ni Simone

They’re the daughters of celebrities—the kind all the teen mags gossip about! But the It Girls of Hollywood High are about to discover that fame has a price. And no friendship—or romance—is safe….
London Phillips will diet as her mother demands. She’ll even date the billionaire her mother has chosen for her. But she won’t give up her secret hottie, Justice Banks. She and Justice plan to elope—right after he becomes a hip-hop superstar. All he has to do is seduce a media mogul’s darling daughter, Rich Montgomery, and a record deal is his! But he better remember London is really his girl…

Rich is so lucky to have a BFF like London. It was London who introduced her to dreamy Justice. Little does she know that her new heartthrob is about to cause a media explosion that will change this spoiled princess’s life forever…

Spencer Ellington hates to see a billionaire go to waste. That’s why she’s hooking up with London’s boyfriend, Anderson Ford. London may not be in love with Anderson, but she believes he’ll do anything for her. Just wait till she finds out the only thing Anderson is doing is Spencer…

Heather Cummings wants in with the It Girls to secure the spotlight for her actress mother.

But when she stumbles upon a secret about the father she never knew, she discovers she has ties to the clique so scandalous it may just bring Hollywood High’s in-crowd to their knees!

Genres: Romance, Urban, Drama, Young Adult, Contemporary

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Amy Topping · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jackie Collins trash for teenagers. It was a quick read, I read it in a day, but I did not enjoy this book. I hated the "boom boom pop" slang used in the dialogue ( I don't know a single teenager that talks that way) & the only likable character in the entire book was Vera the Trinidadian maid. I couldn't feel sorry for any of these girls & their troubles. I suppose if you enjoyed shows like Laguna Beach or the Hills this would be a great book for you. Just not my cup of tea.

[Merary · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know you are getting old when teenage drama in fiction no longer impresses you.

If everyone knows my history, I'm a sucker for trashy fiction about backstabbing bitches and rich folks. It would be a disservice to compare it to Gossip Girl because that's like the blueprint, but at this point, rich teen drama is all the same. Hollywood High is about a group of "friends" called the Pampered Princesses who have parents in the entertainment industry. You better get used to these girls having a huge ego about it because they will never shut up about their parents being more famous than real-life celebrities. Yes, really.

The main plot revolves around boys which got old after a while. London Phillips is supposed to be with this guy, but she has a secret boyfriend on the side; Spencer Ellington is hooking up with London's boyfriend because she feels like it, and Rich Montgomery also has a boyfriend, but he is kind of forgettable until you realize that all teenage boys in this book are just as despicable as everyone else. Meanwhile, Heather Cummings is a teen actress with an abusive mother who has her own problems. Spoiler alert: It is drugs.

Let me be honest: The drama was going nowhere and it kept repeating over and over. We get it, they are supposed to be rich bitches, but this book never took a break from that. I love me some juicy drama, but this was exhausting! It was pretty hard to root for any of these girls because of their unlikeable personalities, but it was a good thing the parents were worse because that was the only way I could sympathize with them. Hell, I wanted CPS to go after them!

LISTEN, I truly enjoyed Gossip Girl and The Clique because of their absurd drama, but I still felt the characters were human. Hollywood High's absurdity sometimes reached cartoony levels and I was baffled at what I was reading. And yet, I couldn't look away and wanted to see where this was going. I laughed at some points, not because of its comedy, but its badness. However, it was the kind of badness that was entertaining, so I give it props for not boring me to death.

There are more books in the series and I'm hopeful that it does get better and that the characters do get some growth. If I don't get any of that, well, I will have no problem putting it under my list of the worst book series I've ever read. And trust me, I'm ruthless if necessary.

[Kamilah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Typical Ne-Ne Simone story, the main characters are so curvaceous and ghetto-fabulous. They can't function without a boyfriend and everywhere they go they're all the way turned up and ratchet (especially Rich, she's so loud). I like Ne-Ne's other books but these girls are ghetto, loud, mean, stupid, and only care about looks and materialistic things. These characters have no depth in my opinion and not what a young woman in high society should be like. Boo to this dumb story.

[Natilee Joyner]

In this book there are four main characters: London Phillips, Rich Montgomery, Spencer Ellington, and Heather Cummings. London is the type of girl who has that I don't care what you think about me attitude towards people. She's stuck with her mom trying to make her into this whole super model when really she's not , and now has to go to school hoping that nobody is better than her. Now Rich she's a little more different, she thinks she rules everything that go on in the world. Everything has to be her way or nobody way. Rich always know the drama that goes around , and know only how to care for herself. Spencer is pretty much the messy one out of the group. If she see that you not doing a good job with your boyfriend she will take him from you in a heartbeat. She feels the need to say anything at any moment when not even caring if it hurt your feelings, as long as she has the glory she is okay. Last is Heather, the one who always try to keep everything to a minimum but if you cross the wrong side of her she will be in your face in a hot little minute. She tries her best to be everybody friend but when noticing all the trouble that she has to go threw she let people go.
Besides them four there are a few basic people in the book. Heathers mom Mrs. Cummings is an drunk who doesn't care what her daughter does. The only thing she ever care about is making sure she looks good. She s never in the mood to discuss anything to Heather or participate in her life. She does things when she's ready. Co-Co was the manager of Heather who always told her anything and what everybody was planning on doing. Next theirs Rich mother that is making sure that Rich and Spencer share everyday of the their life together simply because she's a good role model in her eyes. From this point on there is no other character that share some type of achievement with the girls.
This book contains drama, romance, and a little mix of mystery. It was set in present time , maybe around 2000 and located in the rich areas of Hollywood. Most of the time action would take place in the school that all four girls attend, for example every time they seem to argue they would be at school. Many times throughout the book the girls would get into it with each other. Or one of them would be getting in trouble for trying to do harm to each other. Everybody in the group has that one role that they are aiming for and for these girls its being the best of the click. London is trying to fix everything to make everybody realize that they are all equal, while Rich and Spencer try to be good of friends, but every single time Spencer is always going behind their back to screw up there life. She's taking her best friend boyfriend , while the other girls are trying to figure out how to get revenge on everyone at once. With London trying to struggle with depression of fighting between her to lovers she finally finds somebody that's good for her. The girls are trying their best to stay best friends simply because their parents are very close to one another. At the end of the book all four girls put together an Diamond and Stilettos Masquerade party to show all the hottest styles that they have came up with. They only pretend to go through with the message just to show their parents that they have had the chance to work out everything.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving Hollywood High four stars for bringing the funny on nearly every page. I haven't laughed this much reading any book or movie EVER. Rich, Heather, London and Spencer were FANTABULOUS! I loved each and every one of them. This book was over the top ridiculous but showed a realistic view of what overindulgence and low management/parenting could do to teenagers. Although the girls had "the life" they were all miserable and controlled in a way that most people on the outside looking in would never believe or understand. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a funny laugh out loud good time.

Even though Hollywood High is about four reckless spoiled teens, their boyfriends, betrayals and crazy non sensical antics I wouldn't let those facts detour from reading this book.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally got around to reading some of my copy I won and just couldn't get into it. For me, the writing style was fine. The slang however was the downfall for me. I unfortunately couldn't finish reading it and wanted to like it, but just couldn't get into the book.

[Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not enjoyable.

Toxic relationship city. Stoped reading 60% into the story. The humor was pity laugh at best. None of the characters were likable, maybe Knox and Spencer nanny? Extremely disappointed.

[Jartima · Rating 4 out of 5]

love it !!!

[Page · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m the first to raise my hand and say I’m not the target audience.

But.

This book is actively toxic.

DNFed after blatant homophobia led to a hate crime - two of the protagonists use homophobic slurs before they beat up a gay student and put him in the hospital - and then they bribed their way out of consequences.

For the record, the real Hollywood High is a public high school in a lower income neighborhood and isn’t anything at all like the depiction in the book. Beverly Hills High isn’t like the depiction in the book. Not even private LA high schools Harvard Westlake or the Brentwood School or Buckley are like the school in the book.

This book doesn’t even serve good trashy melodrama - the characters are all mean and stupid.

[Paige Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.7/5: though this is voiced by high school London, I’m imagining the lovely Miss New York because no one is as fabulously sassy and rhinestone jeans cute as her. Rich is pretty similar w/ the OTT early 00s haughty slang you hear in Disney movies, but she stiletto-stomps on a jugular sooner. The threat of tabloid blackmail just for giving her a hug and smelling of cheap perfume. Spencer is the next POV, the only one with actual bragging rights as a TV star but addicted to pain pills and abused by her mom. There’re a few too many characters webbed up with the others, so though the food and fist fights are fun, it could be cut back and less chatty to where everything blends.

[Lalaloopey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very messy. The main cast don't like each other. They pick sides, backstab, and insult each other in craziest ways. They forgive each other in the middle of the book but then go behind each other's back and do messy things. But I like the way the author talks about the serious topics. None of the girls' lives are perfect and they all have serious problems at home. Drug use, teenage pregnancy, weight struggles, abusive and neglectful parents, suicide, and struggles to meet parents approval. And not just the main cast, side characters have struggles too. And their struggles affect the way they act to some degree. If you want to read about serious topics, this is not the book.

[Ramiyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains elements of romance, mystery, and drama. London Phillips, Rich Montgomery, Spencer Ellington, and Heather Cummings are the four main characters. London, Rich, and Heather are all wealthy and have wealthy parents. Spencer, on the other hand, isn't quite as well-off as the other girls. They all attend Hollywood High School. One girl becomes pregnant, another is cheated on, and one attempts suicide. This book appeals to me because it is interesting and has taught me many valuable lessons. Some of the characters were also relatable to me.

[Melinda Crews Kirkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the acknowledgments, I thought this book was going to be more on the Christian side since the author thanked Jesus Christ. Boy, was I wrong! This book has cuss words and adult-themed sex between teens. It does deal with things that teens face, though, such as sex, drugs, teen pregnancy and the push to be very thin in order to be a model.

[Amanda Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere in my freshman year of high school, I stumbled upon these series at Barnes & Noble. Although the first 3 books kept me interested, the plot soon began to repeat itself throughout the series. I was having horrible Deja vu.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

[E Fluellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

More low than high

Unable to appreciate the writing style, story line or characters. Others may enjoy. Personally, I hate not completing books but this was painfully difficult.

[Zoë · Rating 2 out of 5]

ew.



ive always wanted to read Ni-Ni, but ig this wasn't a book to start off with....

[Nyah ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was just feeding my addictions!!!!

[Julie Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Opinion: I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story is about four rich girls who call themselves the Pampered Princesses and go to a school called Hollywood High, which they rule from their table in the center of the lunch room. Their names are London, Rich, Spencer and Heather, and they are all about letting everybody else know that they are the creme de la creme of the Hollywood scene, and even though they try to put on a united front, the fact that they can't stand each other is pretty obvious to anybody within earshot. They turn on each other constantly and even though we find out that under all of their strutting and bragging they each have a crappy home life with pushy and even abusive parents, I found it very hard to care about them. They aren't very likable and they can be downright cruel when they don't get their way. They proudly admit that other than Heather, who plays a crazy character named Wu-Wu in a sitcom, they are filthy rich and famous for no "gawt-damn" reason at all. They are all about drama, drama, drama, and boys, boys, boys, and if they aren't the center of attention, they will act out and make sure that they are.

At first glance, all you see are four spoiled little rich girls who expect everything to be handed to them on a diamond studded platter, but as you read on, you find out that all is not as it seems behind the scenes. They all have secrets that they try to bury so no one will realize that they aren't happy at all with the way their lives are going and they have no one at home who really gives a damn what they do, as long as they don't end up in the headlines, which given the way that they act, is asking quite a lot of them! When they turn on one another, things get down and dirty real fast.

I have to confess that half of the time I had no idea what they were saying (due to some really crazy slang that I've never heard before) but I was always able to get the gist of what was going on.

I really tried to feel something for these girls when I read about their tragic pasts and their parents, some of whom should never have been allowed to have children in the first place, but the way they talk and act makes them look like stereotypical rich bitches, and even worse than that, they were portrayed as needing a man to make them feel good about themselves, which is not the message I would want my daughter to take away from a book. I thought their behavior might change and that they might experience some personal growth by the end of the book, but I was very disappointed when they only seemed to get worse and worse.

Don't get me wrong - there were some very funny parts of the book that made me smile while I was reading it, and there were flashes of insight that the characters experienced that I thought would make them clean up their acts a bit, but that didn't happen. They had no self control and when they got mad, especially at each other, the claws came out and it wasn't pretty.

Basically, I really tried to enjoy this book, and did in fact like some parts of it, but overall when I finished the book, I decided that I wasn't going to read the rest of the series since I expect it would be more of the same. It was a quick read and it might appeal to teenagers but I can't really recommend it just because I managed to finish it. As usual, I would tell everyone to decide on their own whether or not to read it as mine is only one opinion out of many. Because there were areas that were funny and there were a few insightful moments in the girls' lives, I am going to give this book 3 stars.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, this book really intrigued me personally, given the fact that it was authored around African American teenage girls, like me (except I'm not rich!) But this book also slightly offended me. These girls are very ignorant, and they are just playing into "the man's" plan by always trying to "set it off". Very stereotypical! But overall, the plot was predictable and drug out... but there were lessons learned and taught to every character, except Heather, or WuWu to her fans, but we'll get back to her later.

London, Spencer, Rich, and Heather are a part of the Pampered Princesses, the" tightest" clique at Hollywood High. They all may be wealthy, but they still face the same challenges that an average teenage girl would have to tackle, except the paparazzi and constant headlines. But onto the characters' personalities.

Rich Montgomery is the most conceited out of all the girls. She is beyond spoiled! But what's so significant about Rich is that she is an "attention whore", who calls the media whenever something happens just to keep her name in everybody's mouth. Her motto is " All publicity is good publicity". But after being spread over the internet, basically ruining her image, she gets a serious reality check!

London Phillips has a supermodel mother who is often away on business, but when she is home, she makes sure that London's weight meets "supermodel standards". London will suffer through any diet her mom wants her to, but she will not give up her secret lover, Justice. He is a secret because he is considered "low money" in her parents' eyes. But she "dates" a dud named Anderson, but it's not real, but her parents think they really love each other, when in fact they both actually hate each other.

Spencer is not the brightest crayon in the box if you know what I mean! But, she is smart enough not to let anyone's man go to waste! Throughout the book, she displays ignorance, simplicity, and just downright stupidity! But, she is definitely a sweetheart when helping Heather with all of her woes.

Heather Cummings is surprisingly my favorite character! She stars in her own hit sitcom, "The WuWu Tanner Show". This is her source of income, not her wealthy parents, she earns her own dough, but her life is far from perfect. Heather is a drug addict! She snorts every pill under the Sun. Also, her mother, Camille Cummings, is trying to make an acting comeback herself, but it's not too successful. Camille is also living off of her very successful daughter, which means that she pays no bills! So, since she is Heather's mom she thinks that she can run her, but Heather is not havin' it!

All in all, the Pampered Princesses are frenemies who pretend to be the best of friends for their images. Even though socialites live in an entirely different world than most, they still face most of the same challenges as an average teen!

[Romancing the Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Valerie
Book provided by the publisher for review
Review originally posted at Romancing the Book

Four girls, London, Rich, Spencer, and Heather, going to Hollywood High wearing their bling, roaring up in customized cars, and flashing their smiles…underneath all the glamour are four very selfish girls trying to outdo the other. London’s father is a high-profile lawyer and her mom a supermodel. Rich’s parents are a poor rapper turned business mogul and her mom a former groupie. Spencer’s parents are never around and her closest family is the housekeeper. Heather’s mom is a washed-up wannabe drunk and won’t tell her who her dad is…

As you get to know the girls and all their drama, you find out that they are selfish because it’s all they know. There are no nice family vacations with loving parents and siblings. There are no memories of being tucked in at night after being read to. There are daily scale weigh-ins with sighs of disappointment from a mom, mother-daughter fights involving pills and booze, as well as lonely nights with no parents around.

At school, it’s on! The girls are constantly watched and in the middle of all sorts of drama involving boys, cell phone pics, videos, and who is with who. As you read their stories, each chapter told by a different girl, you begin to care for them and hope that they can make it through the maze of their lives. At the end, a reference is made to watch out for more from Hollywood High which would be great as many questions are left unanswered.

I did find that the story flowed and I enjoyed it but did feel a disconnect from the girls’ lavish lifestyles. Also, for mature teen readers 16+ due to sexual situations.

Favorite Quote: My life was nothing about me.
It was all about them.
Their money.
Their image.
Their dreams.
Their wishes.
Their plans for me.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won Hollywood High on a Goodreads Giveaway.

To be completely honest, this book was just not my cup of tea both with the content and with the style of writing. I think the author did a good job of portraying these rich Hollywood teenagers with their language, attitude and drama, drama, drama. However, I lacked a lot of interest in the content and I felt like the level of reading was more appropriate for a younger age group than myself. Hollywood High may be more appropriate for teenage readers than those in their 20's.

[Keniesha Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok I don't recommend this book for maybe people over 21. I loved this book it had all slang in us teenagers like me '16' use with friends. A lot of drama drama towards the middle and end I recommend this for teenagers and younger

[Kiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVEEEEE IT

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic.

[Ticia Romero · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok book

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy it much, but I think teens would like it.

[Leah T. Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maury in print

[Shania Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never knew someone could be this stuck up.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

OH MY GOODNESSSSS no. I read 3 pages.. I can't stand how this is written. It has this ghetto voice to it and I can't handle it. I'm sure the plot is better but I can't make it through with the style.