So You Wanna Be A Pop Star?: A Choices Novel

by Zachary Sergi

An energetic, interactive YA novel about five solo pop artists navigating drama, finding their sound, and discovering what it truly takes to chase their dreams of music stardom after being forced into a pop group together.  Everly Brooks knows she has what it takes to be the next big singer-songwriter. At least, that's if she could get her onstage presence to stop feeling so wooden and blossom like her rich, moving lyrics. The reality signing competition, SO YOU WANNA BE A POP STAR ? is her chance at proving to the world—and herself—that her talent and artistry can mean something more than just live streams and online videos. Vinny Vecchi thought he was heading toward a life full of makeup, wigs, and werking it on the drag stages of NYC. But a powerful diva voice is a precious thing to waste and, in need of money to make his drag dreams come true, SO YOU WANNA BE A POP STAR? is the next best thing. However, surrounded by competitors with clear brands and sharpened musical identities, he wonders if he can break through while still discovering himself. When a group performance on the show goes viral overnight, Everly and Vinny find their careers unexpectedly tied together. Along with their competitors—influencer Dea Seo, pop-punk CeCe Winnifred, and heartthrob Stern Green—these five artists are forced to become the newest pop super Jeweltones. You, the reader, get to make choices that will make or break Everly, Vinny, and the group’s meteoric rise in this interactive novel. Will you mend the cracks to help Jeweltones shine bright, or will they burn out under pressure? The choices are yours to make!

Genres: LGBT, Young Adult, Contemporary

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2023

About the author

Zachary Sergi is the author of several print novels (including Love And Video Games and Major Detours) and nearly a dozen interactive novels (including the Heroes Rise and Versus series). Zachary was raised in Manhattan, studied Creative Writing at Regis High School and the University of Pennsylvania, and now lives in Los Angeles with his husband, where he also writes for television. Learn more at zacharysergi.com or by following @zacharysergi on TikTok or @zacharysergiwriter on Instagram.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you RP Teens for my copy of So You Wanna Be a Pop Star by Zachary Sergei. What a great book about friendship, unity, and divatude!

I love this type of choose-your-own adventure style of a story, and Zachary writes them so well! I love how the book connected in the end. Now, if you’re looking for something that’s more of a puzzle to figure out, then I do recommend Major Detours, which I really felt more in-control of how that one ended.

If you’re looking for something that’s a more modern story with lots of drama and more about the journey, SYWBAPS is the book for you!

Either way, you’re in for a great read.

[Anniek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember having a choices novel as a kid and revisiting it to read the story in different ways several times. I also love choice-based narrative videogames, like Life Is Strange. So I was VERY excited to try this queer YA choices novel, especially since it's about a pop group, and I LOVE books about music and celebrities.

At the start of the book, you get presented the choice to read the full novel from front to back, or, for the full experience, to follow the interactive option. Wanting to experience this book as it was intended, I decided to go with the interactive route for my first read-through, which is what my review is based on. I do intend to revisit the book eventually and read it through completely to see where the other choices would have led.

This didn't prove possible reading the eARC, which was formatted very poorly and made it pretty much impossible to keep track of the possible choices and follow through on them, so I waited for my preorder to arrive to review this.

Luckily my preorder arrived shortly, so I could finally actually read this, and I had a really fun time. In the back of the book is a reading guide to keep track of your choices, but I decided to use sticky tabs instead to mark every choice I made in the book.

Reviewing the choice aspect of the book, I would say I had a lot of fun, but I felt like the choices could have impacted the story, and particularly the ending, more. I would have expected several different storylines to unfold, leading to different possible endings, but unfortunately, every choice eventually led back to the main storyline, which didn't change based on your choices. I think there was potential to explore the choice-based narration more, but I will say it was fun to see how some choices impacted the story again later on.

Reviewing the actual content, I thought this was a really fun queer contemporary. I love books about pop music and celebrities, and this was delightfully messy but with a lot of heart. Every band member felt distinctive, and had a unique style.

I would definitely recommend this as a fun queer YA, and the choice aspect just adds a fun interactive element.

[Christine]

DNF'd about 30 pages in. I was excited to read a YA choose-your-own-adventure-style novel, but this wasn't quite that. You, the reader, do not really direct the story itself; it was quickly evident that whichever decision you pick, you are directed to the same page afterward. I looked up some reviews to see if this changes as you go, but it sounds like the reader's choices don't ultimately impact the overall plot or ending, something that would likely be important to a choose-your-own-adventure reader.

I didn't read long enough to determine if I liked the characters, tone, or writing style because I was originally drawn to it because of the intriguing "choices" aspect - the plot itself doesn't interest me particularly, and being perfectly honest, I don't have the energy for the small font size right now. I would point a reader to this if they expressed interest in a story about the music/entertainment industry, but wouldn't give it to someone looking for choose-your-own-adventure.

[Ve (ve_xo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge thanks to RP for sending my daughter a copy! She enjoyed this book. I will be adding her review here via my goodreads since she doesnt have one. :)

Penny's review:
"The characters were amazing! I loved the cast and their personalities. I am obsessed with the way the author made each character so unique but at the same time they were looking forward to the same thing. Another thing that was really cool to read was how the author came up with so many lyrics! I aspire to be an author someday and cannot wait to incorporate that into my own work in a future.

I enjoyed the pick your own destiny format, however, it wouldve been great to see a bit more options towards the end. This didnt stop me from loving the book for sure and I definitely intend to add more by this author to my tbr.

thank you RP for sending my mom a copy! This was a great addition to my library."

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher
The basic story was ok, but not that interesting. It only has the viewpoint of two of the five main characters. I was left wanting either chapters from all of the band members or chapters from only one viewpoint. I was expecting more from a choices novel. The choices in this book didn't really make a difference to the story. You would have two options, the exception being during songwriting sessions, that led to the same outcome that was just vague and general enough that whatever you chose would fit. Most of the choices can be completely skipped or skimmed and the story isn't affected because of the way it is written.
If you are reading this for the choice element, I would skip it.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Running Press Kids for the e-ARC of this book to read and review. I'd rate this one a 3.5 star read! I wasn't able to take advantage of the "choose your own adventure" feature of this book in my ARC Kindle copy, so I can't really comment on that element beyond confirming that, as the author says from the star, you can read right through and have a cohesive story. I really enjoyed this cast of characters, who were all dynamic and you could tell they were developed personalities with star power qualities. They're all looking to be recording artists, and they're all from a competition singing show, but they have to balance solo goals with their opportunities for kickstarting their careers - and also stardom. I'm a pop culture fangirl for sure, and it was very clear that this story was (either? both?) very personal to the author's interests and/or very well researched, because it lingered over moments of TV boy band/girl group history and contextualized the phenomenon and the onstage/offstage dynamic incredibly well. (Yes, it's very manufactured, but when it's done right, the singing competition shows can churn out major stars and influential bands, and it's not always a solo journey!)

I would say that I *did* have a bit of trouble imagining this group's sound, so a lot of the lyrics felt like flat words on the page to me. I could pretend I was hearing a major pop song or a star reality television moment, but that then would seem generic when it's been made clear that these particular cast of singers come from all different musical backgrounds and influences and therefore wouldn't sound like the made-for-TV stuff I could dream up. I ultimately couldn't connect to their music, which seemed like an important part of the story.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of ‘interactive’ or ‘choices’ novels so that part immediately intrigued me, but the story itself is the sorta thing I liked so I was both excited & curious to read this. And I can’t compare it to any others but it was still really well written!

I won’t describe the story too much as it’s pretty much what the title/blurb says it is, but it was definitely a mystery throughout trying to work out the puzzle. I did like tho how well it all connected together at the end! But aside from the puzzle, it also had a lot of teenage drama, divas, friendship & found family! This is also the sorta book that’s less about the ending/conclusion & more about what happens to reach it! Which is personally my type of book so if it’s yours too then I highly recommend!!

Thank you to netgalley & the publishers for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was certainly a softer choices-type novel in that the choices will lead you to the same ultimate conclusion, but I loved the ride it took me on. Multi-faceted journeys of self-acceptance and self-sabotage, finding courage and collaboration, and struggling with life changes are perspectives everyone can relate to, inside an “in your wildest dreams" story.
My only criticism is that I would’ve liked to see the ending played out a little further. Ending it as their performance ended provided a great visual, but did force a bunch of “viral moments” into one scene, which I think in reality would be a bit of a visual train wreck. It built so far, then I was taken out of it at the last minute as we rushed to give every moment a big payoff.
In the end, I’d still read it again. Fun story with great lessons. Thank you RP for sending me a copy!

[Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun idea. I liked the setting, the music and the characters but I was expecting more from the choices. I learned early on that my choices were pretty meaningless - to the overall story.

It doesn't matter which option you choose each time, they both lead to the same pages and make little difference.

For the most part, it's kind of more like choosing small interactions that show the character's personality, rather than controlling their destiny.

A fun idea but I would have really loved the choices you made to have had some kind of drastic change to the overall story. With extremely different consequences and endings.

*Free e-copy received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Destiny Bridwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have been a fan of pop music for a long time and the getting to make choices along the way to be part of the story was a cool touch. I love the characters and each were so different they did not get lost in the story. Them being put together when each of them have there own goals and dreams it was great. I would love to read more books like this one. It kept me turning the pages to see what they were going to do next in their adventures in the music business.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.
DNFed at 25%.

Couldn't really get used to the "pick your own adventure" format and the story wasn't particularly captivating to me... But it's still a unique book that I would recommend to people if it seems like something you're interested in!

[kandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf'd 75% through. hate how this was advertised as a "choose your own adventures" book when NONE of the choices make an impact on the story and they all just lead you to the same pages. dialogue was also cringe at times and very "millennial trying to relate to gen z vibes". story was also not that interesting and i was barely invested.

[Kirstyn (readwithkirstyn) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and interesting "choose your own adventure" novel that will let you live out your pop star dreams!

[Megan]

This was okay! Not as "choose your own" as I wanted it to be since all the outcomes seemed to be pretty much the same. But a cool idea in concept!