I hope everyone is staying safe and sane while the world is on pandemic induced lockdown. I have been bouncing between spurts of reading and puzzling (though I am thoroughly sick of puzzles) during my down time. I had the pleasure of devouring Poptastic recently. It’s a quick, novella-length, read that had me hooked.
Here’s the plot-
Julia is floating through life pretty passively as she bounces between internet dates and performing the bare minimum to keep her job. Life is stagnant as she struggles to move forward in any particular direction. Luckily, Julia has a solid group of lesbian buddies, two of which have just gotten engaged. Things change pretty quickly when Julia gets picked up during her birthday celebration by celebrity pop star, Krisha. Julia must navigate through the pressures of fame whilst balancing her social relationships and work obligations. Unfortunately, everything falls apart (to put it lightly) and we cringe though all of Julia’s bad decisions until everything is made right.
To be honest, I wasn’t confident that this was going to be a book I’d enjoy when it fell on my figurative doorstep. The blurb I read described it as a romantic comedy and the summary denotes the plot to wedding drama. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the “rom-com” was actually dry British humor and, though there is some wedding prep, the plot focuses on Julia’s progression of her becoming a better person and getting herself together. For these reasons, I’d categorize Poptastic into the rising genre of “New Adult.”
The character progression is great here. I did feel like after Julia reached “rockbottom” getting her life back on track was fairly convenient and felt a bit too easy, aside from one relationship which warranted a little more time. In all, this was a great chapter to capture in someone’s life. The narrative was quick, introspective, and a bit satirical (considering celebrity romance is a wide trope in lesbian fiction). There’s some heavier drama that is used as a “turning point”/climax which rocked what I would have considered an otherwise “lighter” plot. Nothing that didn’t work; I like a bit of angst.
This book has strong character focus, a writing style that strung me seamlessly along, and a love story that won we over in the end. Go grab yourself a copy of Poptastic!
Follow Victoria Holmes on Twitter: @Poptasticwriter and Instagram: @victoria_holmes_writer