Book Review
July 13, 2013
Dear Rockstar
by: Emme Rollins
★★★★ 4 Stars
BLURB ~ Sara is obsessed with rock star Tyler Vincent, and as she works to complete her senior year, she’s determined to find a way to meet him—although her best friend, Aimee, keeps telling her to find a different escape from her desperately violent home life.
Complications arise when Dale, the mysterious new transfer student, sets his sights on Sara, and she falls for this rock-star-in-the-making in spite of her better judgment. When Sara wins a contest, she is faced with a choice—travel to Tyler Vincent’s home town to meet him, or stay and support Dale in a Battle-of-the-Bands hosted by MTV.
Their triangulated relationship is pushed to its breaking point, but there is another, deeper secret that Dale’s been keeping that just may break things wide open...
Turn up your collar, feather your hair, and splash on some Polo, because we’re going back to the ‘80’s when MTV played music videos, there was no such thing as American Idol, and becoming a star meant doing nothing short of crazy for that one, big break.
REVIEW
*ARC given to me by author for honest review*
If you’re looking for a new rock-star read to sink your teeth into Dear Rockstar may be it. Dale may not be famous yet, but he’s a rock-star in the making and Sara has to learn to switch alliances for her future, one that does not include middle aged rocker Tyler Vincent who she’s been a bit obsessed with over the years.
I thought Dear Rockstar was a great read. It was in no way a typical rock-star story but instead the 80’s era timeline and Sara’s rock-star obsession are extremely understandable and reliable. She may have seemed like a crazy obsessed fan but in reality the idea of Tyler Vincent allowed her to escape reality and provide some sort of positive outlook for her future when the present was nothing but hell.
Sara is part of a continuing education program to receive her high school diploma after missing her senior year. Her and her friends all have their demons and reasons for re-going to school. Many joke about her Tyler Vincent obsession, but accept it since he’s been a part of Sara’s life for so long. She practically breathes Tyler Vincent from morning to night. That is until Dale strolls into her class one day and although he reminds her of Mr. Vincent she easily sees the difference and slowly falls for Dale and his own rockin’ rockerness. Dale has some obvious concerns with her Tyler fan-girl behavior but he doesn’t hold it against her.
Sara must learn to accept Dale into her life, even the dark parts. Dale has his share of secrets and it’s up to Sara to overlook them because in the long run Sara’s obsession was too perfect and she failed to see that even Tyler Vincent may not be perfect and certainly not perfect for her. Where the title comes in will shock you as it did me but I thought it was a great way to provide 'evidence' so to speak.
I really loved Dale’s dad. He reminded me of a mix between normal Jerry Garcia and Jerry Garcia on acid. In the grand scheme of things you can’t help but love him and also feel immense pain over the secrets he’s unaware of. I can’t decide if I think it would be better for him to know or remain clueless. Either way he was a great addition to the book and provided some semblance of fatherly normalcy for Sara.
Overall Dear Rockstar was a great read. Many of us born in the 70’s, 80’s or even 90’s can relate to Sara’s rocker love. She may veer more on the extreme side but this fantasy allows her a happy place when home basically sucks. Tyler Vincent has been her escape plan for years, obviously most of her plans were far-fetched and thankfully Dale helps her realize this. If rockers and neon legwarmers are your thing, I highly recommend Dear Rockstar. There are of course Adult themes and sexual situations that fogged up my glasses. But Dear Rockstar is definitely NA and joy to read even if I wish there were more 80’s hairdos, outfits and references. Great read, don’t miss it.
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