The Secret Diamond Sisters by Michelle Madow (ARC Review)
Release date: February 25th 2014
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Number of pages: 384
My rating: 2/5
This is definitely one of those it’s not you, it’s me books. Some people will love it and find it
fun, while others will find it annoying.
The Diamond sisters never knew their dad. When their mother
has to go to rehab, they go to live with their dad. Well, it turns out that
their dad is really rich, and they get to live on the top floor of his huge-ass
hotel on the Vegas Strip. There are a couple of guys, one bitchy girl, and a
shitload of expensive brands mentioned. Yep, that’s pretty much it.
The characters all start off likable. Savannah--the youngest
sister at fifteen--seems a little immature and materialistic, but realistic for
her age. Courtney (sixteen years old) seems likeable and hardworking. Peyton
(seventeen years old) is a bit more bitter and has strong opinions, but her
emotions seem justified.
Then they get to Vegas and all start to go downhill.
Savannah becomes more and more annoying as her immaturity and shallowness
starts to show. Courtney becomes boring. Peyton becomes an outright bitch, and
her opinions that previously seemed justified just seem bitchy and extreme.
Savannah, Courtney, and Peyton are nothing when compared to
Oliver and Damien. Two guys who I cannot tell apart for the life of me, they’re
complete jerks who show up way too much. They aren’t even interesting jerks
(yes, it is possible for a jerk to be interesting). They’re just complete
dickheads for no reason whatsoever.
Adrian Diamond (the girls’ father) doesn’t really appear
much. He hands the girls black American Express cards, Macbooks, and iPhones
before pretty much telling them to do whatever the hell they want as long as
they don’t cause bad press. Honestly, to tell that to a bunch of teenage girls
is pretty unrealistic.
Madison is the typical mean girl, but she is tolerable and
smart. I wanted her to be more fleshed out, because she had so much potential
to be an interesting antagonist. Instead, she just acts like a complete bitch
and hates on the Diamond Sisters for no reason. You know, people aren’t mean
for no reason. There’s always some sort of backstory that causes someone to
become bitter and cruel.
The lack of plot in this novel is astounding. It features
little more than the sisters traipsing around the rich areas of Vegas and going
to clubs. Oh, and there’s heaps of boy drama, none of which is any good. People
who do not like reading about boy drama and rich people living their lives
should be wary of this book, because it does not feature much more than that.
Also, I want to bring up a really, really annoying part of
the book: why the hell is everyone drinking all the time? Yes, it is normal for
teenagers to drink a little. But it is not normal for a bunch of teenagers to
walk around the hottest clubs in Vegas drinking every night. They don’t even
use fake IDs, but they manage to drink all the time. Oliver manages to gamble
and get hammered all the time. While some people might find this aspect of the
book fun and interesting, others will find it unrealistic and laughable.
A book that definitely will not appeal to everyone, I
recommend this to fans of TV shows/movies/books about rich people and boy
drama. I won’t be reading the next book.
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