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Review: Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby

Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby
Published by Walker USA




Meet Josephine Foster, or Zo Jo as she’s called in the biz. The best pint-sized photographer of them all, Jo doesn’t mind doing what it takes to get that perfect shot, until she’s sent on an undercover assignment to shoot Ned Hartnett—teen superstar and the only celebrity who’s ever been kind to her—at an exclusive rehabilitation retreat in Boston. The money will be enough to pay for Jo’s dream: real photography classes, and maybe even quitting her paparazzi gig for good. Everyone wants to know what Ned’s in for. But Jo certainly doesn’t know what she’s in for: falling in love with Ned was never supposed to be part of her assignment.

Shooting Stars is a heartfelt and enjoyable YA contemporary read which makes you think about the important things in life.

The story follows Jo a pint-sized teen paparazzi who uses her tinyness to her advantage to get into venues her competitors can't in a bid to take pictures of hollywood stars, the proceeds from which she's saving up to fund a college course in the not so distant future. Because she is so young she is offered an under cover job at a teen facility to get pictures of a teen music star Ned Hartnett. The money is too good to turn down so Jo takes the job.

Whilst in the facility Jo gets to meet Ned and gets to know him and through the interactions she has with him she starts to realise that maybe taking the job wasn't the right thing to do. She attempts to take a few pictures but feels bad about it and then has to dodge questions from her boss about what she is doing with her time.

I won't go into too much more detail about what happens in the story but I loved how things turned out and the revelations that were made she you got to know Ned in more detail. I particularly loved the twist and seeing the way in which the story played out as it had a real message to tell about fame and the role of paparazzi in showbiz. I particularly loved the relationship built up between Jo and Ned throughout the story and would love to see a sequel to see more of their story.

A really enjoyable contemporary novel which kept me engaged throughout.

Comments

Fab review, I really like the sound of this one.
I Love the sound of this one and I really want to read it, its been on the wishlist forever! I'm glad you enjoyed it
I really enjoyed this one too-it's just a great cute contemp read for an afternoon with some surprising extra depth.