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Play Shop: Let's Pretend Sets

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Let's Pretend is a novel about the world of acting and fame, and the kinds of performances it causes people to undertake. When former child star Lily Thane is approached by her old stage school acquaintance Adam Harker for a fake romance to stun the red carpet with, it seems like a great opportunity. It seems like maybe her struggling acting career could be on the rise, but she'll have to content with their toxic dynamic. When Adam is found dead in a swimming pool, Lily knows something was up, and gets drawn into finding out who supplied the drugs that killed him, and if they're still dangerous.

This is definitely acts as a reminder too that you can never know what truly goes on in a relationship unless you are in it; contrary to what the press would have you read!

This book really moves at a pace and I found it really compelling (especially the first half). We follow the main character, Lily, a former child actor who has really done nothing of note for some time. When she bumps into an old stage school companion, Adam, she is drawn into his (more successful) world. This is a contemporary fiction that centres around a young film-star couple, Lily Thane and Adam Harker. But Adam is a slippery fish with a temper. He is horrid to be around when in a bad mood and it’s not all red carpets and show stopping events. One evening when returning from a solitary walk, she finds Adam’s body, face down in a swimming pool. As no one else seems to care, it’s down to Lily to find out who did this to Adam as she doesn’t believe he will have taken his own life.

Finally, let’s talk about the theme of the novel: pursuit and loss. Vaughan not only masterfully dissects the world of minor celebrities and the lengths people are willing to take to earn their Warholian 15 minutes of fame. She looks at the intrinsic needs for it. Whether it’s a family tradition, peer pressure, or overbearing parents – fame can be equal to success, regardless of the cost. But becoming famous is only one side of the slightly rusty and misshapen coin. On the flip side, there is a fear of losing it. We’ve all experienced loss, and Laura Vaugh is not afraid to not only remind us what it feels like but that no one is immune to it. Lily Thane is a struggling actress so when she meets her old pal from stage school Adam Harker and he suggests she act as his partner in a media fuelled "Faux-Mance" she jumps at the chance for any limelight. We attract. And repel. Our dreams, desires, people, opportunities; anything we consciously invite into our lives comes in with everything it has to offer. Success comes with heartbreak. Happiness comes with foreboding. Holidays come with post-holiday blues. Relationships come with heartbreak… A clever, darkly entertaining and suspenseful mystery, yielding an intriguing and immersive, fly-on-the-wall peep behind the showbiz scenes. Intelligent, fun and twisty, with echoes of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Robinne Lee. This book started off slowly and took sometime to get into, there was a lot of stuff at the beginning which didn't particularly add to the story, and quite a lot of characters that I found hard to link up. There is a lot in here about the darker side of acting and the route to fame, and for someone who is not living in this world it is all a bit foreign and hard to relate to. Once the story got going I did enjoy reading it, though, and then as I neared the end it became more gripping as I waited to see who had done the crime.

Within the first few chapters (and as detailed in the synopsis) we learn that Lily finds Adam’s lifeless body in a swimming pool, it’s not clear how this came to be. Lily’s old stage-school friend from many moons, Adam Harker is on the brink to huge success, but to keep up appearances needs a ‘trusted’ life companion. Let’s Pretend has been a really eye-opening read portraying the dark side ready lurking behind the outward persona of those in the public eye. Conversely, Adam Harker's career is on the ascendancy. Having attended the same stage school as Lily, they had acted together when they were young, but he's like a different person now, having grown into his film-star looks and effortlessly exuding charm. I really liked the latter part of the book as Lily is convinced all is not quite as it seems in terms of Adam’s death. I was intrigued to learn more, just like Lily, and particularly loved the final chapters in this section of the book as there were lots of things that took me by surprise! I would have liked a little more detail as the ending felt a little bit rushed, but I really liked the unexpected turns and thought it was very clever! I also liked how character driven this book was; there were definitely some shady characters along the way!

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