Kylie Adams Bling Addiction

Bling Addiction

Kylie Adams

MTV, Aug 2006, $9.95

ISBN: 1416520412

At the graduation of the class of 2006 of the Miami Academy of Creative & Performing Arts, Bijou Ross, the valedictorian, sadly denotes that one of their students failed to make it. She thinks that the Fab five as she thought of this fast crowd are now the frightened four as one has failed to attend the graduation because they vanished and are assumed dead.

Wealthy Vanity St. John is already making a name for herself until her former boyfriend Jayson James offers an erotic video of her that he took without her permission. Impoverished Dante Medina dreams of making it big in the hip-hop world and with Vanity, but the former remains an aspiration and the latter too hot and cold to deal with. Max Biaggi, Jr. does not want to follow in the footsteps of his famous Hollywood dad; instead he enjoys the hustle of the underground whether it is gambling, sex, or both. English expatriate Pippa Keith pays for her champagne tastes by dancing at the Cheetah, but some affluent patron offers her a lot more if she dances exclusively for him. Finally Christina Perez hides her dark secret from everyone, which adds to her feeling like the invisible woman even with her four friends or her parents, one of whom is an ambitious politician.

This is an interesting look at five seniors considered by many of their peers as the in-crowd, but each has issues that impact how they perceive the world. Thus the young adult audience receives a strong teen character study to include self-destructive behavior. Though having five stars leads to some subplots unresolved (hence sequel), readers of coming of age tales will appreciate the BLING ADDICTION of these fat girls and hot boys struggling with what turns out to be a CRUEL SUMMER.

Harriet Klausner