top of page
Search
Miss Fabularian
Oct 22, 20162 min read

"Rumor Central" by Reshonda Tate Billingsley


PUBLISHER: Kensington

PUBLISHED DATE: April 30, 2013

ISBN: 978-0758289513

PAGES: 263

If Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars can get a show...so can Rumor Central.

This is Love & Hip Hop and The Wendy Williams Show all mixed together for the teen diva set. There are already dozens of teens on YouTube with their own faux reality shows...but a big network, with an Empire budget could put a series like this on TV, and I think it would be a hit.

....now....having said that....this wasn't the best read of my life, but I could see that it would appeal to millions of teen readers. It has a diverse cast - but I'd have liked for the other characters to be more nuanced and have bigger and better storylines. Also....I read this book a few weeks ago...so my memory of the names of the characters may also be a bit sketchy...but ABC, TV One, Centric...BET....if you're listening...this book series would make a great TV show!!!

Maya Morgan is a diva. She and her friends are all stars of a teen reality show - with Maya, of course being the star with her bad attitude and over the top antics. When the reality show is suddenly cut, and the news that Maya is going to star in her own gossip show, Maya's friends are salty...but sassy Morgan could care less. It doesn't take long before she's a target of her friend's wrath and jealousy....but Morgan has a lot of other things to worry about like: her handsome boyfriend, her grades, and trying to appease the network executives by needing to constantly supply celebrity gossip to keep the television watching masses happy and her TV show ratings up.

Now...would I watch this type of show....probably not. I don't watch The Wendy Williams Show, Love & Hip Hop, Basketball Wives, or any of The Real Housewives shows....but there are millions of people who do. There's also a severe void in programming targeted towards African American teens...and if cast and written smartly - this could be a smash that hits a lot of demographics. The ratings on a show like this could certainly surpass Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girls combined.

Recommendation: If you're a fan of Love & Hip Hop, Basketball Wives, The Wendy Williams Show, or The Real Housewives of Atlanta....this is a good book pairing for you.

Audience: Young Adults and Up

*I borrowed this audiobook on my library Overdrive.

14 views0 comments
bottom of page