Story: The Obscure Downsides of Fame by Obscunima
Reviewer: kalhixo
The Obscure Downsides of Fame is a romance between an actor and a singer, between two people who understand each other. But what's to say whatever spark between them stays healthy when their worlds are filled with paparazzi, rumours and the media.
The cover can be less cluttered. There are too many elements that don't mesh well together unfortunately. What I do like is the title font. I don't see many covers with every word in a different font, but this one pulled it off!!
GENRE
I think compared to other books in the genre (I have read quite a few gay fiction YA novels) it's definitely in the upper band, though there is room for improvement.
In terms of my expectations for my drama, there are good antagonists, good backstory, a good number of side characters etc. My only nit pick is there needs to be more tension. I'll discuss this more later in this review.
CHARACTERS
I really like how each character represents different prospects (the downsides really,) of being famous. If I'm interpreting this correctly and that was indeed the intention, I think it's possible to take it even further. Meaning I wouldn't mind seeing the personification of the absolute worst fame can do.
I think I will bring this up again in writing style for how it affects dialogue but I want to talk about how there's a lack of tension between characters. Always ramp up the tension, and leave little breathing space. Not the other way around. I can see strings of conflict waiting, but it's never at the forefront! When Nolan didn't text Oakley between the ice cream scene and the party, it didnt affect their interaction at the party enough. When Nolan's mother orders him around, Nolan needs to react more, whether it be fear, impatience, frustration, whatever it is. When Gen made a video about Oakley's experience, he could have been more upset! And if that's just not his character, he could have been more something. Maybe he felt put on display, and that made him angry, but he plays it off as him just being angry about her making a big deal of things. Or he feels ashamed and leaves quietly without telling anyone. Or he's worried of what his company will think of this if they or the fans ever put two and two together. So yeah, make the characters take up space and affect each other as much as possible.
THEME
Starting with Oakley was a good move, since his backstory is the kind of 'gossip' everyone loves to see, which also proves your whole theme about fame!!
WORLDBUILDING
Since this is a novel that could be considered NA, and definitely doesn't have any dragons to call 'worldbuilding,' I'll be talking about elements that I do consider as worldbuilding: settings, events, symbolic side characters, character lore etc. Settings and events are used wonderfully and ties in with the theme most of the time. For example, instead of Oakley's singer friend doing a random song, her song was about the downsides of fame. That's good. Always bring it back to the theme.
As for good timing and amount, I would say, yes. In both main characters' first chapters, we get a recap on their life so far. Not unnecessary details, but actual pieces of information that shed light on their future actions. For example, Oakley's outburst in Tokyo - I wasn't told a lot about it, but enough to keep me interested and offered up at the very start, when I was looking for reasons to stick with Oakley's character.
PLOT
In terms of plot, pacing could have been a bit faster. There were some filler chapters. But I don't think you need to edit them out if you take my advice about tension.
There are no plot holes or inconsistencies that I noticed, so kudos for that!!
WRITING STYLE
I think the dialogue is a bit flat in the sense of pacing. There needs to be a reaction before the dialogue. It can bleed into the dialogue ofc. And the reaction should rarely diffuse tension. For example, in the scene when Nolan and Oakley eat ice cream together, Nolan gives him the idea of making music about anti-love. Oakley's response to that is a smooth "You're a genius. This is exactly what I needed." There's no pause to consider the idea. Just smooth acceptance. And it doesn't really showcase any of Oakley's personality. He's insecure about his 'late-bloomer' issue so far so why is he able to suddenly be so open and welcome to the prospect of singing it to the world? So you need to put more of Oakley's attitude about the subject into the dialogue, which should naturally give it a better pacing that's not too smooth. For example, he could say "I don't know. I don't know if the company will go for it." Or he could say, "That's a great idea," he says, staring down at his ice cream, almost sounding believable if not for the way he mumbled it again, "that's an...idea."
Another thing is redundancy. In chapter 2, for example, there's a retelling of the same conversation. The meeting of the main characters. However, the second time readers are brought back to the conversation, the only thing that's new is the point of view. Nothing in particular is different, same points are hit, no new information or dimension to the meeting. So it feels a bit redundant. There are several more instances where the same problem occurs.
I enjoyed reading this book and would rate it a 6/10. There's a lot to explore with this particular theme and though the title is a bit on the nose, it's an important topic that I'd be interested in reading about.
