emily's Reviews > Under the Lights

3.7 stars

I really enjoyed this!! Semi-fun, semi-serious YA contemporary following 2 teen Hollywood stars. I liked all the drama that came with their jobs and lifestyles because it's not something I had read about before and thought it was fun. I also really liked the f/f in this, especially since it was bi/gay. AND Vanessa, who finds out she's a lesbian (is that a spoiler? eh, I knew before I read this) literally finds out in this book--she didn't have a coming out story that was like "I have known my whole life and just have been hiding it" which is the majority of gay YA that I have read and *just not true*, not everyone knows their whole lives. It takes some people until they're 18 (or even older!!!!) to realize they're sexuality and I really like how that was represented in this. Oh yea, and Van is Korean so there's the intersection of different parts of her identity and I thought that was really nice and important to include in the book because most LGBTQIAP YA lit I have read has been white kids.