Faketastic by Alexa Young

On-and-off-again friends Halley Brandon and Avalon Greene are back together as Team Halvalon, despite previous setbacks. They’re stronger and more devious than ever. So when Halley stresses over how her new bestie Sofee will react to Halley’s tentative relationship with Sofee’s ex, Wade, and Avalon starts to crave leadership in the new and improved cheer squad, these fashionistas put their heads together to craft a rather genius plan. But what happens when they plan goes wrong? Will these fashion forward friends have to break up again—for real?

Amusingly immature yet surprisingly meaningful, Faketastic is an improvements over its prequel Frenemies. There still are the petty arguments and name dropping so frequent it becomes annoying, but even if the plot is a bit childish and silly, main characters Halley and Avalon are more mature than they were in this series’ previous installment. They seem less shallow because they could overcome most of their fight in Frenemies and work together to help each other accomplish what each desired most, which thankfully wasn’t limited to being most fashionable in school. This made their new fight seem more legitimate and made Avalon and Halley easier to relate to. Young even did a great job of reeling in the reader and making them want to know what happens after Faketastic ends.

Exploring the bonds of friendship and the middle school social scene, Faketastic appeals to fans of Lucky by Rachel Vail, The Clique series by Lisi Harrison, and other fashion related novels. The Frenemies series will probably best enjoyed by middle grade readers, though those older may still like the Style Snarks. I look forward to the catching the continuation of this series in intriguingly named Glamnesia.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from author Alexa Young