Let's Pretend: 'Clever, sharp, and deliciously dark... A one-sitting read' Andrea Mara

Some of the characterisation in Let's Pretend can come across as a bit cliched; for example, when we are introduced to former child star Lily Thane - now a struggling 32-year-old actress - at the start of the novel, she is passing a joint to Nina Gill (a friend who Lily's mum - referred to throughout as the Momager - disapproves of) after another failed audition and this along with Lily 's nose job at 15 could be interpreted as all too familiar tropes about the trappings of fame. That said, the relatively brief chapters and regular exchanges of dialogue help to keep things moving along at a fairly decent pace and the introduction of (and references to) Lily's old stage-school buddy Adam Harker, who needs an appropriate red-carpet companion to seal the deal of making it big, offers the reader some intrigue. This is especially true when first-person narrator Lily reveals in chapter two that, less than a year on from her chance reunion with Adam, she would be staring at his lifeless body in a swimming pool...

Lily Thane is a child start who is now struggling to find her place in the adult acting world. That is until she starts a fake romance with old school mate Adam. However as the showmance develops darker elements of the story start to come out. I liked the writing style of this book and found it easy to read and get lost in. The book seemed to be well paced and we gradually found out more and more about the hidden world of Lily and Adam. Unfortunately I didn't particularly like the ending. Whilst the plot itself was okay I thought it was quite rushed and left me not fully understanding what went on so I would have liked the ending to have been better explained and more fully developed. I think if I had gained a slightly better grasp of the ending then I may have given this book 5 stars but unfortunately it just took away from the story a bit for me. Otherwise it was good!