I was so happy to find this in my local bookstore! E. Lockhart is one of my must-buy authors because her books are so unique and different. So, of course I also had to buy Dramarama.
Book: Dramarama
Author: E. Lockhart
Pages: 320 (Paperback)
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Published: February 9, 2017
Synopsis:
Sarah, better known by her stage name Sadye, lives in Ohio with her parents. She’s an outsider and loves musicals and Broadway. Then she meets Demi at an audition for a summer drama camp called Wildewood. They become best friends immediately and they both get accepted for the camp. It couldn’t be better for them, but summer at Wildewood does not only test their abilities in singing and dancing, it also tests their friendship.
My opinion:
This is THE ultimate book for all drama / musical geeks. Everything in Dramarama is about music, singing, dancing, acting. And I knew like 5% of the things that were named, but it was such an enjoyable read nevertheless. It was kind of cliché that we had these two teenagers from this boring town in the middle of nowhere and that everything would be better at this drama camp. But! the rest of the book wasn’t so cliché. And that was because of all the very different, wonderful characters that were written like they were real, they could be walking through the streets and just… be real.
The protagonist Sadye is a girl who just wants to escape her life and follow her dream, but unlike in so many other books, she isn’t this perfect and girl everyone admires. She is loud and has a strong will, she speaks her mind and she makes mistakes. She is jealous and she is funny and she is passionate. She’s just not the typical YA heroine, but has more of the girl next door you’d probably think of as strange. It was a delight to experience the story from her point of view.
Then we have Demi, Sadye’s best friend. He is black and he’s gay and I liked that both of it was a topic, though it was just accepted as it is. Demi is this bright person full of love and fun and sunshine, with an absolutely wonderful voice and a character everyone likes immediately. He has the same goals as Sadye and is just as passionate about being on stage, but he is more talented. And that’s the teeny tiny difference between them that makes for the tension between them.
But there are so many more characters. And most of them are bright and joyful and loud. And even though they have a lot of things in common, they are also different in so many ways. They have insecurities and problems, some have love-life problems, some don’t care for love. But all of them are just wonderfully written and great to read about.
Of course, there are also teachers. We meet nice teachers, strict teachers, teachers who know what they’re doing and some who don’t. That seems so, so real. Because these types of teachers can be found at probably every school around the world.
I really, really, really liked this book. I wished I would have known more of the films and musicals that were mentioned, but apart from that I loved it and I would totally recommend it, especially as a fast, fun summer read!
Rating:
★★★★/5
