The Daughters Join the Party by Joanna Philbin

"They didn't ask for fame. They were born with it.In the third Daughters novel, The Daughters Take the Stage, Hudson found her own place in "the family business," aka: show business. Now, for the first time, readers will meet Emma Conway, daughter of a powerful New York State Senator. 

Emma has never fit into the sweater-set-wearing world of her political family, opting for purple hair and Chuck Taylors to keep herself out of countless photo ops, but when she accidentally lets her father's presidential plans slip on national television, Emma finds herself thrown into the spotlight. Facing pressure to be the perfect First Daughter-in-training, Emma must learn to speak up for herself and for what she believes in. Thankfully, she has her new friends and fellow daughters - Lizzie, Carina, and Hudson - to help her along the way."

This book was a huge disappointment and a success. Why?

Issue #1: I felt that Joanna Philbin was simply recycling old plots. This book just felt similar to The Daughters.

Issue #2: I don't get it. The ending. So...Is there going to be another book or what? I hate books like these.

Issue #3: Really? A fourteen/fifteen years old drinking? I don't think that is a good example for our young audience.

Issue #4: The characters...For the first book, the characters were exciting. People you just want to explore and dig. The second book was fascinating. It goes in more detail. The third book was like "We got that figure out so yeah go on." Now this book, The Daughters Join the Party, is just annoying.

Issue #5: Recycled Personality. I really want to see different characters not characters with different names.

The good parts were the:

Positive Side: Humor. I love the humor in this book. This book makes you laugh in different places. It really gets readers to be more emotional.

Positive Side #2: The speeches. WOW! I love Emma's speech. They are so beautiful. They come from the heart and readers can really see that. She is so open and like a free spirit. Unfortunately other characters don't like that.

Positive Side #3: Emma's character, the exception to Issue #4. I really love Emma. Out of the four girls, I love Emma the most. She is badass. She doesn't listen to adults. She doesn't pay attention to the rules. She speaks her mind (even though that causes a lot of problems.) She is kind, thoughtful (sometimes), and intelligent. Readers everywhere will love Emma.

Positive Side #4: The love interest. I love how the author describes him. It just makes him and Emma even more adorable.

Positive Side #5: The conflicts at home. Emma's brother has a lot of problems. He's stressed out. He is pushed by peer pressure. It was taking a toll on Emma's life. I like how the author uses that as a variable in the book.

This book's rating is a three out of five. Not bad. I wish I didn't read the few books before this one. 

The Daughters Take the Stage by Joanna Philbin

"The daughter of chart-topping pop star Holla Jones, stylish and sensitive Hudson Jones is on the brink of her own musical debut. Hudson has inherited her mother's talent, but she hasn't yet embraced Holla's love of the megawatt spotlight. Can Hudson find a way to perform that reflects her own low-key style? Or will Holla see to it that her only daughter becomes a pop music sensation?"

Side Note: The cover is amazing. I love the style of it. Markers and then realistic when close to the three girls. It's beautiful. I want to draw like that!

Okay... This book picks up where the last book, The Daughters Break the Rules (read my review), left off. 

Out of the three good girls in this book, I think I like Carina the most. Hudson is tied with Lizzie. 

As suspected, Hudson Jones has some issues with her mother. Her mother wants Hudson's career to be like her career. Holla Jones is demanding her daughter to change this, do that, love that, and sing that. Blah, blah, blah. A little similar to Lizzie's supermodel mother. 

Hudson wants to be free from her mother. She wants to do the things her way. Not her mother's way. But her mother is very aggressive and demanding. Her mother is controlling and a freak in many reader's eyes. Holla Jones is perhaps the most controlling mother I had ever read about.

This series seems to be following one major theme. DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. DON'T LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE.

In this book, The Daughters Take the Stage, readers will be captivated by the humor, the plot, and the writing. Readers will see how Hudson Jones deals with her mother. (How is quite interesting).

The Characters:

Lizzie: still doing modeling and a little trouble in paradise

Carina: much better relationship with the Jurg and Alex

Hudson: Up

Hillary: the stalker, yeah. Hillary has a good heart despite all that stalking. Lizzie and Carina call it stalking, I call it admiration that went a little over the top. Hillary is an excellent life coach, BTW.

Ben: the love interest. They don't get together in this book, unfortunately. (I was egging them on. But they never did).

Todd: Dad's in trouble.

Alex: Not so much about him.

Logan: possible love interest, but was eliminated. (Because he was a jerk. And a little creep. And a player. And a little too twisty.)

Aunt Jenny: WOW! I wish I could be like Jenny. A free agent. I wish I could be like that and I don't care about the negatives of being a free agent. 

The Good Parts...

The plot. The plot of The Daughters Take The Stage was amazing. I love the little twists and turns. They sometime surprise me. Other times I go "I knew it!"

The characters. Most of the characters were lovable. Especially Hudson and Ben.

The rule breakings. I love it when characters break the rules. I find it amusing to see the reactions of the authorities. Ex: Harry Potter in Hagrid's Hut after the curfew. Professor McGonagall was going all "Fifty Points" this and "Fifty Points" that. 

The Bad Parts...

The ending. I can't believe it has to end this way. Just wow.

This book is recommended to Young Adult readers. This book's rating is a four out of five. 

The Daughters Break the Rules by Joanna Philbin Review

Synopsis:

"Daughters Rule Number Six: Never talk to the press about your parents. 

After leaking a story about the family business, impetuous high school freshman Carina Jurgensen is cut off by her billionaire father. Always resourceful, she fibs her way into a job as a party planner for New York's annual Silver Snowflake Ball. But when Carina finds out that the party committee expects favors and freebies from her dad's A-list connections, a choice must be made: Does she get real about her downgraded status, or pretend she's still the ultimate heiress?

Best friends and fellow daughters of celebrities Lizzie Summers, Carina Jurgensen and Hudson Jones are back in Joanna Philbin's second stylish and heartfelt Daughters novel."

Yep, these spoiled kids are back. Even though I hate to say it, these girls, Carina and Lizzie and Hudson, are really spoiled. Rich parents. Flashy credit cards. Fourteen years old. Not a care in the world other than high school. And their controlling and demanding parents.

Despite all of that, I still love them. They are unbelievable. Funny, clever in some situations, stubborn, and smart.

Carina... She is a smart kid. However, I felt that the author rushed a little in this book. Carina can't break her bad habit of shopping for clothes that quickly. A bad habit like that is much harder to break. Carina is an amazing character. I love how she grows and matures. She is a complete one eighty degrees of what she was like. She used to figuratively burn money and clean out stores. Now she carefully spends money only on things that are necessary. This is a best character change of all of the four books of The Daughters series. Carina and her dad's relationship changed dramatically too. I love how the relationship becomes closer and closer as more secrets and stories are revealed. The actions of Carina can sometimes be a little reckless. I wonder if she ever thought of the consequences before she acts on her actions.

Alex... The way the author describes him is making him look better than Todd. (Todd from the previous book, The Daughters). He seems so much more mature than Todd. And wiser. And smarter than Todd. To me, he seems much more appealing than Todd. (Sorry, Todd). I love the little moments between Alex and Carina. They are so adorable together. During some moments of the book, I will be egging them on, but they don't. (Oh how disappointing). When they finally get together, the book ends suddenly. (Which brings to the first issue of this book).

The Jurg... I have to admit, the Jurg kind of reminds me of the father from 52 Reasons To Hate My Father by Jessica Brody. It's nice to see a similar character to my favorite character in 52 Reasons To Hate My Father. They both teach their daughters a life lesson. They both withhold money. They both indirectly/directly suggest their daughters to go to work. Anyway, the Jurg is a complex character who has a lot of depth and not quite shallow at first.

Lizzie... Thank Goodness! A little more about Lizzie. Ever since the surprising cutoff of the first book, The Daughters (check out my review), I have been wondering what will happen to them. (Todd and Lizzie will appear). More info on Lizzie: Lizzie and Carina have a BFF spat in this book. Yeah... A nasty one too. It was exciting to see how their relationship heal and not fall apart like a lot of BFF relationships. (Real like BFFs usually break off after two or three years.)

Hudson... Not much on her. Although I am curious on what will happen to her and her album.

The writing was full of humor. It flows very well like the first book. Books like these will appeal to the Young Adult Audience and Children Fiction. The words are not complicated. They are quite easy to understand; however, I wished Joanna Philbin used a little more vocabulary. It would be appreciated dearly. Many of us readers truly do need to expand our fancy vocabulary.

Issue #1: The sudden ending. I was shocked by how the author ends the book. Now she expects us to read the next one? WOW. I wished she gave us a warning.

Issue #2: A little more chemistry between Alex and Carina. The first time they met was NOT love at true sight. It could have been an opportunity to wow us with the physical traits of Alex.

Issue #3: Lizzie and Carina's relationship. Seriously. They fought because of that?

Issue #4: Carter. That is all.

This book's rating is a four out of five. (Next book is The Daughters Take The Stage)

The Daughters By Joanna Philbin Review

What a good book!

Even though, The Daughters are fictional, I love this book. With humor and delight, this book, The Daughters, will entertained you till the very end. I love the synopsis. 

"The only daughter of supermodel Katia Summers, witty and thoughtful Lizzie Summers likes to stick to the sidelines.

The sole heir to Metronome Media and the daughter of billionaire Karl Jurgensen, outspoken Carina Jurgensen would rather climb mountains than social ladders.

Daughter of chart-topping pop icon Holla Jones, stylish and sensitive Hudson Jones is on the brink of her own music breakthrough.

By the time freshman year begins, unconventional-looking Lizzie Summers has come to expect fawning photographers and adoring fans to surround her gorgeous supermodel mother. But when Lizzie is approached by a fashion photographer who believes she’s “the new face of beauty,” Lizzie surprises herself and her family by becoming the newest Summers woman to capture the media spotlight.

In this debut young adult series tailored for younger teens, author Joanna Philbin explores what it’s really like to grow up in the thick of the celebrity world. As Lizzie and her two best friends (and fellow daughters-of-celebrities) juggle normal high school events with glamorous family functions, they discover the pitfalls of fame and the importance of friendship."

 Hmm... Let's start with the guy. The boy of this story is Todd. Todd is spoiled, rich, and cute according to the ladies. Plus, he has a British accent, which makes him even cuter! He is good at writing, but easily takes offense when his father or Lizzie is involved with his business. To me, Todd didn't really stick out really much until the halfway mark of the book. Then he became even more interesting. (Todd's first sentence of his short story is so romantic and truthful.)

Lizzie... I have to imagine her as pretty. Redhead. Unique. And Beautiful. She has to be that way. Lizzie, as promised, was approached by a photographer because the photographer believes (all the way to her heart) that Lizzie is the "new face of beauty." Lizzie is an excellent writer who is entering competitions for writing. (So is Todd). Lizzie is a good character which an interesting perspective. She like one of those "try and don't listen to other people's opinions." Lizzie is afraid of being vulnerable. She especially doesn't want to be seen vulnerable.

Lizzie's friends... They are like the cheer team for Lizzie. I love friends like that. The trio are really close to each other. It's clear that they would do anything to help each other.

The writing is good. I like how smooth it was. It was clear and easily understandable. 

The ending... I have an issue with the ending. Seriously!?! It has to end like that. Joanna Philbin!!! You could have gave us a warning! And you can not end a book like this! 

Lots of funny moments. Cherish those epic moments, will you?

SPOILERS

1) Todd's dad gets into some trouble with business. He is thought to be taking money from the company he works for.
2) Carina gets sort of kidnapped by her dad. Sort of. You can't be kidnapped if you go willingly, right?
3) Todd's first sentence of his short story was killer!

End Spoilers

This book's rating is a four out of five.