Search - Exclusively Chloe

Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com

Chloe-Grace is a celebrity just for being her. She's the first celebrity-adopted kid in Hollywood and everyone has watched her every move all her life. Now that Chloe's sixteen, she wonders what it would be like to be "normal" and be a regular kid at a regular school. So she decides to get a "make-under" and go undercover at a new school. But is Chloe ready for the real world?

Ok, I admit it, I read the headlines on the magazines when I'm standing in line and I watch E! News. This book was a cute light read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a look into Hollywood, so if you know the names of celebrities and their children, you'll probably enjoy this book.

Chloe is relatable and even though she has a famous, expensive, and fashionable lifestyle, she's nice and sweet and wasn't a rich snotty girl, which I liked. I got annoyed that Chloe didn't seem to realize that Rachelle wasn't that great of a friend - she was the character that bugged me the most and she seemed to only want to be near Chloe because of her fame. Vicki and Jana, on the other hand, were great friends and I'm glad Chloe recognized their true friendship.

This book really felt like it had two parts - it was about halfway into the book before Chloe actually got to her undercover make-under, which I had been looking forward to reading about. It really seemed like it was two books combined into one - Chloe the famous girl and Chloe the normal girl. Because it took so long to get to Chloe the normal girl, the romance wasn't as built up as I would have liked. Jack was still pretty adorable though, even with the short amount of book time he was given. The ending also felt a little rushed - I wish there could have been more in the second half dealing with Chloe's normal life.

Since this was a pretty clean read (Chloe does go out to a club, but she herself doesn't drink) I'd give this one to younger teens or tweens looking for a book on the rich and fabulous. If you're looking for a light beach read that reads like a gossip magazine, I would pick up EXCLUSIVELY CHLOE.

Being the first celebrity adopted kid doesn't make Chloe-Grace's life easy. The Chinese American has had her fair share of the limelight, even before her superstar parents file for divorce and publicly party, to Chloe-Grace's humiliation. Tired of a life that's constantly in the tabloids, not to mention her best friend Rachelle's love for all the attention, Chloe-Grace decides to go "undercover." She learns that her biological parents and younger brother live in a less classier neighborhood nearby, and decides to attend her brother Henry's "normal" high school in an attempt to be anonymous and maybe connect with her family.

EXCLUSIVELY CHLOE depicts the harsh realities of Hollywood politics without being too trashy. Chloe-Grace is a relatable and likable protagonist, a young girl caught in between the glitz of celebrity life and a desire to know what it feels like to be normal. If you've ever wondered what Brad and Angelina's lot might feel like as teenagers, there is an excellent possibility that they will turn out like Chloe-Grace: a down-to-earth girl who doesn't take her glamorous situation for granted, yet knows how to have fun with what she has.

Besides for Chloe-Grace, however, most of the other characters are unexciting and unoriginal. You have your basic attention-obsessed best friend, flamboyant homosexual stylists, career-oriented parents, super-nice everyday classmates at the "normal" high school, the perfectly sweet romantic interest. The stereotypes and generalizations bogged the story down for me, leading to an unsatisfying conclusion that was too neat, too easily wrapped up.

The shortcomings can be cast aside, however, if you're simply looking for a fun and new look into Hollywood life. Chloe-Grace's story of the trials and tribulations of being a celebrity-adopted kid will be the one everyone can turn to for a glimpse at how they live--at least until Maddox and his brothers and sisters hit puberty.