Book Review: Dork Diaries Book 7: Tales from a Not-So-Glam TV Star by Rachel Renee Russell

Dork Diaries Book 7: Tales from a Not-So-Glam TV Star by Rachel Renée Russell
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Released in 2014
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Everyone’s been rooting for Nikki Maxwell and her crush, Brandon—and fans will finally learn if they had their first kiss in this seventh book of the New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries series!

Nikki’s juggling a lot this month. A reality TV crew is following Nikki and her friends as they record their hit song together, plus there are voice lessons, dance practice, and little sister Brianna’s latest wacky hijinks. Nikki’s sure she can handle everything, but will all the excitement cause new problems for Nikki and Brandon, now that cameras are everywhere Nikki goes?

I know what you’re thinking – she’s reviewing another Dork Diaries book?? Why yes, I am. I review most every book I read. I like having the review to look back on if I forget what the book is about – which happens often! And since my daughter is way into Dork Diaries right now, you can expect even more reviews after this one. There are twelve books in the series right now and a new one comes out in October.

Tales from a Not-So-Glam TV Star is book seven but I think it can stand alone. Not surprisingly, it has roughly the same broad plot points as Book 9: Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen, the other book in the series I’ve read. Firstly, Mackenzie schemes against Nikki. This time it’s because Mackenzie is jealous that Nikki scored her own reality TV show after her band appears on Trevor Chase’s show. Mackenzie wants to be famous and on TV too. She and Nikki are horrible to each other. Secondly, Nikki and her crush Brandon can’t seem to get their acts together so that they can spend time together.

I didn’t like this book as much as Drama Queen. I think it’s because it was so unrealistic. How many middle-schoolers have a band that’s good enough to get on national TV and spawn a reality TV show? That didn’t seem to bother my daughter though and that’s what matters. I just picked up a couple more books in the series for her at a used book sale so look for more Dork Diaries reviews in the future!