Everyone knows that teenagers are self-obsessed, disrespectful and
completely lacking in sympathy for anyone else, and Viva Cohen, the
narrator of this book, is no exception. 16 years old, living in
North London and supposed to be taking her exams at a private
school there, she has a strange existence. She is obsessed with the
stars of the silver screen, especially Elizabeth Taylor, and
dresses like them, but also lives in the modern world, where she
only has three friends: her gay uncle, with whom she lives, her
school friend Treena - beautiful and drugged out - and Ray, a
33-year-old rock star, whose connection with Viva is not really
explained. Through the course of this book, Viva manages to offend
or alienate almost every other character, or to embarrass herself
in front of them, and although this is characteristic teenage
behaviour, it fails to be amusing and, because of her unusual
lifestyle, it doesn't really ring true. The reader is alienated by
Viva in some ways; we don't get an understanding of her personality
or motivation, and so we can't make sense of, or care about, what
she does. There are a couple of occasions when there is some
insight - when she is in love with Drew, another musician, and
tries to track him down after his disappearance, and also in her
mixed feelings about Treena and Ray. But in the end, we feel only
disbelief that a series of rock stars would be drawn to this
physically attractive but charmless girl for any length of time.
There are glimpses of a more vulnerable Viva, as she starts to
build a relationship with Dillon, yet another singer, but whenever
we come close to feeling more involved with her, she skips out of
town and into the next part of the story. There could be more to
this book, to make the people more three-dimensional, but
ultimately it seems superficial, more of a music video than a
feature film. (Kirkus UK)
Meet Viva Cohen: a teenage schoolgirl bombshell. Her best friends are a drugged-out beauty queen and an ageing rock-star, and she lives in London with her gay uncle, Manny. Viva spends her days gate-crashing gigs, skiving her exams and trying to live life as glamorously as her number one icon, Elizabeth Taylor.
But then she sets out on a pilgrimage: in search of real love, experience and Jack Nicholson. Wicked-tongued and restless, Viva is like no other girl — and this is no ordinary summer.
Emma Forrest began her writing career as a journalist, contributing to The Sunday Times, Independent, Guardian and Saturday Telegraph magazine.
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