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The Real Deal

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Is it harder to keep a secret when the world is watching – or to tell the truth when no-one is listening?

Belle Simon was just 12 years old when she was one of six girls plucked from obscurity to star in reality TV sensation The Real Deal. Under the wing of dazzling star Donna Mayfair, she and the other five girls were meant to become world-famous actresses, singers and dancers.

But at 26, Belle is trying to live anonymously, away from being loved or loathed. The public eye has never fully shut, however, and when a producer offers Belle a big paycheck to join a reunion special for The Real Deal, she finds it hard to say no. If people are going to talk about that shocking final episode anyway, maybe this is an unexpected opportunity.

Everyone watching thinks they know what happened, but only Belle knows what really occurred away from the cameras and outside the editing room. Is she ready to go back and confront her past? And will anyone believe her if she reveals the truth?

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2024

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Caitlin Devlin

2 books61 followers

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5 stars
1,184 (14%)
4 stars
2,595 (32%)
3 stars
2,970 (37%)
2 stars
997 (12%)
1 star
274 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 666 reviews
1 review9 followers
January 6, 2024
My debut novel! Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments ❤️
Profile Image for Casey Reads ✨.
285 reviews151 followers
January 5, 2024
This was not for me… I was incredibly bored. It’s sad that most of the Amazon First Read books just are incredibly boring. This one - you can tell the author is a good writer, she just needs some work on adding more action, I just can’t do incredibly slow paced stories. It wasn’t absolutely horrible or unreadable, it just wasn’t exciting.

Read for free from Amazon First Reads.
Profile Image for Annie-Liz.
60 reviews35 followers
December 20, 2023
When I tell you I didn’t cry, I SOBBED. For an hour and a half. And then some more.

The fact that these characters are fictional seems unreal to me. They are completely alive in me, I felt everything that they felt, I yearned and ached for them, I lived through and with them. I am absolutely blown away by how this story worked it’s way into my heart and know that it will stay with me.

A devastatingly realistic look at reality TV and the performing arts sector, something so relevant to our world today.

This story was beautiful, these characters were beautiful and I’m definitely not ready to let go. I cant believe that this is a debut novel, I could not love it more.

Make sure you’ve got tissues with you for this one💗
January 23, 2024
I overall enjoyed this book, and the author is clearly a good writer. But editing issues and the concerning ending really brought my rating down.

The editor did not do their job here. There are grammatical errors, factual errors (how old is Belle? She switches from 24, to 26, to 27 at random points throughout the story), and real pacing issues. There is a huge lull at the 40-70% point where nothing really happens. Which would be fine if we learned a bit more about the characters and their world, but we don’t. Every other character in this book is very much a plot device and seems very two dimensional. We know Faye has silvery hair and does pottery and is nice, Kendra has red hair and is feisty, Hannah is Faye’s sister, Paget is black (I think? Or is it Roni?), and Roni is rich. That’s… about it. There was so much more to explore in these characters, and we could have learned more about Belle’s story in the process.

The entire book hinges on a secret Incident that isn’t revealed until the end of the book, and it just takes too long to get to something that feels a bit underwhelming.

Not only that, but the ending message of the story is a pretty appalling one.

(SPOILERS)

Donna, the performing arts teacher, is overbearing, aggressive, and yes, emotionally abused Belle. However. When Belle has had enough, she says Donna is hurting her physically, and will hurt her physically if she isn’t allowed to leave. She escapes. The TV series is edited to heavily imply that Donna was sexually and physically abusing Belle, which destroys Donna’s career, and Belle decides to not speak on it - there is a monologue towards the end of the book where she essentially says that the implied wrongdoings give her a concrete trauma to be sad about, and makes everyone else believe her and be on her side. Then we have what is supposed to be a heartwarming scene, where Bella has convinced her cast mates to continue the lie, and the reunion special is aired asking each of the girls if they were physically abused by Donna, and they all say no comment and smile about it.

???!

I did like the book up until this point but I do not understand what the author was thinking here. How can you write an entire book and your moral is “it’s okay to exaggerate your trauma if it gets everyone on your side”? I don’t get it. Belle is a bit whiny in the book but you’re led to believe that something truly terrible had happened to her. But no, she is just a spoilt brat who never grew up or learned anything, happy to perpetuate a destructive lie that makes her look better. There was no growth in the story and this seems to be celebrated in the ending, which is such a strange choice and undoes everything in the build up to warm us to the character.

I’m still baffled and just don’t understand what the point of this book is or what the author was thinking at all.
Profile Image for Macjest.
1,249 reviews9 followers
January 4, 2024
I kept waiting for it to get better. The book is presented as kind of a look at reality tv and how it exploits the participants. Several young girls audition to be participants on a docuseries. Throughout the run they are manipulated by the adults. Yet, even though we spend a great deal of time with them, I never felt like I knew them. It all seemed even more bogus than what it was trying to represent. And at the end the girls from the show still didn’t show any compassion over what had happened. I felt let down by the time I had invested.
Profile Image for Marcia.
926 reviews15 followers
January 3, 2024
I started this at 8pm and finished it at 1am. With a small break for dinner. Quite compelling.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
14 reviews2 followers
January 8, 2024
I felt like the premise had potential but it just fell flat to me. I got bored at times, I didn’t like any of these characters and then the story just ends. No conclusion. I also felt very confused. Don’t recommend.
Profile Image for Janalyn.
3,595 reviews104 followers
January 8, 2024
I love books about reality shows and get so excited to pick my First Read free from Amazon each month so when I saw this book I couldn’t wait to read it and started it immediately and I thought the story was a really interesting one but lacked a good payoff almost as if it was much to do about nothing. For one thing they try to make Howie out to be a villain and I guess I kind of get that but he was a young boy himself not only that what is this whole thing about her wanting to be an actress in someone in entertainment yet she seemed to hate everything about it I felt we really didn’t get to know much about the other girls except that Kendra was a B Faye was in love with the main girl and Hannah was her sister and yes we learn Roni lives in a beautiful house in Kensington I do feel like Donna was a bit obsessed with the main girl and manipulated many situations with her and the saddest thing is when dealing with children monsters could look quite lovable I really thought this book was going to end differently but for the most part I still enjoyed it I guess I was just as a thriller reader was waiting for some big reveal that never really happened. I do think this author has a great talent and would probably still read her books in the future. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
January 6, 2024
Ok

So this was one of my choices for my freebie this month and yeah, it was ok. I wouldn't say I hated it, wouldn't say it was great, it was just a bit meh. Some good parts of the storyline but didn't keep me hooked.
Profile Image for Ella.
92 reviews1 follower
December 26, 2023
Stunning, devastating, funny, brutal, incredible. There’s not a skippable page, sentence or word in this book. These characters are real people and it’s impossible to believe otherwise- the dialogue is a masterpiece and the ending had me sobbing for happy and sad reasons. Read this book!!!!
Unquestionably 5 stars.
Profile Image for Laura Jade.
240 reviews20 followers
January 23, 2024
3.5 stars

This was a gripping novel that I thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.
It gave a huge insight into fame and reality tv and how I would imagine life in this industry could be.
The writing sucked me in and created strong connections with the characters and their individual stories and experiences.
I wanted to scream, cry, shout and cheer throughout.
I was shocked to find this is a debut novel! I think this author is one to watch 🥰
Profile Image for The Cookster.
498 reviews58 followers
January 5, 2024
Rating: 4.3/5

If I had not known beforehand, I would certainly never have guessed that "The Real Deal" is Caitlin Devlin's debut novel. There is a maturity and a deftness of touch that many authors take years to achieve - and some simply never do.

To quote from the book's fictional Wikipedia entry, 'The Real Deal is a British docuseries that aired from 2009 to 2014. It follows six children placed in an elite performing arts programme under the mentorship and tutelage of actress, singer and dancer, Donna Mayfair. Set first in London, England and later in Los Angeles, USA, the show follows the girls as they attend their first auditions , book their first jobs and build their careers.'

The story is told from the perspective of one of the girls who featured in the docuseries, Belle Simon. The time frame alternates between the current day and the events of 10-15 years earlier, as each of the five seasons of the show were being filmed. In the current day, a follow-up "Reunion Special" is being made. The girls (now young women) who took part in the original series have been invited back, with the lure of sizeable pay cheques, to reminisce about the events from all those years ago. The original series clearly concluded in somewhat controversial fashion, though it is only as the narrative gradually unfolds that the reader will begin to learn the full story.

Although an alternating timeframe is quite a commonly used technique, it doesn't always work particularly well. However, in "The Real Deal" it is extremely effective and really adds value to the developing drama, both back in 2009-14 and in the current setting. Caitlin Devlin deserves significant praise for the strong, believable characterisation that she manages to create. You could be forgiven for thinking that you are reading a factual account based on real-life individuals, such is the depth and tangibility that the author manages to create. She also succeeds in conjuring up an entirely credible representation of the reality TV industry, depicting the lengths that producers are prepared to go to in order to achieve the desired end product. Witnessing how the final show that makes it onto the television screen is engineered and controlled to the nth degree by the production team is regularly unnerving. It will certainly make you question what really is natural and truly unscripted when you watch any similar TV show in future.

I couldn't help but be drawn in by "The Real Deal". It makes for an enthralling read that is very emotional at times, regularly dramatic, sometimes shocking, but also containing warmth and humour. It is an impressive piece of character-driven drama that would be a credit to any author, let alone one making their debut. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Caitlin Devlin's next piece of work.
Profile Image for Fliss.
97 reviews3 followers
January 17, 2024
I can't understand why this isn't rated more highly. I sometimes worry that readers these days have no appreciation of style or skill and only care about action. Our attention spans all having been reduced to nothing by endless screens and binge-watch series parcelled out in bite-sized episodes – or, indeed, the sort of 'reality' TV that this book does such an amazing job of critiquing.

Anyway. I've been vocal in the past about my disappointment with Amazon as a publisher, but this book is an exception. I found it thoroughly gripping from start to finish. Well written, and without falling into the trap of making the events so over the top that there's no nuance in it, it really brings home how immoral this sort of so-called reality TV is, as well as how messed up the entertainment industry is. Nothing is real, nothing can be trusted, and our desire to live lives that have an impact on the world lead us to pursue fame at the cost of our own sanity. Meanwhile, the audience looks on and judges everyone in black and white, making cruel comments online, without considering how editing and decisions behind the scenes can turn the true reality into something very different. My only minor criticism is that I would have liked the denouement to be just a little bit stronger – but even that is probably the instinct for drama that the book is about, real life being much quieter and messier than that.

Do read it. This author is one to watch.
Profile Image for Caylin Bailey.
101 reviews3 followers
January 5, 2024
I thought this was really good. It was giving taylor jenkins reid meets my dark vanessa vibes. $2 amazon first reads!
Profile Image for Gabby Entrup.
19 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2024
Dare I say...a 6 star read! Very likely that this is my new favorite book and definitely one I will be thinking about constantly.

I devoured this book in a day! I actually used it as a reward for working. Do some work, read a couple chapters, rinse, repeat, until my work was done and I could devour the remaining pages.

The storytelling had me hooked from the moment I started reading. I was a big Dance Moms fan growing up and this story reminded me so much of that. These characters all felt so real and at times I forgot I was reading a fictional story. In other novels sometimes the transition between past and present can be jarring but here it just worked! It was so interesting to see how the characters developed and what events led to the current scenarios.

I am blown away that this is the author's debut novel. I absolutely cannot wait to see what comes next!
Profile Image for Alicia Emmel.
2 reviews
January 4, 2024
I’m exhausted. Why? I didn’t sleep until I finished this book. Hours later- I’m searching books similar to it. I keep re-reading the last paragraph. Brilliantly done.
Profile Image for PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps .
2,486 reviews240 followers
February 29, 2024
CNF

I’ve started a new abbreviation for when I just can’t finish a book. I’ll use DNF when I choose to abandon the book, but when the book forces me to stop, it’s CNF

Why 2 stars instead of 1. I listened to the audiobook and I’m leaving open the possibility that the written edition is better.
Profile Image for Jess Valentino.
12 reviews
January 10, 2024
so much potential but it was all over the place. and also, is this based of the show Dance Moms? It feels so vaguely familiar that I was expecting Abby Lee to pop out at any moment
Profile Image for Regan.
508 reviews27 followers
February 13, 2024
The Real Deal has a very Taylor Jenkins Reid style and a reality show/child star then & now structure. I enjoyed it!!! A quick page-turner that was perfect for a long travel day, didn’t want to put it down. The commentary on fame reminded me of Daisy Jones, but also made me think (very much) about Jennette McCurdy’s memoir, or about the docuseries Cheer (a lot of ppl comping to Dance Moms, which I haven’t seen, but I can imagine the similarities). I will say I did feel like the last act of the book—even just its last beat/last 50 pages—felt really rushed after such a well-developed and -paced first 300 pages —regardless, could definitely see this becoming a movie or series
Profile Image for Sarah McMullan.
155 reviews3 followers
January 18, 2024
With echoes of DanceMoms, The Spice Girls & The Hills, THE REAL DEAL is a an empathetic look at trauma currency in modern pop culture and how reality tv exploits as often as it embraces, punishes as much as it promotes.
A little rushed in places with some frustratingly less than fully fleshed out characters and plot points, Belle is still an endearing character with an emotional arc that keeps you interested.
Profile Image for Alyssa.
14 reviews6 followers
January 10, 2024
2.75 stars. I was excited to read this book as one of my Amazon First Reads based on the other reviews saying how real the characters were, how quickly they tore through the book, etc. Honestly, I was unimpressed. Don't get me wrong, I did tear through it because it IS a quick read, and I was curious to figure out what really happened to Belle on that finale....and it just was so underwhelming. The story skirted along great potential, but it seemed the author was too unsure of herself or her story to really reach and grab what would have made it a wow for me. But, Caitlin Devlin is a great writer. They way she wrote captured my attention, and she was good at giving a lot of detail without being inundated with it, but the story to me was very unsatisfying. I hated how all of Belle's actions and inner thoughts were always based on not wanting people to not like her or hate her. I understand that mentality as a teenage girl - I'm sure we all do - but it's still as strong, if not worse, in present day, 26 year old Belle. There is a scene in the book towards the end after all the girls (and the reader) get the big reveal about what really happened, and I remember thinking, "Seriously?" Without any spoilers, I agreed with Kendra rather than the main character or the other girls. Also, the character of Howie was major ick. Realistic, I'm sure (unfortunately), but horrible. Overall, this book just wasn't for me, but I will absolutely read some more of Caitlin Devlin's books. Hopefully, she will be a little more daring the more books she writes.
Profile Image for Kendall Carroll.
43 reviews3 followers
January 3, 2024
This book was different than I was expecting. It was more reflective and contemplative than I was expecting. That's not to say it was bad — just different than I thought.

The author definitely knows her stuff when it comes to reality TV. I appreciate the effort that went in to crafting a scenario that at least felt realistic.

I liked watching the truth unfold throughout the story. There was a reoccurring theme of "what's real" in all it's different forms: the cameras, the relationships, etc. It was beautifully incorporated into the narrative, allowing the readers to piece together the Actual Truth. I liked that the book slowly revealed this information instead of tossing us a bold claim and then working hard to back it up.

Some of the conflict, especially near the end of the book, was hard to follow. I got what we were going for, but because the reader wasn't privy to any of the public's perception, it was sometimes hard to pinpoint the difference. Towards the end I also had a harder time understanding what the other girls believed, both in relationship to their experiences and Belle's.

The story was told in both the time of the show and the time of the reunion. The show was really engaging (definitely the top part of the book). The reunion was where the book had a tendency to fall flat (although not consistently). I did still enjoy the story, but it got a little muddled at times.
Profile Image for Julie.
127 reviews3 followers
January 5, 2024
4.5/5⭐️
This book was so good! I was super enthralled throughout the whole read, and I rarely put it down. Kendra and Donna are such perfect villains because they are written very realistically. I liked Belle’s relationships with her family as well as with her cast mates. I thought the ending was well written, and I was satisfied with the way the rest of the plot was written. I only docked a half star because I thought the conflict was a bit hard to follow at the end, but this was a great book otherwise.
Profile Image for Courtney.
43 reviews2 followers
January 4, 2024
Very enjoyable read with a Now and Then type of vibe with the girls going back and forth between the reunion and the story of their teenage years. It felt very genuine and really captured what I imagine a reality TV experience would be like through the eyes of a young teen
January 11, 2024
This book was hard for me to finish. I'd just read a book that I'd loved so much I read it twice within 4 days. The Real Deal was a real let down after that. It had such a slow pace and I never found myself actually truly caring what happened between the characters.

It felt like it lacked depth and I finished it just to make sure the ending wasn't some major plot twist that redeemed it all. It all felt very lack luster.
7 reviews
January 5, 2024
Absolutely loved every word. Characters felt so real, by the end I just wanted more. Easy 5 for me
Profile Image for Lydia.
157 reviews1 follower
January 11, 2024
A great book for anyone who likes reality tv or dance moms specifically!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 666 reviews

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