4.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for an arc of this book.
Content Warnings at end of review.

Josie has always had anxiety, but she doesn't let that stop her from pursuing her dream of becoming a journalist. When she wins a competition for Deep Focus magazine, she is sent on a 2 week long publicity tour with the cast and crew of a new movie to write a profile on the lead actor. What she doesn't expect is a more important story comes to light while talking to the cast of the movie, and she knows that she will have to do everything in her power to make sure it gets told.

I loved this book! I feel like this is such an important story to tell, and it is absolutely relevant to our society. I definitely got really angry at what was going on at times and frustrated because it is so similar to things that have happened in real life.

I also really loved Josie. I majorly identified with her right from the beginning, and got caught up in her journey and character growth! I loved that she didn't have it all together, but she was working on it and determined to succeed. I also really liked the supporting cast, her sister, her new friends and her mentor. They all were very interesting characters that did a lot for the story.

Pub Date: May 18, 2021

Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Fatphobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, and Mental illness
Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, and Self harm

I freaking loved this! It was adorable and fun and so easy to read. Josie is relatable, her anxiety can be so hard for her to work through yet she tries and does her best. The romance was sweet and I rooted for Josie and Marius from the start. The story about a man abusing his power to sexually assault people was unfortunately realistic, but well handled with a hopeful conclusion.

It was cool seeing behind the scenes of a movie press tour and how reporting goes. Josie was smart and had amazing questions, I enjoyed seeing people realize that she's a great journalist and someone to be taken seriously. I also loved the self love theme and that Josie isn't ashamed of her body. Other people may have comments but she reclaims the word 'fat' and is proud of how she looks.

This flew by and was well paced. The characters were realistic and easy to connect with. I can't wait to see this in the world!

I don't remember where I first saw this book, but once I did I knew I had to read this book. I've been waiting about a year for this book and it met all my expectations!

Josie is an aspiring journalist in her senior year of high school who enters a competition that could land her her big break. This opportunity means she gets to travel the country on a press tour following the lead actor from his new hit movie. Once on the press tour she bonds with the actor she's supposed to be interviewing, but she also uncovers a Hollywood secret. She's only 17 is she able to handle writing such an intense story?

This is the type of story I wish I had when I was high school. When I was in high school I actually wanted to major in Journalism, but that was not a major at the university I went to. I was really into writing and social justice. I always felt like I had something to say, but didn't always had the courage to share it. If I had this book growing up I think it would have inspired me and given the courage to write more and share that at a younger age.

I think this book covered various topics well. Josie is plus size, Black, and has anxiety. She deals with her insecurities throughout this book, and the reader sees how this impacts her work and daily life. I never felt like these topics were forced or not genuine.

The big topic of this book is inspired by the #MeToo movement. It was interesting to see the movement through the eyes of a teenager. This is an important topic so I am glad this story exists for teen readers.

I really enjoyed this story. I felt the story was fast paced, and I loved the tweets that started off the beginning of each chapter. My biggest critique (and really only one) is the ending. Once everything came together I was curious as to the aftermath of the events that had just taken place. I can understand why the author chose to do what she did. But I still felt like there was more that needed to be said. I want to know how Josie handles the aftermath. I want to know how this affects Josie's future. I think it would be cool to get a sequel of Josie in college where these questions are explored.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and important book. I am glad I was given the opportunity to read this book. and I believe many young people will be inspired by Josie.

For those that gushed over Leah Johnson's, You Should See Me in a Crown, Off the Record falls into the same realm setting, dealing with anxiety and insecurities as its most significant subject matter.

Josie handles each task as best she could while trying to keep herself and her budding career intact. I like seeing how dedicated she is to her craft, but I wish the author delved a little deeper into Josie's art. I wanted to see more investigative journalism than the Q&A she did throughout the story, especially when it came to the #MeToo victims.

The story's pacing was good, though I thought it took too long to get to the "terrible secret" portion. The ending was very flat to me as well. It felt like Garrett was trying to force a happy ending amid breakings news

TEEN JOURNALISTIC PRODIGY UNVEILS HOLLYWOOD SCANDAL
Josie Wright, 17, is a burgeoning journalist who has just won the prize of a lifetime: the chance to interview up-and-coming movie star, Marius Canet, as he tours the country promoting his new film. Along the way, Wright spent time interviewing other cast and crew members, including Penny Livingstone.

Wright soon realized that rumors were circulating about Roy Lennox, one of the most prominent filmmakers and the director of Marius's next project. Can Josie overcome her anxiety and find a way to help Penny and others speak out against one of the most powerful men in the industry?

I loved that this book tackled many important topics. This book provides such an honest portrayal of anxiety and shows how Josie is able to overcome these obstacles. This book releases on Tuesday, May 18...be sure to get a copy of Camryn Garrett's fantastic sophomore novel!

Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quotes: - "It's not a crime to take up space."- "I don't know how to separate the [crappy] things a person has fone from their work."- "Sexual assault is a gigantic display of power. It's someone's way of saying I'm doing this to you because we both know you can't do anything to stop it."

Off the Record is an enjoyable young adult fiction novel by Camryn Garrett. It's a timely book which touches on racism, #MeToo and plus size self-loathing. Josie Wright is a high school student who is a talented journalist. She wins a contest to write an article about an up and coming actor. What starts out as a somewhat fun tale of glamor and celebrity turns serious when she uncovers a sexual harassment scandal in the vein of Harvey Weinstein.

Camryn Garrett is a talented writer and the plot was very intriguing. There is a lot going on, so it felt a little disjointed at times, but it was very entertaining and engrossing. I liked the portrayal of the relationship between Josie and one of her sisters, Alice. They don't always get along, but they have each others back more than they realize when things get serious.

I enjoyed this book and hope to read more of her works in the future.

This book is perfect to give students, no matter the gender, to help them better understand the importance behind the #MeToo movement. I liked the premise that she won a writing contest enabling her to meet celebrities and then gain access to this all too important story. I appreciated that the main character, Josie, not only deals with anxiety but also body image issues which many kids that age do and people tend to shy away from in books for young adults. The only thing that felt off to me with the plot/characters was Penny at first. She came across as a jealous friend only to find out she was just cautious based on her past.

This book is a solid YA book. It tackled the whole #MeToo movement: Josie's a journalist who ends up writing a piece on this director who's a creep. I thought the romance was sweet, but i think i would have preferred the book to focus on Josie's article instead of having a romance, since at some point towards the end Marius is barely there (which is normal since she's focusing on something else, but still).

Josie annoyed me a lot. I don't know if it's because I'm twenty two and I found her like... annoying honestly I don't know what other word to use to describe her. She says she has no friends and i think that's what put me off. i don't like people who have no friends. also she had massive little sister vibes.

anyways! still a great book.

Camryn Garrett is one of those auto-buy authors for me now! Her work is outstanding and the writing is incredible. I loved the mixture of social media that was used to illustrate her love of journalism and it really added to the story. I know this is during the #MeToo movement and it really drove it home for me! Can’t wait to read more of her work.

tw: sexual assault and sexual harassment

this book follows Josie, a seventeen year old journalist who just won a prize to write an article about a movie coming out for a really famous magazine.

along the way, she meets famous people and discovers everything is not what it seems, and ends up writing an article about it that could end her whole career.

there was also a bit of romance that i enjoyed because even though it was a male/female relationship, both people were queer and poc.

Thank you to Knopf Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

As a senior in High School Josie is invited on a press tour to write a profile for an up-and-coming actor, Marius Canet. Josie is bisexual and connects with Marius. She is also approached by one of Marius' co-stars about a director who is guilty of sexual assault that is swept under the rug. Josie is also dealing with being overweight, struggling with her sexual identity, working through anxiety.

A very well written book that tries to cover A LOT of ground.

This book was a roller coaster. I loved, loved, loved it. And I also have too many thoughts, but let’s try to write a review anyways.

The book’s main character is 17 year old Josie Wright, an aspiring journalist. Josie was so interesting. I loved her. I loved everything. I loved reading about her journey of self-confidence.

I loved Penny. I think some people were annoyed with her, but I wasn’t. I think I understood what she was trying to say, and what she had to do.

Marius was so sweet. I think at the beginning something about him rubbed me wrong that was stopped really quick. I learned to love him.

I loved the writing style. Formal and crisp, yet I could believe that it was a teenager's perspective. I haven't read the author's other book, Full Disclosure yet, but I really want to, especially if the writing is this good.

The anxiety representation was very well done. Josie says at the beginning of the story that she sees a therapist because of her anxiety. Josie tries to keep it under control by herself but that’s not how you get better, which she slowly learns. She realizes over the course of the novel that you can be emotional even if you have anxiety, you shouldn’t be ashamed because it’s something that a lot of people deal with too. Josie learns that she’s not alone in her mental illness.

There were beautiful messages of self-love throughout the book. Josie mentions at the beginning of the book that she knows that she is fat. She is insecure about her body, like many people, but at the same time she doesn’t want people to look at her a different way, which is understandable. But, something that stood out to me was that she told herself that she was beautiful and the realism of it was so amazing. She talks about her not being what people thought of when they thought of “beautiful“. She comes to terms with this throughout the book and I loved reading about her journey.

Overall, this was amazing.

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

Prior to picking this up, I knew next to nothing about Off the Record, except that I was familiar with the author, Camryn Garrett, from Twitter, and the premise involving MeToo sounded promising. While I knew it would be issue-heavy and make me think, I also fully enjoyed it for everything it was once I got into the “meat” of it.

I really liked how it peeled back the layers of what goes on behind-the-scenes in Hollywood, particularly in terms of the long history of misconduct in the industry, and how that trend resonates on a deeper level with what women and BIPOC are dealing with in other lines of work. Given “cancel culture” is one of the dog whistles used whenever someone is being held accountable for anything from a tasteless joke to outright vile things like sexual assault and involvement in murder, I appreciated the frank conversations going on in the book about the levels of “bad” behavior, from what we would term as “problematic” to outright vile and criminal, and the question of whether the good someone contributed can outweigh the bad.

Josie as a character is incredibly well-written, and I loved the nuance with which she views the situation, being unsure she should be the one to bring the allegations of misconduct to light. She’s also dealing with other issues by virtue of her own identity as a queer plus-size Black girl in an industry known for prizing the exact opposite.

And while it took time to grow on me, I did like the romance with Marius, given what they share as queer teens who’ve both dealt with trauma. And there’s a nice element of wish-fulfillment in their relationship with the journalist winning the actor’s heart.

This is a beautiful, utterly engrossing book, tackling tough topics with care and a light touch of humor. Fans of more hard-hitting contemporaries will not be disappointed!

There's so much to love with this read, but one thing that sticks out is representation! The protagonist, 17-year old Josie Wright is a plus-sized, black girl who feels more at home writing award winning journalistic articles than attending the next social event at school. When she enters and wins the opportunity of a lifetime, writing a celebrity profile piece, she not only puts her talent to the test, but is also confronted with the uglier side of fame.

Garrett does a wonderful job of making Josie such as relatable character, one who not only tackles her writing talent, but is able to explore issues of racism, weight stigma, anxiety, and sexual assault and harassment. It is a must read for all teens looking for inspiration in the face of adversity.

#NetGalley #OffTheRecord
I thank NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review :)
All I have to say is this....everyone pick this book up when releases.
You absolutely will not be disappointed 🙌🏼

There was a lot going on in this book, which I think was to its detriment. The romance in particular felt kind of out of place (plus I just ... don't love stories where female journalists fall for their subjects etc. because I think it reinforces bad stereotypes about women) - I think it would have been a stronger story if Josie and Penny's friendship was the highlight instead of the romance.

4.5 stars, I rounded up to 5, because of one, and the only, aspect of the book I didn't really like. But literally everything else about this book was just so AMAZING. Good doesn't even cover it.

So this book literally sucked me in from page 1. The writing was phenomenal. Honestly it takes a lot of talent and skill to write such a beautiful story especially about sensitive and tough topics/issues as well as balancing it with light moments. The way Camryn Garrett wrote this was just so intricate and amazing and I'm literally just fangirling over here she is my goddess??

Obviously, from the blurb, you know that a part of this book is going to be relative to #MeToo and sexual assault. But that plot line was incredibly powerful. Josie's hesitation with being able to write that story, her own acceptance of her past, and the other victim's accounts--it was all written so well, and I don't want to keep saying powerful but it really really was.

Tangential to that, the discussion of problematic people versus straight up bad people was also really significant, and especially the paragraph about MLK and Frederick Douglass and the-other-white-men-mentioned-but-i-can't-remember not being perfect like we thought they were was really powerful (and shocking! took me a few minutes to accept that, but like Josie said, they were freedom fighters and all the good they did arguably overrides the few wrongs they did).

Another thing I loved about this book is the discussion of race. She calls out the discrimination and prejudices she faces (actually not just racial prejudice, she also calls out people's prejudice against her being so young). But it wasn't like a purposeful book about like only racial issues, it was just like so natural idk how to explain it, but it's significant to ME because of how rare POCs in general aren't just chucked into books for the sake of having diversity. I read this two days ago so my brain is blanking out but I just remember that it was so refreshing to read a book with 1. actual diversity and 2. the actual acknowledgement and like natural inclusion of other races. Like the characters were straight up described as deep brown/light brown/etc. skin instead of like skirted around with food metaphors.

ANXIETY. Josie has anxiety (that's not a spoiler, don't come at me, you learn about Josie's anxiety in the first chapter :) ). Josie having anxiety was so significant and my heart aches for her because I've thought so many of the same things she has and I know so many people struggle with anxiety. Josie is just such a dynamic character and I absolutely LOVE her journey in this book. She struggles with body image issues, because society tells us fat = ugly (insert massive eye roll and cue throwing up on society >:( ), and she struggles to not let her (many!) negative experiences and people impact her self worth. I love Josie, she is an icon & my hero.

The only thing I didn't love about this book, the reason it's not a full five stars, is...the romance. Josie described Marius as too perfect, like the amount of times Josie described him kinda larger than life--I didn't like it. I mean to an extent it makes sense, that's how you feel about crushes at first. But the way Josie described him, I felt like it clashed or interfered with her perception of herself. Josie's journey of accepting and loving herself is a really important part of the book, and yeah I get that outside validation can be really significant and even helpful to our own perceptions, but I think she was a little too reliant on acceptance from Marius, who was perfect in her eyes. I didn't even really like Marius until the end actually.

Lastly, arguably one of the BEST parts of the book, are the tweets at the top of the chapter. I can't tell you how many times I cracked up reading one of them or related to it so hard!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing and ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Off the Record is a powerful story that felt authentic from the beginning. I enjoyed reading Josie's experiences and how it all unfolded. (full rtc soon)

Great writing and a really good story premise. Didn't like the main character though. She annoyed me constantly.

If you ask her parents, Josie has given them plenty of cause to worry over the years. She doesn’t have as many friends as they’d like, she doesn’t act like a regular teenager… all she does is lock herself in her bedroom and write. But that’s because Josie is a reporter, freelancing for journals and ready to take on the world. When Josie wins a contest that grants her the chance to write an in-depth profile of an up-and-coming young star, Marius, she couldn’t be happier! Talking to Marius, she feels like he really understands her, and not just because she’s just interviewing him for a reporting piece. But as Josie starts to learn more about the Hollywood scene, she soon discovers that it’s not all glitz and glamor. There is something dark, something everyone refuses to talk about. Can Josie find out what happened and report the truth everyone else is too afraid to speak?

I received an advanced reading copy of Off the Record in exchange for an honest review.

Off the Record is a young adult fiction novel by Camryn Garrett. And, before I say anything else, I want to tell you guys to go into this book and review with a trigger warning. The book contains mentions of sexual assault, and I may talk about this later in this review.

The story here felt familiar to me. By now, we’ve all watched the news, watching big Hollywood people finally get accused, their victims’ stories told. It can be gut-wrenching to see just how many people covered it up, and how many others were affected by this one person’s actions. And while Off the Record covers a topic we’re familiar with by now, it does so with a fresh point-of-view that focuses on the survivors, and the importance of telling one’s own story.

As our main character, we have Josie. Josie is a young fat Black teen, whose only dream is to attend Spelman. And while she has big dreams, she has big worries to go along with it. She has anxiety, which has her constantly second-guessing herself. She struggles with issues with her body, where she isn’t always happy with what she sees in the mirror. And she struggles to relate to one of her older sisters, Alice. The book is told through Josie’s POV, and it feels basically like we’re there with her, experiencing this all through her own eyes. Josie was a character whom I connected to from the very beginning. I may not be exactly like her, but so many of the thoughts she had were thoughts that have run through my own head. I can’t sleep sometimes from remembering all the things I might have done that day to ruin everything. I compare myself to other people too, knowing that I can never look like they do. But, like Josie, I write. And while this is me saying that I, personally, connected with Josie, I think that any reader who happens to pick this book up will also be able to identify with her, with her feelings and thoughts and fears.

She’s a great character to experience the plot through. The plot starts out fairly simply, with her winning the contest and getting to interview Marius. In fact, I’d almost forgotten what the book was about until halfway, when the second, main, plot element comes into play. And while I’d been interested in reading before, it was when this secondary plot came up, where women with horrible, yet familiar, stories showed up, that I just had to keep going, unable to put the book down.

The book is a pretty quick read, but the subject matter does end up getting very heavy. It does a good job of balancing out the heavier topics with some cute moments between Josie and Marius, or Josie and her sister or Penny. And it also brings in other elements of the character, leaving the reader with other messages about how our bodies are beautiful because they’re ours. And how sometimes it’s just nice to live in the moment.

Since I briefly mentioned some relationships, I want to talk about them further. I don’t usually like romance, and I know I may have spoiled it for you already, but I hope it’s fairly obvious that there is some element of romance from fairly early on in the book. Anyway, I liked how it developed, and I liked how we got Josie’s inner thoughts as she fell deeper and deeper into her crush. They felt realistic, and then the relationship itself felt realistic. I ended up smiling a lot while reading about it!

But the best relationship in the book, hands down, is that of Josie and her sister. I love sisterhood in books, you guys, and it often doesn’t get covered enough. Here, we get to see that Josie has two sisters, but only really connects with one. But when she gets stuck with Alice, the sister she can’t connect with, on an extended trip, everything changes. We see two people who are related but couldn’t be more different. But, throughout the book, we also get to see that they’re still definitely sisters, and sure, they make mistakes every once in a while, but in the end, they have each others’ backs.

I think the whole focus of the book was sisterhood, actually, and having each others’ backs. Josie meets many more women in this book, and reading about how they all worked together, supported each other, comforted each other, it was beautiful. I just think that women are amazing, and reading about the characters in this book just helped that thought grow even stronger. Penny especially was a favorite of mine, and I recommend keeping an eye out for her.

In the end, this was a moving story about women supporting women, about getting the truth out there, and about how to stand up for what’s right. I think I’d recommend this to any teens, and many adults, actually. Anyone who enjoys fiction, stories about reporters getting the story despite all sorts of dangers, stories about Hollywood romances, or stories about sisterhood and women standing together.

Off the Record will be released on May 18. You can pre-order your copy from Knopf Books for Young Readers at this link.