I didn't like this one. Though I did finish it. This one gave me too much Hannah Montana vibes and not in a good way.

The premise of this book sounded fun. Who doesn't love the dating-a-pop-star-trope? This book was kind of all over the place and the writing was erratic. The Russian gangsters were a head scratching addition, and the ending left me wanting more clarity. It could have benefited from an editor to narrow the book's focus and to clean up the story structure and flow.

I am afraid this is the first NetGalley book I DNF'ed. The pacing is erratic and I really struggle with following the story. It just feels like an unedited Wattpad story. I usually love easy stories like this, but it's so hard to follow that I can't enjoy it

It was a quick read that honestly I enjoyed reading but felt something missing. The friends to lovers vibe was shining and I was here for it. A childhood friend who is a pop star coming back to his home town and the instant connection between the two characters was there. This book gives you a glimpse into the life of a pop star. I tried to get into the storyline but it was just so far stretched that it was a struggle. There were a lot of things that seemed to come up randomly with no explanation. The ending left me wanting more explanation as well, it didn't seem to tie things up the way I was expecting.

How Not to Date a Pop Star had a promising premise, but unfortunately, it was an overall flop for me. I really liked the pop star idea because I am a huge fan of music and artists, but the scenarios that the characters went through weren't quite believable. I felt like the characters weren't very developed as well. I wanted to like this novel; however, I was disappointed by the lack of character and plot development.

Thank you to Wattpad books and NetGalley for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this copy, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It was a quick read that honestly I enjoyed reading but felt something missing. The friends to lovers vibe was shining and I was here for it. A childhood friend who is a pop star coming back to his home town and the instant connection between the two characters was there. There's drama, secrets, love and the Russians what can go wrong,.....

I really wanted to like this book, but for me it kind of was jumping all over the place and I really couldn’t focus on what was happening. This was a DNF for me.

This book gives you a glimpse into the life of a pop star. I tried to get into the storyline but it was just so far stretched that it was a struggle. There were a lot of things that seemed to come up randomly with no explanation. The ending left me wanting more explanation as well, it didn't seem to tie things up the way I was expecting.

I love pop star tropes and music. Sometimes it was really confusing and embarrassing. Sometimes I like this one so much. For me, it was not a quick read and I needed to put it down and return to it later. It was a story about two best friends, Aaliyah Preston, and Tyler Moore. Tyler played and wrote music, and Aaliyah brought that music to life through dance. They were convinced their lives would change forever after entering a TV talent show, but when Aliyah’s mom ended up in the hospital, Tyler had to go alone–and won. Suddenly, he was thrust into the spotlight while she was left behind in their small, seaside town. Are they able to restore their friendship? Or will they lose it forever? I love when the story consists of a dark dark secret that can destroy everything around them and I was intrigued by this description. In some places, I got what I wanted and my hopes were justified, and in some places, I was even slightly disappointed that everything was rather banal. In general, I liked this book and it was well-written. However, I felt that this book was from Wattpad.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me, I found it hard to follow and stay interested and I did not finish this one.

This book was quite possibly one of the worst books I’ve ever read. It took me forever to get through this book because I had to force myself to read it. It dragged on and I kept wishing it was so much shorter.

It’s as if the author tried to pack in as many tropes as possible and it shows. It’s incredibly unrealistic and I just found myself shaking my head in disbelief so often.

I'm afraid this one just didn't do it for me. I tried hard to get into it, but there was just so much going on! There's romance with the titular pop star, his shady father, friend drama, angst about getting into the right college after high school and to top it all off, a subplot (or maybe it's the main plot??) about Russian mobsters.

Maybe if this book had just tackled two or even three of these themes it might have worked, but as written, it's kind of a mess, with each element seemingly just tossed in there without a lot of thought about how it advances the plot. I admit I didn't read the book in a single sitting, or even over a week or so - I kept setting it aside and coming back to it when I had a moment - so I may have missed something, but nothing about this book compelled me to keep reading. Especially when I had to keep scrolling back to see what had happened earlier to figure out if there were connections between events I'd forgotten.

So I'm afraid this one does not get a recommend from me.

Before starting this book, I made the mistake of looking at its reviews on GoodReads-  where it had 2 stars.  The book hadn't been released yet when I read it and most of the complaints were that it was "obviously a book from WattPad", I'm not really sure how to tell (aside from it saying so on the cover) but I'm not sure the harsh reviews were warranted.  There were some timeline issues and I had a bit of confusion if it was taking place in present day or not based on some of the slang used ("Go Home Roger" screams 90s Sister/Sister to me?) but nothing that I couldn't end up working out.

Obviously as a pop music fan the goal was *always* to date a Pop Star.  This story is about Aaliyah and her best friend Tyler.  They were best friends growing up - Tyler a singer, Aaliyah a dancer.  Tyler ended up going off and becoming a popstar leaving Aaliyah behind.  Tyler ends up coming home for a visit, reconnecting with Aaliyah and interrupting her life completely. 

It's not a good book without some drama, right?  So add in some Russian mobsters who are trying to shake down Tyler's Dad for some money and Aaliyah gets all wrapped up in their mess.  

Tyler just wants to get back to a normal life and doesn't really want to disrupt Aaliyah's life, but a lot of things end up getting turned upside down and the two have to decide if they want each other or their careers.  Add in some high school mean girls... 

It was a cute book and a quick read I enjoyed.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

I love this book's concept, but this story had erratic pacing and flat characters. It was hard to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy.

Aaliyah and Tyler used to be friends, but have lived very different lives since Tyler's music career took off. Now Tyler has returned home, looking to change his life and Aaliyah is trying really hard to maintain platonic boundaries so that she doesn't get lost in his shadow. Enter a couple of music mobsters and Aaliyah's life gets more dangerous as she is forced to make choices that will change everything for herself, her family and for Tyler.

This book is a little all over the place. I really enjoyed the relationship development between Aaliyah, Tyler and their friends. I didn't enjoy the subplot with Aleksandr, the gambling and the mob. When I got towards the second half of the novel, it felt like I was reading a different book. As always, your mileage may vary.

1.25/5 stars! The premise of this book sounded fun and I was looking for a light-hearted romcom with some hidden depths. But I didn't get any of that. Instead, the reader gets a disjointed book where it feels like the author threw everything and the kitchen sink into this story and hoped it worked. It was a challenge to get through this and I couldn't find myself rooting for any of the characters. Likely will not seek out books by this author in the future.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I sadly was not a fan of this. The plot had promise but the characters fell flat and the writing was not very good. I will admit that I didn’t even finish the book as I was not enjoying it

DNF. I loved the premise, but I couldn't get past the first few pages. I tried, returning back to it over a few days, but I couldn't read it.

This book was terrible. The whole time I was reading I could tell it was a Wattpad book. There was so much confusion and it felt like the author tried to stuff every typical Wattpad trope into one book: romance, dead dad, popstar, Russian killer, car crash…nothing that made sense.

- I was very confused by the scene where Aaliyah and Quinn were at the hotel. The transition wasn’t very clear and I had to scroll back to see if there was something that I missed.
- I’m very confused about how Aaliyah met Tyler. First she implied he was a dork when she said he “shoved French fries up his nose and once asked if girls could get pregnant from French kissing”. But then she said she first met him in the dance studio and he was cute and popular at school
- I don’t like the use of the term PTSD on page 37. It feels a little invalidating to people with actual PTSD for these girls to say they have it after just seeing a guy get beat up.
- page 50 - the phrase is laying low not lying low
- it doesn’t make sense to me that on page 52 she said the blogs were wondering where Tyler was when everyone in her school was videoing him, posting on social media and tagging him. How couldn’t they have know what he had been up to?
- their argument doesn’t make any sense. She wanted him to stay in New York so why is she upset that he said that? Then it went to this drastic, dramatic shift about how people can’t change ???
- how does Emma know how to drive and she’s only 15 years old?
- on page 208 he says his mom wants to ‘meet’ Ali to have dinner…..but doesn’t she already know his mom since she teaches Ali dance?????

Unfortunately I have to give this book a one star. I tried so hard to like it, and I couldn’t.

From the bad use of Spanish, to Russian mafia (or something like that) texting teenagers through IG, this book didn’t make sense at all. The title makes you want to read the book but it was hard to get into the characters, not because they are teenagers, but because the situations and themselves lacked of depth and coherence.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.