I had the best time with Alice Chen’s Reality Check. If you love reality tv shows this is a must read. It’s a fun take on the genre as well as adding a mystery twist. Keep reading this book review of Alice Chen’s Reality Check for my full thoughts.
Summary
Alice Chen doesn’t believe in true love, but she does believe in cold, hard cash. Buckling under the weight of student debt and her mother’s medical bills, Alice will do anything to make bank–even star on Dawn Tay’s Inferno, the hot new reality TV show designed to push couples to their breaking point.
The show is Alice’s chance to sip cocktails on the beach and win a cash prize of a million dollars. Everything is going according to plan…until her jerk fiancé breaks up with her during the second week of filming. To stay in the game, Alice agrees to fake-date the other newly single her high school rival and sworn enemy, Daniel Cho.
But it turns out that all’s fair in love and reality TV, and Alice isn’t the only one who will do whatever it takes to win. When a dead body turns up, Alice and Daniel are faced with uncovering the secrets of the cast and crew to catch the killer–all while playing the loving couple on camera. As the reality show spirals out of control, Alice must confront her true feelings and crack the case if she wants to make it off the island alive.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Alice Chen’s Reality Check is an exhilarating ride. It has fake dating, rivals to lovers, and tons of forced proximity. Even more so, it has so many fun nods to reality tv shows and the absurdity and competitive nature. I immediately loved Alice and how she’s finding it difficult to trust. I certainly wouldn’t want to compete on reality tv with my rival! She has her mom’s health and bills weighing on her shoulder and comes head to head with her old rival. The rival who showed her up no matter how hard she tried. Alice Chen’s Reality Check asks her how we can trust someone, how we can work with someone, and fall in love.
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Alice’s story examines the illusions of who we are and who we are with someone else. The beauty lies in when the illusions fall away. Alice Chen’s Reality Check is a fun and twisty story about reality tv, falling in love, and competing for your life. It’s about everything we realize when we don’t have to be the person we thought. Find Alice Chen’s Reality Check on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, & Blackwells.