Editorial Content for Pop Girl

POP GIRL is Tallia Storm’s debut novel, and I’m already anxiously anticipating her next. POP GIRL follows the story of Storm Hall, a 13-year-old girl with a passion for singing, whose story takes inspiration from Tallia’s own.

Storm wants to perform, to sing onstage. Someday she’s going to be famous, just like her idol, Ivy Baxter. When her school choir is invited to a national competition, Storm thinks she has her lucky break. Until she’s reminded that she has a once-in-a-lifetime family vacation to Hawaii that same week. And the solo Storm was going to sing? It goes to her best friend instead. Hawaii. Island paradise gets even better when Storm gets the chance to sing for a local band. And even BETTER when she hears her voice on the radio. Until the band introduces the voice as someone else. Someone who's not Storm.

I could not put this book down. It was cute and tickled my fancy. POP GIRL was a pretty easy read, but I enjoyed it. The reading level is probably a little below what I (and quite a few others on this site) are reading at, but it was still an interesting book and plot.

"One thing I really enjoyed about POP GIRL was Tallia’s writing style. Tallia Storm is good at making sure each word contributed to the voice of her characters."

Throughout the book, there were sections where it was apparent that this is Tallia Storm’s first novel. There were a few sentences that seemed out of place and she referred to social media too much without using it to move the story along, but the most problematic part was the clothing detail. There are sections throughout the book where Storm describes in detail what she is wearing, even getting as specific as the brand. I felt like this was too much detail, and I had to pause throughout the book to look up the clothing. The brands were obscure enough that I didn’t know what they were, and I, wanting to properly paint my mental image of Storm, couldn’t envision her without help from the internet.

I’m pretty good at figuring out the endings to books, especially if they’re cliché. I was able to figure out a main plot point pretty easily, but other elements did surprise me. I appreciated the parts of the ending that surprised me, but I did feel like they didn’t have enough build up. A few minor plot points near the end were abrupt, and I feel like although those points were beneficial to the ending and overall feel to the book, they needed to have more lead in. I can see the the author’s reasoning for the lack of maturation, but for maximum impact there should’ve been more development throughout the book.

One thing I really enjoyed about POP GIRL was Tallia’s writing style. Tallia Storm is good at making sure each word contributed to the voice of her characters. Her narration style sounded like what I would imagine Storm saying, without random words that seemed out of character. Her style made the story smoother to read and made me feel closer to Storm as a character.

Overall I think this book was interesting and unique, with a good message. POP GIRL forced me to think about how while your talents may not be suited in one area, they might be for another, and that not everybody will appreciate you the way others would. I would recommend POP GIRL to anybody looking for a book that they could quickly read, especially those interested in music or fashion.