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Belle Simon was twelve years old when she and five other girls were auditioned and selected for a reality TV show called The Real Deal. Successful actress Donna Mayfair was planning to mould the girls into the perfect triple threat and get them all working in the arts industry. Suddenly every aspect of her life was under scrutiny and everyone in the country thought that they knew her.

Now aged 26 Belle lives with her step dad and little sister and tries to maintain a fairly anonymous life away from the public eye. Away from an existence where you were either loved or loathed depending on how the producers portrayed you that week. But now she is being offered a huge fee that is almost impossible to turn down to be part of a reunion special for The Real Deal.

Everyone who watched the show thinks that they know what happened but only Belle truly knew the truth of the events that led to show’s demise. The money is security for her and her sister. If they are going to talk about “that” episode anyway then perhaps she should be there to tell them exactly what the cameras and the producers didn’t see.

I really wanted to like this book and on paper it is just the kind of thing that I would really enjoy. I found it really hard to relate to any of the characters – the mothers, the girls, Donna, the production team… no-one. I don’t doubt that there are a lot of people in a similar position dreaming of a career in television and then being completely blindsided when they realise that the glamorous facade is just that. That the public attention – both adoration and vitriole – is not worth the stress and pain for all concerned. Belle doesn’t feel fully rounded, and that could be intentional, given that she was thrust into the spotlight at the tender age of twelve but it makes her a struggle to empathise with and at times it was a struggle just to get to the end of the story.

UK Publication Date: Feb 1 2024. 363 pages.