‘Rising Star’ is the first book in the ‘Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart’ Series by By Michele Kwasniewski.

Dani Truehart is living a life that is not quite her own. Driven by her mother’s desire for fame and fortune, she has spent her childhood dutifully training for a career as a pop star. On the brink of discovery, doubts begin to creep into Dani’s mind as she questions her own desire for fame, and she wonders whether she can trust the motivations of the adults who are driving her forward. Following a brilliant audition arranged by her vocal/dance coach and former ’80s pop icon Martin Fox, Dani is thrown full-force into the music industry. She leaves her friends, family and scheming mother behind to move with Martin, who has become her legal guardian, into the Malibu compound of her new manager, Jenner Redman. Jenner, the former swindling manager of Martin’s boy band, leverages what’s left of his depleted fortune to launch Dani’s career. Isolated from her life at home and trying to stay apace with her demanding schedule, Dani struggles to keep in touch with those she loves, connect to her withholding mother and find her voice as an artist. With Martin and Jenner at odds over their rocky past and finding herself unprepared to handle the pressures of her future singing career, Dani’s debut album and future stardom are at risk of falling apart.

‘Rising Star’ is the first book in a new Young Adult series and really shines a spotlight on the extreme pressure that teenage artists have to gone through to become pop stars. 

The story is seen through the narrative of Dani Trueheart, who’s dream is to become a famous popstar. It was always her mother’s dream for her to succeed and make the family rich and pushes her daughter to the extreme with workout and singing sessions and encouraging her to skip school and concentrate on her career. But when Dani’s dream becomes true and she gets a recording contract, her mother becomes consumed with jealousy as they have to appoint a guardian for Dani and that job goes to Martin, her instructor. Dani moves to Miami to achieve the life that Sheba’s always dreamt, the only fly in the ointment is being away from her boyfriend as well as her mother’s jealousy and resentment towards her daughter’s success. 

This book is a fascinating story and gives an insight into the pressure that teenagers are put through by overachieving parents. Dani’s relationship with her mother is hard reading, as she pushes Dani to succeed but once she finds out that she’s not immediately going to be making millions, she pushes her away and regularly hurts Dani with her evident bitterness. I admired Dani with her courage to give up her family, friends and first boyfriend to achieve her success and follow her dream and her determination at such a young age. 

The book also highlights the pressure of the industry and what our favourite pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguliiara went through, the rigorous singing lessons, the recordings and the pressure of their appearance. It also shows the other side of the coin, the normal teenage problems like discovering first love and insecurity and family upheaval. 

A fascinating start to a new series, ‘Rising Star’ is a beautifully written story about the young girl starting an exciting new chapter in life, written with wit and charm that made for lovely reading. 

You can buy ‘Rising Star’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Dani is a relatable character and I can’t wait for the next book to see what happens in Dani’s life.