5* BOOK REVIEW | 'Waiting For Callback: Take Two' by Perdita and Honor Cargill

Hello readers, and happy Saturday! Today I am very excited to share with you a review I have been so excited about writing –I adored this book so much and I can’t wait to share with you my thoughts about it.

That’s right, you guessed it, it is Waiting For Callback: Take Two by the lovely Perdita and Honor Cargill – superstar mother/daughter writing duo who are two of the most wonderful people (and YA writers) out there!

Waiting For Callback, their debut novel, was one of my favourite reads of last year (it won the Funniest Book prize in the DBR Awards) and once I had finished it I was desperate to get my hands on the sequel. Luckily, the wonderful people at Simon & Schuster sent me a proof copy and, in the midst of essay writing and exam revision (sorry Mum!) I dived straight in…

Waiting For Callback: Take Two follows teenager Elektra James as she transforms from aspiring actress to, well, a REAL LIFE actress, as she lands the lead role in a blockbuster film - Slater. The drama this brings is coupled with tension with her almost-boyfriend Archie, as he relocates to Transylvania to play a vampire hunter surrounded by countless beautifully tragic women, commotion with her co-stars and squabbling with her parents, who always know best. The question is, is it truly possible for Elektra to realise her Hollywood dream? Or will everything come crashing down at her feet?

Intrigued? Check out the blurb here…

Elektra has finally landed a part in a film. It's the dream. Well ...until she works out that Straker is a movie so dystopian that within weeks most of the cast and all of the crew wish that the world had actually ended (preferably in scene one). And while it's obviously great news that she's moved from the friend-zone with Archie to become his almost-girlfriend, it would be better if he hadn't immediately relocated to Transylvania to play a vampire hunter surrounded by 'maidens of peerless beauty'.

Full of humour and warmth, this new series is perfect for fans of Geek Girl and The It Girl.

A lot of authors talk about the ‘second book horror’, and how terrifying it can be to follow up a debut novel with another book. However, Perdita and Honor have absolutely nothing to worry about with this absolute star of a sequel.

I rated Waiting For Callback 5*s, and didn’t think Perdita and Honor could do any better. Waiting For Callback made me laugh, made me cry, made me cringe (quite a lot), but above all, it was a book that put me in an amazing mood and I never wanted to put it down. However, the Cargills have surpassed any expectations I had for Take Two. I would rate this book ten stars if I could!

Take Two continues the story of the first book amazingly well, and I loved that we got to learn about Elektra so much more, and see her progress from a young girl who dreamed about becoming an actress, to achieving the starring role in a feature film. I think Elektra is such a great role model for young girls and her inspiring qualities of determination and perseverance (even in the face of total cringeworthy moments that make me want to jump in a hole) are wonderful to see in a YA character. Elektra is so relatable and I loved learning more about her in Take Two.

Moss and Archie were two of my absolute FAVES in the first book, so I was pleased to see them feature a lot in this sequel. I didn’t think it was possible to adore them more than I did in the first book, but I did. If someone said I could either date someone like Archie, or have a best friend like Moss, I would have a very hard deciding who I would choose. That said (who am I kidding?!) I would love to be best friends with Moss. Elektra and Moss’ friendship is undoubtedly the best friendship I have read about in YA, and I love reading about them. Their tenacious hunts for biscuits inspired me unendingly. 
However, despite the side-splitting moments in Take Two, there are some things I absolutely cannot forgive Perdita and Honor for. The emotional distress I experienced, in relation to an incident involving ONE OF MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS was unbelievable. You know what I’m talking about…

That said, I can to an extent forgive you both, because Take Two brought me so much joy. It’s such a cliché, but it’s true. It’s one of those books you want to keep close to you always, in case you need a pick me up, a reminder that sometimes, life ain’t that bad. If we are surrounded by good people, even the most difficult of situations can be worked out. Similarly to the first book, the voice was still fresh and funny and fabulously fun, written with a hell lot of heart. By reading this book you can really tell that Perdita and Honor truly love what they’re doing, and believe me, we all love what you guys are doing too <3

So, as you can probably tell, I ADORED Waiting For Callback: Take Two, and I think you should all run weirdly like Elektra (hands flapping and everything) to your nearest bookshop and pick up a copy!!!

Buy Waiting For Callback: Take Two here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waiting-Callback-Take-Perdita-Cargill/dp/1471144852/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485614798&sr=1-1&keywords=waiting+for+callback+take+two

Check out Perdita and Honor here: http://www.dhhliteraryagency.com/perdita-and-honour-cargill.html