View source for Crystal by Katie Price

{{infobox1
|title=Crystal
|author=Katie Price
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=A better-than-expected look at the pop music scene with some strong characters. Recommended as an undemanding holiday read.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=320
|publisher=Arrow Books Ltd
|date=November 2007
|isbn=978-0099497875
|cover=0099497875
|aznuk=0099497875
|aznus=1846050375
}}
Crystal, Belle and Tahlia are the girl band ''Lost Angel'' and they fight their way through to the final of ''Band Ambition'' - a TV reality show which is a shameless rip-off of ''The X Factor''. Hard work and talent are not all that's needed to get to the final. Some of the other contestants are sure that Belle is sleeping with Dallas (think Simon Cowell) and the girls suspect they'll lose just so that he can be seen not to favour them. As if that's not bad enough, Tahlia is outed as a single mother and it's feared that the public won't vote for the band because she's setting a bad example.

There's spin, counter-spin and a lot of PR but eventually the girls are triumphant - but that's only the beginning of the story. There's infidelity, rape, blackmail and lots more in this rumbustious story that lays bare the rather sordid worlds of pop music and modelling. Crystal's a feisty young woman prepared to fight for what she wants. She does something stupid but the price she has to pay for it is high and we see her sink to the depths before she can climb back again.

I'll be honest - I didn't really expect to like this book. I'm beyond pop music in any form. I've never seen a TV reality show. I'm not interested in show business and my experience of fiction 'written' by celebrities is that you're generally paying a lot more than the book's worth. But - I did enjoy this book.

It's not great literature and I'm sure you're not expecting me to say that it is. But Katie Price's ghostwriter has followed one of the basic rules of writing fiction - write about what you know - and this scene is obviously one which she knows thoroughly. It didn't appeal to me one little bit but I found myself rubber-necking at it with grim fascination rather as at the aftermath of a traffic accident. The sex is the stuff of adolescent fantasy rather than being sensuous, but fortunately it's not overdone. The story of 'girl wins, girl loses, will she win out in the end?' is one that's been done a thousand times before and you could probably guess the ending pretty accurately about halfway through the book, but somehow it didn't matter.

The strength is in the characters. I really found myself rooting for Crystal and wanting to know what happens to her. She makes enemies - fellow band member, Belle, in particular - but she has good friends too. All the characters are rounded and none seemed like caricatures. I thought that Belle might be turning into the pantomime villain when I felt like booing every time she appeared but even she had her softer, kinder side.

If you're looking for a holiday (or a wet Sunday afternoon) read then you could do worse than this book. It's of better quality than most of the bonkbusters which fly from airport bookshop shelves at this time of year even though it's not a demanding read.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending this book to The Bookbag.  We also have a review of [[In the Name of Love by Katie Price]].

If some yummy-mummy chick-lit appeals to you as a holiday read we can recommend Lucy Diamond's [[Any Way You Want Me]].

{{amazontext|amazon=0099497875}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1846050375}}

{{commenthead}}
{{comment
|name=Magda
|verb=said
|comment=I know it's a verbal convention, but it suddenly struck me that the general idea of a 'wet Sunday' implies that reading books is something done only for the lack of possibility of doing something more exciting, implicitly outdoors. Can't be hunting or hillwalking as both of these are done in the rain. Pulling weeds? Playing badmington?

Give me a silly book anytime.
}}
{{comment
|name=Sue
|verb=replied
|comment=I know what you mean! For me Sundays tend to be the day when I have to catch up on heavier jobs outside as that's the day when I can get some help, so a wet Sunday is actually something of a treat - I have an excellent excuse to lounge about reading!
}}
{{comment
|name=kwatkins101
|verb=said
|comment=i just finished readin it 2 day its brill.
people call er a blonde bimbo buh she nows how 2 write a book.
her books r amazin love them all :D xxxxxxx
}}
{{comment
|name=kezofsilloth
|verb=said
|comment=I've almost finished this book and i'm hooked i can't put it down seriously go out and buy it ..x
}}
{{comment
|name=zoefarrell05
|verb=said
|comment=I've got to say i'm more than halfway through this book and i love it. Katie price is brilliant this is a great book. i also enjoyed angel. x
}}
{{comment
|name=xellywheeldonx
|verb=said
|comment=I have nearly finished crystal which i got about 3 days ago and i seriously can not put it down i tihnk it is amazing!! I love it so much! Well done jordan!
xxxxx elly
}}
{{comment
|name=beckylou
|verb=said
|comment=just finished it today! its such a great book and i couldnt put it down. i found myself wanting to read more and more, even when i wasnt able to! definately recommended and i recommend Angel by Katie Price!
}}
{{comment
|name=rebeccameddings
|verb=said
|comment=this was an apsolutly brilliant book counldnt put it down sayed up all night to finsh the book to find out what happened
}}
{{comment
|name=Carla Young
|verb=said
|comment=I was completely hooked. Finished it today and am lost.
Was a fantastic read, best book ive EVER read! Well done
Katie keep them coming.
}}
{{comment
|name=Charlotte Ainsley
|verb=said
|comment=i absolutly adored this book. I couldnt put it down and i began to feel for crystal and felt like she was my friend. I v never read a book that made me tearful at the end, but this one did. I was so happy for crystal at the end i found myself racing to see what happend!
}}
{{comment
|name=Tamara Spokes
|verb=said
|comment=just wanted to say that I REALLY, REALLY enjoyed this book. It's absolutely fantastic. Katie is such a fab writer. I would seriously reccomend it to anyone.
}}
{{comment
|name=Crystal
|verb=said
|comment=I only read ''Crystal'' by Katie Price because my names Crystal so it kind of caught my eye but...when i started reading it i was hooked! It was a fantastic book! I've read it twice now and still cant get enough...Well done to Katie Price she's prooved to people she has got a brain! BUY IT and after by Angel that is AMAZING too!
Happy reading :D
}}
}}
{{comment
|name=Laura Reynolds
|verb=said
|comment=I work in a bookshop and this book caught my eye, I started to read it and from then on I havent been able to put it down since. I cannot wait to know what happens next, it keeps me reading throughout my days at work. cant wait to read other books that katie has wrote. x
}}
}}
{{comment
|name=Sue
|verb=replied
|comment=Katie has, of course, not written any of the books which appear under her name - they're all ghostwritten.  She has, apparently, the dubious distinction of having written more books than she's read.
}}