When I first heard that Lauren Conrad of The Hills had a book out, I was skeptical. I mean what was she going to write about and why would I care? However, after I heard that it was about a reality show that takes place in LA, I knew I would read it, because you know it has to be based off of her experiences with Laguna Beach and The Hills.

The part of the book that interested me the most were when she would describe how the director of the reality show would communicate with the stars. The director would text the stars on their Blackberry phones (paid for by the show) while they were filming, to steer the conversation one way or another. This explains why in both Laguna Beach and The Hills, the stars were always checking their phones! It was not because they were telling their friends where the party was, but rather because the director was telling them what question to ask the other people in the shot.

The book made me appreciate the stars of these shows a little more because it explained their side of the ‘reality’ that we watched on MTV.  I realize that this is a fiction book, however I have to believe that many of scenes took place in real life (or on a reality show), which makes me want to go back and watch the first season of The Hills and look for similarities.

Plus the geek in me loved that there were not one but two QR barcodes in the book! Once you scan either of the barcodes, they lead you to the same website (http://lacandy.mobi). At SXSW there was a panel about QR codes and they  specifically referenced this book and their use of these codes.  Harper Books (the publisher) has the ability to update the URL where these two codes lead to so that they can direct people to a sequel or any website that they feel is relevant at the time.

Overall, the book was fairly well written and had less spelling and grammar mistakes than Nanny Returns (the sequel to the Nanny Diaries – seriously a horrendous book, one that I do NOT recommend) and I have already recommended it to many friends.