‘Alice Chen’s Reality Check’: A Review
“The path to paradise begins in hell.” – Dante Alighieri
It’s as they say.. all’s fair in love & reality TV.
Alice Chen is a middle-school math teacher struggling to make ends meet. To pay for her mother’s medical bills, she & her fiancé, Chase, join a reality TV competition where the grand prize is a million dollars. Love is hell, even in paradise, where couples’ relationships are put to the test.
Everything is according to plan.. until she walks in on Chase cheating on her with another contestant. To stay in the game, Alice decides to fake-date the other newly-single contestant, who is none other than her high school academic rival, Daniel Cho.
As the show goes on, the chemistry between the two is everything but scientific. And if things weren’t already dramatic enough – from break-ups to throwing up – a dead body turns up on set. Together, Alice & Daniel try to solve the mystery & catch the culprit before more people get hurt, all while playing a madly-in-love couple on-screen & trying to win.
This book is fast-paced, dramatic & one you will not be able to put down. It’s like watching a reality show unfold before your eyes! It is very plot-driven (vs. character-driven). I enjoyed watching Alice & Daniel's relationship grow, from their banter to relying & trusting each other. The murder doesn't happen until quite late in the book, and the ending felt a bit anti-climatic & rushed to me, but it is an enjoyable, fun read (it made me get back into contemporary/romance stories 🤭). Drama, Humour, Mystery, Romance.. you’ve got them all in this book!
Perfect for fans of Single's Inferno, Love Island, Miss Congeniality, Knives Out/Glass Onion, rom-coms & light murder mysteries.
