A 2000's bestseller and teenage favourite but has it stood the test of time?
Dates Read: 16/01/2023 to 02/02/2023
Star rating: ⭐⭐
Word to describe: Tactless
Genre: Romantic Fiction
Once read as a teenager and thought to be a fantastic depiction of romantic relationships and how fame is beautiful, it has become a cringe-worthy mess featuring toxic relationships, drug abuse, and plenty of men who don't understand consent.
Angel by Katie Price (now known to have been written by a ghost-writer) follows the story of the young and beautiful Brighton girl Angel Summer. Angel is an 18-year-old girl with no idea what she wants to do in life; her passions include art (though this is never referred to again), an unhealthy obsession with her brother's best friend Cal, and horse riding. When approached by an agent, she is soon wrapped up in glamour modelling. Posing nude and partially nude, and revelling in her newfound fame and wealth. She meets British pop star Mickey, and it all goes downhill from there.
Her entire character persona revolves around her narcissistic personality and overwhelmingly selfish actions. She finds every other woman a threat and does not hold back from mentally insulting them at every meeting. Both of Cal's girlfriends are viewed as stuck-up bitches who lather their faces in makeup and are attention-seeking and desperate. Yet, whenever she gets the slightest insult thrown her way, either for her career as a glamour model or for her breast augmentation, she is quick to victimise herself. Angel does not have a single likeable quality, and her entire character arc feels redundant when she shows no sense of improvement. From cocaine abuse to luring Cal into cheating on his girlfriends to hating her adoptive parents - for loving her, I guess, she is an all-around disgrace of a character.
The forefront relationships we see in this book are Angel's relationship with her boyfriend Mickey (which lacks all the sexual tension and has the driest conversations in the whole book. I'm surprised these two ever managed to have a sexual relationship), and her supposed best friend Gemma, who she neglects for at least three-quarters of the story. Her relationship with Mickey is a train wreck. Putting the drug use, cheating, and scandalous threesome aside, Mickey's entire character reeks of a juvenile delinquent in the making. He adds drugs into Angels' drink hoping for a drug-induced fuck session. Let's rephrase that; he attempts to date rape her by unknowingly spiking her drink and then abandons her in a nightclub to deal with the drug-induced state alone! This boy screams "I don't know what consent is", and constantly forcefully puts Angel into sexual situations she does not want to be a part of. Filming their sessions, having her dress up for him, and paying a prostitute to sleep with them (which Angel only agreed to after several more lines of coke), Mickey is a horrible character. The romanticising of their relationship by Angel is sickening.
The other men in this book are no better. Cal (the brother's best friend) suffers from Angel's constant obsession. Under the influence of drugs, Angel tries to give him a blow job - no consent is needed when you're coked up apparently. Further, into the plot, they begin an affair. Cal is constantly undermining Angel, under the pretence of looking after her, yet, it is clear from the offset that the relationship is that of an immature teenage girl with a relationship fantasy and a grown man who abuses her vulnerability (fresh out of rehab is the perfect time to pursue her right?). The idea of Cal being the ideal man is tiresome. His character reads as exciting as stale bread. The grand finale of their relationship finally becomes serious he proposes at his best friend's wedding (classy!) after a month of sleeping with Angel and ignoring her when she's not naked and underneath him. He is treated as the utmost romantic scene in the whole book yet, the entire relationship seems forced as a way to please the reader and redeem Angel in some way.
The tiresome and dated colloquialism teamed with language that no British person would say out loud. (Has the word crikey ever been used by anyone that is not at least 50 years old by 2006 standards?). I can appreciate that this book was written nearly twenty years ago, but it has aged as delicate as a steaming pile of dog shit. The only redeemable thing about this story is the drama that is filled throughout. I love reading about never-ending reality TV-style drama, but in this case, the characters are more of a self-insert and severely underdeveloped, I have to wonder if all the extra drama was just added to make the plotline less stale.
Overall, I don't know what I expected. I certainly knew this book would be cringe-worthy, but the number of red flags, and general the-fuck-is-happening, was something I had not prepared for. Regardless, this book is so bad that it could almost be readable, in a hate-love kind of way. Will I be reading the next Angel Summer book? Most likely, but not due to any love for the characters or storyline. I enjoyed the feeling of judging my former self for reading this and believing it was the epitome of romance. Thank you, 15-year-old me, for having zero taste in literature.
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