Lauren Conrad may be many things: T.V. personality, socialite, beauty queen, fashion designer…but would anyone think to attach “creative writer” to her repertoire? The shocking thing about her first novel L.A. Candy isn’t that Lauren Conrad wrote a novel, but it’s actually decent. L.A. Candy captures the tale of two best friends trying to establish themselves in Los Angeles, not at all like the premise of Conrad’s monster-hit show, The Hills. Of course not.

            Since Lauren has made herself into an extremely public figure, one cannot separate her personality on television from her new literary endeavors. One of the recurring thoughts that visited my mind as I delved into the novel was, “Wow, L.C. can actually write!” It is impressive for someone who has spent her college years on television getting paid to party and kiss boys, but perhaps that endeavor itself merits its own degree of ingenuity. Ms. Conrad is not afraid to utilize clever adjectives and layered narratives. Either we’ve underestimated her or she has enough clout to hire a great team of writers. Conrad’s weakness, however, is characterization. If L.A. Candy is a fictional version of Conrad’s escapades in Hollywood, then it is hard to believe that the story’s protagonist, Jane Roberts, is the dowdy ugly duckling she is supposedly portrayed as. The primary reason why Lauren became famous was because of her striking, camera-worthy beauty, so supposedly plain-Jane’s claims of being the “less attractive friend” are dubious. Of course, Jane has to have a best friend whose resemblance is akin to a supermodel, Scarlet, a name probably not common in California but perfect for the young adult fan base. It’s difficult to pinpoint who Scarlet is based off of out of the myriad of best friends Conrad has appeared with on The Hills. However, everyone else lines up into place: Hannah, Conrad’s blond coworker (Whitney Port, anyone?) Braeden (based off of Conrad’s pseudo-boyfriend Brody Jenner) and Jesse, the bad-boy troublemaker that Jane falls for (Conrad’s long-time love Jason Wahler, a true bad-boy troublemaker).

            L.A. Candy is a decent young-adult read not for the immediate plotline, but the subtext. Conrad and her producers, through both The Hills and L.A. Candy have managed to cast Los Angeles as a Garden of Eden, full of gorgeous people, fancy clubs, and opportunities to be on a hit television show simply by showing up at the right place at the right time. Maybe a sliver of that may be true to life, but Los Angeles on the bigger scale is smog-filled, bankrupt, and filled with crime and crushed dreams. An even more interesting viewpoint is the less-glamorous side of reality television: the installation of mikes, test-screenings, ubiquitous cameras, the signing of releases, and slowly but surely, the disintegration of one’s privacy and sense of self. Lauren, for better or worse, has (or had) truly given up herself and her life for The Hills and L.A. Candy issues the warning of being careful what you wish for. Still, L.A. Candy fits perfectly into the overarching theme of the budding Lauren Conrad empire: it is a product riddled with fantasy but masqueraded as a reality.