Publishers Weekly
05/06/2024
Young actors expose a deadly scandal in this twisty, tantalizing thriller from Dean (The King Is Dead) that pits “a billion-dollar company against four teenagers.” Abel Miller, who is “mixed race,” seizes the chance to costar in the reboot of the hit teen dramedy Sunset High; mysterious disappearances and death blight the original production’s “cursed” history. But he doesn’t accept the role simply to launch his career—a celebrity reporter approaches Abel to go undercover to investigate the off-set drama, to which Abel agrees for personal reasons: his older brother died in a “tragic accident” while working as a production assistant for the studio three years ago, and Abel suspects foul play. While befriending costars to untangle the truth (and his own romantic feelings for the leading man), Abel learns that Sunset High’s makers and players all harbor dangerous secrets that will prove deadly for one teen star. Multiple narrators deglamorize Hollywood’s every angle with searing social commentary on stalkers, abusive guardians, alcohol dependency, racism, sexism, and homophobia, while soapy drama and plentiful pop culture references keep this mystery compulsively readable. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Chloe Seager, Madeleine Milburn Literary. (July)
From the Publisher
"How to Die Famous is a firecracker of a novel, filled to the brim with twists and turns that made me gasp out loud and an ending I never saw coming. Benjamin Dean is masterful in his exploration of the dark and insidious nature of Hollywood, spotlighting the hidden bodies that lie along the path to stardom and fame."
—Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, New York Times bestselling author of ACE OF SPADES
"A twisty whodunit that critiques the toxicity of celebrity while exploring bonds of friendship and brotherhood."
—Kirkus
“Searing social commentary…soapy drama and plentiful pop culture references keep this mystery compulsively readable.”—Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
2024-04-20
A rising TV star vows to uncover the unsettling truth behind his older brother’s death.
British entertainment industry newcomer Abel Miller, a multiracial Black teen, has just landed a role on Omni Channel’s Sunset High, a star-making teen drama with a controversial history. An actress from the original series experienced a mental breakdown, and in 2022 the reboot’s junior assistant—Abel’s 22-year-old brother, Adam—died after falling from the roof of a hotel and a young lead actor vanished during her evening run. When Abel joins the cast in 2024, he partners with a tabloid journalist to expose Omni’s underbelly and shed light on the strange circumstances surrounding Adam’s death. As Abel adjusts to the spotlight, he connects with his three teen co-stars, who are guarding career-ending secrets. Soon, Abel’s mission is at war with his loyalties, and he realizes that Omni is much more dangerous than anyone could imagine. Told through first-person narration that alternates between Abel and white co-star Ella Winter, Dean’s sophomore YA novel effectively combines pop-culture elements with the tension of a murder mystery. The author explores the exploitation of children in show business, from the selfish demands of stage parents to the insatiable greed of industry executives, with realism. Abel’s unresolved grief is movingly depicted, and the ending, though a little too conveniently earned, leaves room for a sequel.
A twisty whodunit that critiques the toxicity of celebrity while exploring bonds of friendship and brotherhood. (Thriller. 14-18)
