From the Publisher
"Misery for the Belieber generation" -Observer.com"Fiercely entertaining...one of the smartest YA releases of this year." -New York Daily News"As fabulously bonkers as its title." -Entertainment Weekly, The Must List"Boy bands gets the Heathers treatment in this madcap macabre." -Kirkus"Wickedly funny." –NPR.org"Bitingly satirical." -Publishers Weekly"[For] anyone who's ever had the fortune-or misfortune-of being a fan." -Booklist "Hilarious…A must-have." -School Library Journal"I was impressed by how thoughtfully and seriously Goldy treats the subjects of fandom, passion, and being a girl." -Rookiemag.com
School Library Journal - Audio
08/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Imagine every teen stereotype surrounding boy bands: the screaming, the giggling, and the obsession. Then take it a few steps further to include stalking, kidnapping, and murder and you have this hilarious satirical audiobook. The story is told by an unnamed aspiring fan fiction writer as she recounts how she and her three starstruck friends took their obsession with boy band The Ruperts to the next level. Each friend has a different connection to The Ruperts: Erin, the writer's best friend from school who keeps her love for The Ruperts a secret—and possibly her love for the writer as well; Isabel, an online friend who maintains a well-trafficked Ruperts fan page; and Apple, a rich orphan who is obsessed with Rupert K, even though it is rumored that he is gay. Through her family's connections, Apple is able to score a room at the hotel where The Ruperts are staying in New York City, and the girls accidentally kidnap a member of the band. Barrett Wilbert Weed brings the fangirl voices to life, keeping listeners eager to find out what's next. Complete with original music, this is a fantastic quick listen that will leave teens laughing. Strong language helps to immerse listeners into the novel through the girls' realistic conversations. VERDICT A solid addition to teen collections looking for comedic audiobooks. Give to fans of Libby Bray's Beauty Queens. ["A hilarious read to satisfy readers' inner fangirls": SLJ 1/16 review of the Scholastic book.]—Amanda Schiavulli, Finger Lakes Library System, NY
School Library Journal
01/01/2016
Gr 10 Up—What if a group of fangirls decide to meet their idols by any means necessary? In the case of Strepurs—that's Ruperts spelled backward—the thing they most desire are the boy band The Ruperts. Discovered on So You Think the British Don't Have Talent?, four boys named Rupert are thrust into the spotlight and become every fangirl's dream. When the singers arrive in the Big Apple to film a Thanksgiving special, thousands of fans surround their hotel in an attempt to get a glimpse of the guys. Apple, Erin, Isabel, and the unnamed narrator decide to get a room at the hotel and will do anything to meet the group. When a coincidental meeting with Rupert P., the untalented Rupert, leads to him being strapped to a chair in the girls' hotel room, misunderstandings, chance meetings, Twitter revelations, and murder ensue. Told in the first person, Moldavsky's debut novel is filled with dark humor and pop culture references and will have readers laughing until the end. Fans of boy bands and reality TV talent contests will notice parallels between The Ruperts and current pop groups. The power of social media and fandom and its impact on teens and adults alike make this a relevant read. Sexual innuendos and language make this book better suited to older teens. VERDICT A hilarious read to satisfy readers' inner fangirls. A must-have for high school and teen library collections.—Ashley Leffel, Griffin Middle School, Frisco, TX
APRIL 2016 - AudioFile
Narrator Barrett Wilbert Weed embodies this nameless 15-year-old protagonist as she spins a story about the time she and three friends went to Manhattan to see their favorite boy band, The Ruperts, and wound up kidnapping a Rupert instead. Weed is full of expression that develops the characters’ moods—she pauses when the narrator is feeling vulnerable, adds sardonic chuckles, and occasionally breaks into song. She gives each character a distinct voice that reveals personality and motive, particularly after the kidnapped Rupert dies and the featured character scrambles to figure out if one of her friends is a murderer. This suspenseful exploration of the line between fandom and obsession will appeal to those who enjoy dark comedy and give them plenty to think about. A.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-12-08
Boy bands gets the Heathers treatment in this madcap macabre. Moldavsky's debut novel is a subversive take on the discontents of celebrity and obsessive fandom. Her 15-year-old narrator is so unreliable that readers never learn her real name; she uses a series of sobriquets culled from her favorite John Hughes films of the 1980s. She surrounds herself with fellow "Strepurs," manic fans of The Ruperts, a boy band curated by the host of the fictionally hilarious So You Think the British Don't Have Talent? This nest of vipers—vapid, vicious, and vitriolic—is led by queen bee Erin, whose "biggest talent in life [is] making being bad feel so good." Backed up by the bellicose Isabel and spoiled Apple, Erin orchestrates an overnight escapade in the SoHo hotel where The Ruperts are staying. Murder and mayhem ensue. As the situation spirals out of control and the panicked girls begin to behave even more erratically than their normal crazed-fan selves, the narrator eventually realizes that her so-called best friends are actually psychopaths. When they close ranks to dispute her own detailed memory of the night's events, she and readers both begin to wonder if she might be the craziest Strepur of them all. A sendup of the artificiality of the fame-making machine from both sides, the novel's humor is mercilessly black, and no one comes up smelling like roses. (Fiction. 14 & up)
