Audrey, Wait!

When Audrey breaks up with her wannabe-rockstar boyfriend, Evan, on the day that his band is to perform for an A&R guy, she has NO idea that he would make that breakup into a nationally famous Number One Hit song. Suddenly her life is turned upside-down: her outfits, outings, and love escapades become hugely discussed issues in the tabloids. All Audrey want is to be normal again, because that’s who she IS: a normal girl who loves loud music and works at the Scooper Dooper ice cream shop for money for her music obsession.

Of course, this unwanted newfound fame changes the relationships in Audrey’s life anyway, whether it’s with her parents, her funky best friend Victoria, or her Scooper Dooper co-worker, a quiet, tall, skinny Irish show more classmate by the name of James, who turns out to be much more than just an awkward co-worker. However, rumors about her, James, and Evan begin to fly as soon as the paparazzi catch wind of Audrey’s new boyfriend. Really, now, how’s a girl to deal with it all?

I loved Audrey in this refreshingly exciting novel! Audrey is the kind of cool and witty character who doesn’t get enough attention in the young adult genre. Despite the slightest excessive use of profanity, which might bother more sensitive readers, this book will make you laugh and cheer out loud in places where you shouldn’t be snort-laughing at Audrey’s hilarious narration. This is without a doubt one of the best novels I have read thus far this year. show less

Audrey is just a normal 16 year, obsessed with music and going to shows. And then she breaks up with her boyfriend Evan, the night his band has an A&R guy coming to to the show. That night, the band performs a new song Even wrote about the break up, called 'Audrey, Wait!' The band gets signed, the song goes to #1 and Audrey's life goes crazy...

I picked this book up on a whim, because I flipped through it and noticed that each chapter started with a lyric from a song, and that many of the songs were songs that I really like, like 'Slow Down' by The Academy Is...

I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It's really fun read, it goes by quickly, has just the right amount of action, and gave me this nice warm fuzzy feeling. I felt show more like I knew Audrey and her friends - they felt very real, and so did the moments between them.

The author obviously knows the music scene she writes about, and it's also obvious that she didn't just learn it from research. As someone who loves music and going to shows, the way Benway writes Audrey's love of and need for music rang very authentic to me. That and enjoying a scene I'm often part of were a really fun part of reading this book for me.

This was Benway's first novel, and I will definitely be picking up her next one. show less

from Brian:

I was recently advised to read this book by a college
student who said that this book was a sentimental
favorite of hers. She read it whenever she needed to
take a break from academic work. "Comfort food" is
what she called this book. What compelled me
to read it was seeing that each chapter heading
within the novel had lyrical quotes from famous rock
and roll songs. The book was told from the perspective
of a sixteen year old girl named Audrey, who breaks
up with her boyfriend in a band. After they break up,
the boy writes a song describing their break up that
explodes on the music charts. This event also makes
Audrey a celebrity. I enjoyed the book because it
was a breeze to read. I also have a positive bias
towards anything that gives show more rock music the respect
it deserves, so the book could not go wrong in that
department. It had the simple likability of an infectious
radio song. Rock on! show less

I love this book so much. I recommend it to anyone obsessed with music whether you have Audrey's tastes or not. She'll start describing the feeling of a song and you're just like, "Yes. Yes, I totally understand this," and it's a pretty beautiful moment.

Aside from that, it's just a great story with great characters and great writing. Audrey is unique and cool and goes through serious character growth (always a plus), while Victoria is pretty important herself. Jonah's cool. James is cool. Evan is cool. Bendomalena is cool. Sharon isn't so cool, but that's the point.

All of the characters are very real, which is what I appreciate most. They overreact to situations that real people would overreact to. So while you're sitting there with show more Audrey, you're like, "Dammit why are you reacting this way, chill out!" But then you step out of her shoes and realize that really, you'd probably react that way too. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's very well done.

Plus, the relationship between Audrey and her parents is awesome. A very nice break from the typical parent-teenage angst. show less

I read this delightful little book last week but I got so caught up in the Divergent/Insurgent mania that I’ve left the review until now.


This book was great, I have nothing positive sunshiney rays of feeling toward it. Much like the technicolor rays blasting from Audrey rockin’ out on the cover.

The story is sublimely simple: Audrey Cuttler dumps her rock-god wannabe loser boyfriend and in doing so provides the catalyst to propel him, and herself, to stardom. Her somewhat callous decision to keep walking right out the door when he calls “Audrey, Wait!” (though I get it, sometimes you gotta keep walking or the sad breakup tractor beam will pull you right back into the relationship) inspires him to write an angry scorned-lover pop show more rock anthem that takes their town, then college radio, then the country by storm. Suddenly all eyes are on Audrey as she is cast as either muse or heartless bitch, depending on who’s doing the talking.

Audrey is in no way enjoying being suddenly thrust into the limelight, she’s just a normal chick who broke up with a crummy boyfriend, but she tries to deal and hopes it will blow over soon. While taking advantage of an unexpected perk of her instant-celebrity, she accidentally boosts herself to infamy status and front-page tabloid fodder. Her best friend encourages her to milk her fifteen minutes for every free cosmetic and comped ticket it’s worth, but Audrey is having a hard time seeing the silver lining when she can’t even attend classes without paparazzi snapping her through the windows.

This book is absolutely solid, just a great read and one I would definitely pass on to my fame-hungry pre-teen niece. Audrey is one of the most believable sixteen-year-olds I have ever read in YA fiction: bursting with energy and charisma, in love with music and life, makes some pretty poor snap decisions that haunt her later, and is more swayed by public opinion than by her own assessment of things. The ex, Evan, is the ubiquitous sixteen-year-old boy in a band without devolving into a stereotype. It is easy to see why Audrey was dating him in the first place, and it’s equally as easy to see why she would dump him. Audrey’s co-worker at the local ice-cream shop and potential love interest James is the kind of stand-up guy teenage girls overlook every day, and it’s to her credit that Audrey recognizes her own shallowness in writing him off. Their romance develops over the course of the novel and is not without its hiccups, it makes for great reading.

One of the best things about this book is one of the more subtle aspects: Audrey’s support system. Far from suffering from disappearing-parent syndrome, Audrey’s are there every step of the way trying to navigate this unexpected situation with her. They never fly off the handle and confine her to her room, but they don’t allow her college-student levels of latitude either. Both parents listen to their daughter first no matter what the tabloid covers say, and the whole relationship is totally refreshing in a sea of absentee parents or draconian taskmasters. Equally refreshing is Audrey’s aforementioned best friend, Victoria, a true-blue bestie who sticks by Audrey even when she’s being a whiny brat and steers her toward all the things that are good for her: good guys, good times, good vibes. I was so glad the author didn’t take the “jealousy-related falling out” or “suddenly ultra-competitive user” route with this friendship (even if Audrey may have perceived some of it that way).

Another fun part of the novel is that each chapter starts with an appropriate lyric from a song, after awhile I got on Spotify and started playing them as I read. It added a little something to this energetic read.

There is nothing I would change about this book, so I hope all of you pick it up and give it a chance because it’s a fun read (with the happiest ending)! show less

Audrey, Wait! is definitely a fun book that made me laugh, shake my head, and sometimes even roll my eyes at the antics of the characters in this book. The book isn’t perfect, but I will give the story props for being original and engaging. Even though Audrey is not a character I think I would be friends with in real life, she is kind of a breath of fresh air in YA. She breaks free of so many of the YA protagonist stereotypes. She’s not really insecure, has good relationships with her parents, and has a pretty healthy self-identity without veering into too extreme territory, even though she can be dramatic at times.

The characters in this book act & talk like real high school students(at least in my experience), even if they’re show more possibly a little more witty. But the fact alone is just REFRESHING. I can believe Audrey is a real person. Her love interest, James, is cute and charming without being the overboard best-guy-ever character. They get into fights. They say stupid things. Overall, they’re teenagers, and they act like it without seeming too mature or too young. Robin Benway does an excellent job of striking that balance.

A love of music also permeates this book, making it just so FUN. I’m not like Audrey at all in my music taste (I prefer acoustic whereas she likes her music rock-your-socks-off loud), I really like all the ties to music this book had. Between the concerts and CDs and Evan’s band, this book does a really great job about remind you why you like music, even if your taste differs from the character’s.

Is the plot a bit far-fetched? Yes. But that’s what makes it so entertaining. It may not be believable, but it does happen. With one song, Audrey becomes one of those people who’s famous for. . . being famous? She does nothing to earn her popularity besides walking out on her boyfriend, and the result is a quirky teenager girl who has to deal with the tricky world of paparazzi and being in the limelight all the time. It’s the kind of book that shows fame and attention definitely can be much harder than it looks.(I wouldn’t want to be in Audrey’s shoes!)

Even though I really enjoyed this book, I did feel a little let down by the ending, which is why it ends up being a 3 star read. I know this is a light and fun book and doesn’t need to be filled with angst and more drama(nor would I want it to be), but the resolution happens a little too quickly. I think it could have gone a little deeper and let the tied-up loose ends be tied up just a little slower. This book also breaks the fourth wall, as the story is basically Audrey telling her side of what happened after all the events have already past. Normally, I am all for breaking the fourth wall(I love this trope so much, actually), but in this case I can’t help but to wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if the action started while the story was still unfolding.

Final Impression: Even though the ending resolved a little too quickly for my liking, Audrey, Wait! was an insanely fun book that still managed to deal with some pressing issues. I flew threw it and was so refreshed by the realness of the characters, and definitely laughed out loud in some places. I highly recommend Audrey, Wait! when you’re in the mood for a light contemporary. A (strong) 3/5 stars.

Review to be posted on my blog at Book.Blog.Bake. show less

(#36 in the 2009 book challenge)
This is really fun YA fiction about a teenage girl whose ex-boyfriend writes a song about their break-up which then ends up launching him and his band to pop star success. And then Audrey can't escape the song or the press or screaming girl fans of the band or people posting cell phone pictures of her on the internet. In general, the characters are real and easy to like, and now I want an entire book about Audrey's best friend Victoria, who is even more hilarious than Audrey herself. Oh, and Victoria's laid back boyfriend, also a scream. It has a little bit of a Meg Cabot feel to it, if you like that, or if you want to rock it old school, Mary Rodgers. For some reason, I keep imagining the "Audrey, Wait" show more song to sound like the "Scotty Doesn't Know" song from EuroTrip, which I like (both the song and the movie) much more than a normal person should.

Most impressively, Benway is extremely successful at writing about music and music fandom. I think this is an incredibly challenging thing to do -- after all, it's using one format (written) to describe something completely different (aural), and so often books that rely on passionate descriptions of music end up feeling dated, or goofy, or simply fail to make the connection between what is printed on the page and what real music would sound and feel like to a fan. But it really works in this book -- the author hit on a great balance for writing about the music itself as well as those things that go along with it, from going to concerts, listening to the radio in the car, and even Audrey's crazy bedroom wall collage of musician pictures. And because Audrey (and obviously Benway as well) is a true music fan, she's often calling upon a variety of musical influences from different eras which I think will help tremendously with the potential pitfall of being too easily dated.

Grade: A
Recommended: Very funny, very light reading. Once you accept the fairly unbelievable situation of the instant pop stardom (or at least, it's an event that is unlikely to happen to most people) the characters take a very satisfyingly realistic approach to dealing with the problems of unexpected notoriety. show less