Off the Record, by Camryn Garrett

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm here with my review of Off the Record, by Camryn Garrett. (I did say I'd be writing a review of this soon- and here it is!)

This was one of my anticipated releases from last year and when I noticed it in Waterstones on my booktrip round London, it was all I could do to put the book down until the following day. 

 I always thought this might be a five star read, but I didn't like to jinx it. 

Anyway, here are my thoughts. 

I hope you enjoy it. 

Title: Off the Record

Author: Camryn Garrett 

Genre: Hard-hitting contemporary 

Release date: 18/5/2021

Status: Standalone

Pages: 307

Blurb: "Seventeen-year-old Josie is living a young journalist's

dream when she wins a contest to write a celebrity profile

for her favourite magazine, especially once she meets

the charming new actor at its centre. 

But there's a dark side to the glitz and the glamour, and

Josie is suddenly in the perfect position to expose it. 

A young actress trusts her with a terrible secret, and Josie 

realizes she's in over her head. Is it her story to tell?

What if she lets down the women entrusting her with 

their secrets? And will revealing it jeopardize her 

writing career before it's even begun? There are so 

many reasons to forget what she's been told. 

But one secret is followed by another and another, 

until Josie needs to decide whether to step up-

and what she can bear to sacrifice for the truth."

My Thoughts

If I had to use one word to describe this book, the word I would use is powerful. There are so many hard-hitting themes within this book that I would definitely check the trigger warnings before picking this up. To name the main ones: mention of sexual assault, fat shaming, sexual abuse and harrassment. Never super graphic and brutally worded, but it was all graphic/suggested enough that you knew how serious the situation was. 

Josie feels like a lot like me when I was growing up. I imagine she's a character that everyone can see themselves in when reading this book, and that's a great quality to have. She has doubts, anxieties, as most teenagers do growing up, but there's her journalist side that you get to see too. This side of her is professional, passion, and in touch with her surroundings, in order to get the best profile she can (her task when she wins this journalism contest). 

And then, as the book goes on, the two sides of personality sort of merge, when she's approached with writing an article about someone's life, instead of just the profile she's meant to be working on. 

From that point is when the story really pulled me in. You can feel Josie's anxiety as if it's your own. Her worry that she's going to screw everything up, ruin her journalism career before it's even started, and make everyone hate her for either not coming out with the truth, especially when they've risked so much by reaching out to her, or revealing the article and facing the world (directors and producers, film companies, the whole lot). 

The story felt very mixed in to me- everything happening all at once. I actually prefered it to be like that, rather than slowed down. It definitely helped me to feel how Josie was feeling- completely overwhelmed and unprepared to deal with everything that was going on with her in this book. 

As emotional and hard-hitting as I'm making this book sound (I mean, it is all those things) there are some wonderfully funny conversations, some wow moments, and some discussions that would leave me thinking about for at least a couple hours after. The give and take between the seriousness, the humour and the way we get to see Josie is just constructed so brilliantly, it was what kept me engaged, not knowing what was going to happen next. 

The writing style never felt too wordy, and it was always easy to follow. Basically it was honest, straight and to the point. Not distracting at all, which is what it needed to be, so as not to distract from the story as it unfolded. 

All in all, a beautifully and brilliantly constructed novel that had me reading to finish with an urgency that I haven't had in a long time. I love Josie as a character, her story, all the other actors, and the romance that went with it (not overbearing at all). Such a compelling #Ownvoice story that I will definitely be picking up Full Disclosure in early 2023. 

Loved this book so much. 

Okay! Those are my thoughts on Off the Record, by Camryn Garrett. 

I hope you enjoyed them, and after reading this, think you might have an interest in it, I implore you to pick it up and give it a chance. 

Definitely a favourite of the year. 

If you have any thoughts on this review, or your own thoughts if you've read the book. 

I hope you have a wonderful day and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx