Smart readers like to think we’re not shallow enough to judge books by their covers but admit it, we all do. We can’t help it! It’s the same way we have first impressions about people based on outfit / makeup / facial expressions.

My first thought based on Claire Betita De Guzman’s eye-catching cover was “Oh yay, summer romance!” And in a rainbow sea of Penguin SEA covers, the loud pink did indeed stand out. It screamed READ ME OVER THE WEEKEND AT A COFFEESHOP, and so I obeyed.

Sudden Superstar subverts expectations in more ways than one. It may have the trappings of a romance at the beginning, but don’t expect the ending to be the same. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that this book is less a romance with another than a romance with the self. And some might argue that this is the most important relationship to nurture, above all else.

What would make a Filipina travel agent leave a successful career in Manila, to run off to Singapore and jet set everywhere in the world, seeing as many places as airlines and jet lag will allow? And what happens when one of her random Instagram photos makes her a viral overnight wonder?

Hidden amongst the lush descriptions of far-flung global destinations (I gratefully lost count, there were so many and they made me want to look up piso fares of budget airlines) is a distinctly feminist message, with a tingle of existential philosophy. In a world that a lot of us experience through the heavily-mediated and artificially- constructed lens of social media, is ‘authentic’ just an adjective used to advertise one’s online avatar?

As a more mature reader, I’m also grateful whenever the book’s protagonist is in her 30’s as well. These are real life problems she’s facing, and I thought the author was at her best in the heartbreak scenes. It was as if she wrote (or typed) them in blood, they were that deeply moving.

With all its promise, the book was rather uneven in its writing. With a solid beginning, its last third had a few chapters that ended abruptly. Sudden Superstar‘s ending was too sudden as well, far too rushed and not as satisfying as it could have been. By this point, this reader was fully invested in Arya Alvarez’s future, and felt shortchanged by the mere 2 pages that delineated her “ever after.” Whether it’s happy or not, you’ll have to find out for yourself.

Sudden Superstar is a critique of the influencer phenomenon, as well as a guidebook of sorts on navigating the inevitable heartaches of life. I was particularly moved by the words of Claire Betita De Guzman:

“There might be no time next time, and there certainly was time right now… Don’t wait for that big chunk. Grab what little time you have – you’ll see that it expands, that it wasn’t as limited as you thought it was.”

In much the same way, this is a surprising book because it is not as limited as its cover might lead a reader to assume.

It’s not easy to fit so many things in one novel: romance, existential crises, suggested vacation itineraries, and yes, a bit of life coaching. That hot pink cover might scream fluffy candy, but there is serious meat amongst its pages. While the language is simple (some might call it trite), the book was a welcome surprise to this reader, as she got far more than she expected from her weekend de-stress read.

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~Images and text by Gabriela Francisco

(Gabi Francisco (@teacher.gabi.reads)

[The writer bought SUDDEN SUPERSTAR (P737.00) by Claire Betita De Guzman in National Bookstore. It retails for P1,032.00 in Fully Booked.]