Review: Unrivalled - Alyson Noel

Unrivalled by Alyson Noel, published by Mira Ink on 10th May 2016

Goodreads synopsis:
Everyone wants to be someone. Layla Harrison wants to be a reporter. Aster Amirpour wants to be an actress. Tommy Phillips wants to be a guitar hero. But Madison Brooks took destiny and made it her own a long time ago. She’s Hollywood’s hottest starlet, and the things she did to become the name on everyone’s lips are merely a stain on the pavement, ground beneath her Louboutin heel.

That is, until Layla, Aster, and Tommy find themselves with a VIP invite to the world of Los Angeles’s nightlife and are lured into a competition. The prize, or rather the target? Madison Brooks.
Just as their hopes begin to gleam like stars through the California smog, Madison Brooks goes missing. . . . And all of their hopes are blacked out in the haze of their lies.

Review:
This was quite a different change of pace to Alyson Noel's previous books that were much more on the spiritual/paranormal side of things.  'Unrivalled' is a contemporary YA about a group of young adults vying for the same huge cash prize by promoting a series of nightclubs.  Each have their own reasons for taking part and wanting to win.  They get points based on how successful their night club is and each of them tries to get Hollywood IT girl, Madison Brooks, to grace their club.  That is the sure fire way to score some big points. 

The story actually starts one month prior to the rest of the plot. Madison Brooks goes missing but who the mystery surrounds who is responsible for her disappearance.  The rest of the book unfolds with the three main characters Tommy, Aster and Layla, each becoming untangled with the seemingly glamorous but ultimately seedy, Hollywood night club scene.  I have to say that I wasn't particularly a fan of any of the characters.  They all seemed pretty shallow and certainly not that likable.  I didn't care an awful lot about who won the competition and the Madison Brooks element of the plot was intriguing but not enough to keep me engrossed in the story.

I'm sad to say that I just don't think this title was very good.  Although it was compared to Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl it was a poor imitation of both of those series and isn't one that I'm invested in enough to want to continue reading.