Book Review On Top of the World

51qnnmv6bll-_sx322_bo1204203200_Title: On Top of the World
Author: David Lamb
Genre: Contemporary, African-American Romance
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon

2016 BEST FICTION-Pacific Book Awards. FROM THE FUNNY AND NATURALLY BRILLIANT DAVID LAMB, award-winning playwright of the New York Times celebrated play, Platanos Y Collard Greens, comes a modern spin on Dickens’ classic tale that perfectly combines humor and romance in a story re-imagined for our digital, consumerist age.  This version of Scrooge and Belle is familiar, yet unlike any you’ve come across before. Scrooge, or rather Scrooje, is music’s biggest superstar, with one hundred million albums sold, fifteen million devoted YouTube subscribers, two and a half million Facebook likes, and twenty-five million fanatical Twitter followers known as Scroojites. Belle, is a legal shark who gulps down her opposition voraciously and whose beauty and stunning figure causes traffic accidents as she zips through the sidewalks of Manhattan stylishly adorned and taking no prisoners.   They never imagined being music’s most powerful couple, but that’s exactly what happened when Belle fell head over heels and gave the Coke-bottle glasses wearing, plaid and stripe attired, scrawny, biggest nerd on her college campus the ultimate makeover, turning him into a fashion impresario whose style sets trends from Milan to NY Fashion Week and who can be seen courtside at the NBA Finals sporting a perfectly-fitted cashmere suit.   Then it happens. Belle realizes too late that she’s created a chart-topping monster as Scrooje’s ego explodes and he starts acting a fool.   Now, it’s been three years since they ve spoken. But tonight at Hollywood s biggest red carpet event, with the whole world watching, they’ll be given a second chance.

On Top of the World could be considered a modern retelling of a Christmas Carol, but it’s even more than that. We have modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge, now named Scrooje, who is rich and cares mostly about his wealth, comfort, and not so much about other people. Belle is a young beauty, intelligent too. She once knew Scrooje and was close to him, but then everything changed and it’s now been three years since they spoke to each other. But tonight, on Hollywood’s red carpet event, they’ll be given a second change.

As in a Christmas Carol, Scrooje is visited by the ghost of his dead friend, who warns him the ghosts of past, present and future will visit him. The story is similar to a Christmas Carol but adds in some modern-day troubles, and some history on Scrooje that give an additional layer to the book.

The book is full of humor too, and I really enjoyed reading it.

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