Line #63 Literature/AudreyWait


1	[[quoteright:198:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/audrey-wait_71.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:198:It's the song everyone's singing.]]
3
4	->''It's the song everyone's singing. And it's about her! But for Audrey, becoming famous overnight equals total, life-changing disaster...''
5	-->-- The log line on the novel cover.
6
7	''Audrey, Wait!'' is a charming ComingOfAgeStory by [[http://www.robinbenway.com/my_weblog/ Robin Benway]] about a girl in California who breaks up with her musician boyfriend... causing him to write a [[BreakupSong hit single about their break up that]] ''sweeps the globe.'' Suddenly her ex-boyfriend is famous, and she's reluctantly pulled along in the wake of his success. Her best friend Victoria (and her boyfriend, Jonah) help her through the initial shock of fame, through thick and thin as the paparazzi and frenzied public complicate their lives.
8
9	It gets worse when Audrey gets a chance to go back stage at a concert with a favorite band of hers, where a short fling with a famous singer ends badly. Now the media is twisting the events to paint her as the next Britney Spears, and her phone/personal email flood with nasty accusations from the general public. Things continue to snowball from there as Audrey grapples to hold on to her friends and finally get the tabloid writers away from her and her family.
10
11	The novel is written as though it were her factual recount of the events that led to her fame. The narration is [[FirstPersonSmartass laid back, easy going, generally quite humorous]], and littered with all sorts of pop culture and new media references.
12	----
13	!! Audrey, Wait! contains examples of:
14
15	* AccidentalCelebrity: Audrey is an average teenage girl who dumps her musician boyfriend, who writes a BreakUpSong about her called "[[TitleDrop Audrey, Wait]]!" and plays it at a local club. Audrey's at first simply embarrassed, and annoyed that the song is genuinely good, but when the song becomes a worldwide hit and she starts getting hounded by paparazzi, she's ''furious'', as she never wanted to be famous, much less for dumping somebody. She at first tries to enjoy the perks of fame, accepting free concert tickets and meeting some of her favorite musicians, but quickly finds that CelebrityIsOverrated. [[spoiler:Turns out her ex [[NotSoDifferentRemark feels the same]], and is genuinely remorseful for naming the song after her and dragging her into the spotlight. Luckily, Audrey's FifteenMinutesOfFame eventually expire, and her ex and his band go on to continue making music they enjoy and trying to have serious careers in music instead of just being a OneHitWonder.]]
16	* {{Ahem}}: The secretary does this a few times when Audrey’s [[spoiler: isolated from the rest of the school to minimize fame-related interruptions.]] Audrey tries to stretch out her bathroom visits and chats-through-the-window with friends as long as she can.
17	* AllFirstPersonNarratorsWriteLikeNovelists: {{Lampshaded}} throughout the book, usually by pointing out "PSAT words" that people say.
18	--> ''Victoria paused and I could tell she was trying not to smile. "Did you just say frolic?" ''
19	--> '' (Audrey) "Is it not a word?"''
20	--> ''"Who the hell says 'frolic'?"''
21	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Averted. Neither James nor Evan are particularly "bad", and the one bad boy [[spoiler: Simon]] only caught her attention because she thought he was nice at first.
22	** Jonah, for that matter, is also not a bad boy, but he and Victoria are getting along swimmingly.
23	* ApologeticAttacker: Audrey describes her experience with Taekwondo as ending poorly both because she gets giggle fits when she has to be serious (which happens a lot in martial arts) and because her mom was always apologizing to the attack dummies.
24	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Audrey's reasons for breaking up with Evan can be summarized as "He smokes too much pot, he's always 'practicing' or 'gigging', and he says 'gigging'".
25	* AttentionWhore: What everybody ''perceives'' Audrey to be, though she definitely subverts the trope in the [[spoiler: finale where she goes off script on live TV and spills the beans on what actually happened.]]
26	** Then there's Sharon, who is constantly inserting herself in Audrey's way wherever she can for a shot at soaking up some of her fame.
27	* BathroomStallGraffiti: Stick figures labelled "Audrey" and "Simon" depicted in sexual positions along with the phrase "Audry sucks dik" (no, those aren’t typos).
28	%%* BetaCouple: Victoria and Jonah
29	%%* BettyAndVeronica:
30	%%** Without meaning to, Audrey ends up as the Betty to Sharon's Veronica twice. She wins both times.
31	%%** The media also makes Audrey the Archie to the various guys she hooks up with (Evan vs Simon, Simon vs James, James vs Evan) despite the fact there's actually no triangle overlap.
32	%%* BewareTheHonestOnes: MTV probably regrets getting Audrey on live, national TV.
33	* BeYourself: Amy’s advice just before Audrey goes on live, national TV is to "be herself", even though she’s handing Audrey some cue cards that rehash words of hers that were already twisted by somebody else. [[BewareTheHonestOnes Audrey takes the advice to heart.]]
34	* BirdsOfAFeather: She and James are both ''huge'' music nuts, going so far as to spend a night cuddling while throwing pennies at her collage wall and naming songs from every band the coin hit.
35	* BurgerFool: How Audrey introduces her day job. And it is hilarious.
36	--> Okay. I've been trying to avoid this part, but it's not a secret anymore. It's true. I work at an ice cream shop - excuse me, "shoppe" - at the mall. That in itself is not so bad, except for three things: 1) I hate the mall; 2) I hate all the customers; and 3) I'm forced to wear a bright pink hat and T-shirt and say... are you ready for this?
37	--> ''({{beat}})''
38	--> [[InherentlyFunnyWords Scooper Dooper.]]
39	* CatsAreMean: Subverted with Bendomolena. Granted, the cat's sheer apathy for all things living means she doesn't really have any capacity to be nice either. Just indifferent.
40	* CannotTalkToWomen: James, at first, who comments that the store needs "more butter pecan" when Audrey first tried to make conversation with him.
41	* CelebCrush: Audrey’s initial interest in Simon Lolita is this.
42	** When Audrey asks James "What took him so long [to ask her out]?" James says Audrey was intimidating, and this was probably exasperated by her sudden ascension to fame.
43	* CelebrityIsOverrated: Pretty much the entire point of the novel (though to be fair, Audrey feels she didn’t do anything to deserve the fame). Inspiring a song is cool... until you realize the media will never leave you alone. Meeting celebrities and being in magazines is be fun... until the media catches you in a compromising position and paints you as a slut. Also, people in a bathroom stall who overhear something they shouldn't have will freeze in place and sit there, ''not'' confront the wrongdoers.
44	* ComplimentFishing: Sharon tries this with Evan and James. A lot.
45	* CryIntoChest: Okay, it’s described as his shoulder, but still.
46	* CrowdChant: Two words. You can probably guess them.
47	* {{Determinator}}: The Do-Gooders, who continued their show ''even after the ceiling of their gig collapsed.''
48	* EarWorm: "[[TitleDrop Audrey, Wait!]]" (or as [[FirstPersonSmartass Audrey]] keeps calling it, "The Song") is noted repeatedly to have become a worldwide sensation.
49	* [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench Everything Sounds Sexier in a British Accent]]: Audrey’s initial opinion of Simon.
50	* FieryRedhead: James, after he gets over his social awkwardness.
51	* FifteenMinutesOfFame: This could safely be renamed "15 Minutes of Fame: The Novel". It's hinted that Evan, the songwriter of "Audrey, Wait!" may not actually stick at 15 minutes since he's genuinely passionate about performing, but Audrey herself definitely embodies this trope (especially considering she didn't ''do'' anything).
52	* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Probably not helped by the fact that her BreakupSong is world renown.
53	* FirstPersonSmartass: Used to entertaining effect.
54	* TheFriendNobodyLikes / CloudCuckooLander: Tizzy. Subverted in that ''Tizzy'' is the one to comfort Audrey when she's feeling completely alone by giving her a late Christmas gift, [[spoiler: but {{Zig Zagg\|ingTrope}}ed when the gift turns out to be a shirt that says "I liked you better before you sold out" causing Audrey to burst into tears.]] Anyone's guess as to whether Tizzy intended for that or not.
55	* GarageBand: It’s described that most people in her school are in a band of some kind, though [[SturgeonsLaw most of them are crap.]]
56	* GiveGeeksAChance: Both James and Jonah are described as dorks in the books, [[spoiler: yet they’re the successful romantic leads.]]
57	* GrassIsGreener: Not with countries, but lifestyles. Victoria is somewhat jealous of Audrey's unsolicited fame and Audrey is jealous of Victoria's anonymity.
58	* HoldingHands: James likes it. Evan didn’t.
59	%%* IJustWantToBeNormal
60	* InherentlyFunnyWords: The slogan for Audrey's job. Just try saying "Scooper Dooper" without cracking a dumb grin.
61	* {{Jerkass}}: Simon. [[spoiler: He was only interested in Audrey at first because kissing her would increase his own publicity... even though he admits he did kinda like her later on.]]
62	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sure, Evan wrote The Song and got worldwide fame, leaving Audrey to be humiliated multiple times, but he does later appear to be truly sorry for what he did. Audrey forgives him... eventually.
63	* LetsJustBeFriends: Only took the author three pages to bring it up for Evan and Audrey.
64	* LifeOfTheParty: In The Lolitas' back stage after party, it's Audrey that gets everybody dancing when she puts on a playlist. This also contributes to Simon's interest in her.
65	* LoveEpiphany: "Love" might be a bit strong, but James has his during Audrey’s first shift at work after he tells her it’s against the rules to change the radio station, but she goes ahead and does it anyway (and sings along with ''every song'' for hours). Audrey has hers when he helps her out of her meltdown after hearing "Audrey, Wait!" on said radio later on.
66	* LoveTriangle: Audrey has a brief one with [[spoiler: Simon versus James.]]
67	** Audrey also ends up in ''two'' with Sharon over Evan and, later, James. Both choose Audrey.
68	* MomentKiller: Always the bloody customers at Scooper Dooper.
69	* MuseAbuse: One of the unintended side effects of Evan's fame is that the song that got him famous is slandering Audrey. [[spoiler: They publicly resolve the issue on national TV at the end of the book.]]
70	** This was [[spoiler: Simon's]] game plan the whole time.
71	* NervousWreck: Audrey starts off like this when Simon approaches her. She works out of it.
72	** Also later on, when she's going on national TV. Subverted in that she's not nervous during the show, but feels like puking after (though that's probably for a different reason).
73	* NiceGuysFinishLast: Inverted. The nice guys are the ones with the relationships by the end of the book.
74	* NoodleIncident: Audrey’s father’s pumpkin carving incident. {{Lampshaded}} by Victoria when she sees him carving a pumpkin.
75	-->'''Victoria''': I thought you weren’t allowed near pumpkins anymore?
76	* NotListeningToMeAreYou: This lovely exchange between Audrey and Evan.
77	-->"Hey," I said casually. "Bendomolena's on fire."\
78	"Cool. So yeah, Jon wants to do a drum solo and we were like, 'Dude, ''no''!'"
79	* OhCrap: The scene where Victoria realizes Evan's going to perform the at-the-time-unknown BreakupSong. It gets worse when the school, the local town and eventually half the known world ''loves it.''
80	* OneHeadTaller: James, natch.
81	* OralFixation: Audrey repeatedly comments on the oral hygiene of her romantic interests (or lack thereof in the case of [[spoiler: Simon]]).
82	* PlayingSick: Victoria refuses to do this for fear of its impact on her GPA.
83	* PoorCommunicationKills: If Evan had been more insistent on getting Audrey to wait by saying something other than "Audrey, Wait!" the whole story never would have happened.
84	* PosterGalleryBedroom: Audrey dedicates an entire wall of her room to her band/music collage.
85	* RelationshipSalvagingDisaster: [[spoiler: Audrey’s interview with MTV.]]
86	* RepeatWhatYouJustSaid: When Victoria informs Audrey of the reality TV offer.
87	* RomanceInducingSmudge: An inevitable outcome of the two romantic leads working at an ice cream shoppe.
88	* ShipperOnDeck: Victoria and Jonah both egg Audrey on to start something with James, and are beside themselves with glee when she finally does.
89	* ThinkNothingOfIt: Audrey tries from the very beginning to play down her supposed "contribution" to ‘’The Song.’’
90	* TradeYourPassionForGlory: Evan and his band avert this by dropping their old label which was planning to screw them and start over with a new label that would actually enable their ambitions.
91	* TwitchyEye: Tizzy, and '''how!'''
92	-->I swear to God, her eyes were going in two different directions by this point.
93	* UnderstandingBoyfriend: James is extremely patient with Audrey as she copes with her fame problem.
94	** Jonah for Victoria
95	* UnwantedHarem: Sharon is this for both Evan and James, who only want to date Audrey.
96	* WasntThatFun: James’ and Audrey’s first date, despite being a disaster by most people’s standards, ends quite well with both of them agreeing the chaos was rather interesting.
97	* WhenItAllBegan: When Evan performed ''The Song.''

Context Literature / AudreyWait