Is Millie Bobby Brown's New Book Nineteen Steps Worth Reading?
The book is a big dud.
While Millie Bobby Brown is definitely one of the most popular teenage actresses out there, all thanks to her hit roles in Stranger Things, Enola Holmes, and Godzilla 2, it looks like she longs to try her hand at other arts as well, with writing unexpectedly becoming her first foray outside of acting. The whole world was shocked when Brown announced her plans to co-write Nineteen Steps with author Kathleen McGurl, as it was the least expected thing for Brown to do with her career.
People were even more shocked that Brown's first book would focus on one of the greatest tragedies in Britain's World War II history - the Bethnal Green Tube disaster, when more than 170 people were killed in a stampede at the stairway entrance to London's Bethnal Green station. 62 of the victims were children.
An underwhelming book
Despite the heavy setting, Brown and McGurl decided to focus more on romance than history, choosing a teenage girl in love as the main character. And that would be fine if the book was tastefully written, but unfortunately it feels a bit plastic and campy, with characters talking to each other in a very unrealistic way.
Also, it's not hard to see that the Bethnal Green incident is treated as a simple plot device, which is not only sad, but also a bit immoral, as it really feels like the authors don't care about the victims at all.
Brown didn't write anything
Even though the book will become a bestseller, it's important to note that Brown didn't write a single sentence for it, as McGurl herself stated in one of her interviews that she and Brown only spoke a couple of times on the Zoom before the author sent a finished first draft of the book to a movie star.
Yes, Brown's name on the cover is just a gimmick to get people to buy the book, and it's not clear why the actress decided to start her writing career by essentially hiring a ghostwriter to do all the work for her and steal all the fame in the process.
Too bad the book turned out to be a total bummer!
Source: The Guardian.