Famous In Love is an adaptation of a YA novel about an adaptation of a YA novel. It's thankfully not an adaptation of itself, or it would all be too confusing. Instead, the series follows Paige Townsen as she's plucked from her average life and dropped straight into an A-list movie. Fans hoping to see the finished film that the Famous in Love characters are making may be disappointed to learn that Locked, the movie Paige is starring in, isn't real. It's not a real movie — yet — but Locked is a real book.
The fact that Locked is a real book may come as a surprise, as the YA novel-within-the-show is written by a character within the original Famous In Love books, Parker Witter. However, Famous In Love author Rebecca Serle took it upon herself to bring the book-within-a-book to life (adapting Parker Witter as a pen name) to allow Paige fans everywhere to read Locked, the book that is jumpstarting the actor's career.
It all blurs the lines between fantasy and reality in a wild way, making the novella version of Locked an ideal reading companion for those watching the series who want to get an inside look at the story-within-the-story.
The plot of Locked is a worst-case scenario for two young friends in an awkward spot in their friendship. August (played by Paige Townsen in the movie adaptation) happens to be caught in a love triangle with her two best friends. She first has a crush on Noah, but ends up in a relationship with Ed. Then the plane they're all on crashes, and August is stranded on a deserted island with Noah. There's no sign of Ed.
The book makes quite the swift jump from 0 to 60 when it comes to raising the stakes, but the story is a nice parallel to what happens to Paige during her time in Hollywood. With shifting feelings, confusing emotions, and the need to survive at the forefront, Locked serves as a metaphor for Paige's own attempts to stay afloat during Famous in Love and not get swept up by the toxic undercurrent of show business.
The Locked novella itself is a quick read. The Kindle version is only 85 pages — about 25% the length of the original Famous In Love novel. While Locked is its own separate story, which doesn't directly impact the Famous In Love book series or TV show, it does help provide some context as to why Paige and millions of other young adults would be drawn to it. It deals with feeling of being trapped, conflicted in your own life, and the fantasy of being able to get out of where you are now and go to something more familiar and welcoming.
In Locked, the characters are trying to escape an island to return to their normal lives, while Paige Towson is trying to escape her old life to make it in Hollywood. But will Hollywood prove to be the answer to Paige's problems or the cause of even greater ones? The Locked novella may be the perfect tool to guess where Paige's story will go next.
