Reviews

Limelight by Amy Poeppel

thismimireads's review against another edition

3.0

I gave this book only 3 stars because of the language that is used all throughout the book! However, it is a good book and kept my attention for sure.

candicec's review against another edition

4.0

This was an entertaining, quick read. Perfect your summer beach bag. It’s the type of book I won’t remember a month from now but was fun to read. I enjoyed all the current cultural references and I also love to read books set in NYC.

madelynmwhite's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

withbdp's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

lory_enterenchanted's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted tense

3.5

The characters were not as likeable as in other Poeppel books, but they did grow on me somewhat through the story. I could not quite believe Carter's trajectory would turn out as well as it did....though I'm looking for realism in the wrong place. His profanity and rudeness were grating throughout. The show sounds great and I wish i could really see it! 

shareen17's review against another edition

3.0

A married woman with three children has been yearning to live a more exciting life in New York, however, when she gets her wish everything is more difficult than she anticipated. With her friendships, family life, career and home all not quite giving her the satisfaction she's looking for, she serendipitiously becomes involved in trying to help a teen bad-boy actor. Would a woman struggling with her own teenagers really choose to take on another? I don't know, but the results are pretty funny.

amlibera's review against another edition

4.0

There is something about Amy Poeppel's writing that I find very enjoyable.

I could pull it apart if I wanted to, but I don't. I fully enjoyed living in the world of this book and I inhaled it over the course of an evening. It scratched an itch.

ingamama1033's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A former high school teacher moves to NYC with her family and accidentally becomes a PA for a disreputable young pop star. She takes on the task of coaching him through his performance in a Broadway play in order to repair his damaged reputation. 

rebroxannape's review against another edition

5.0

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this excellent book on Audible. The reader, Carly Robbins, was perfection and I can’t imagine how the personalities could be better portrayed on the page as they were by this actress. She particularly nails the narration of Allison, our estimable heroine, the sulky brattiness of Charlotte, one of her daughters, her wise and very active mother, and our other main character, L'Enfant terrible Carter Reid.

Allison Brinkley is a teacher and married mother of 3 precocious children who is excited to move her family to New York City when her perfectly wonderful attorney husband gets a big promotion. They are leaving Dallas Texas to live the dream in the city that never sleeps! The Culture! The Opportunities! The Restaurants! The Excitement! The Shopping! The Charming Brownstone on the Upper West Side! Cue the rude sound of the needle scratching the vinyl record. Does the reality match the fantasy? Of course not.

Her teaching job(s) fizzle, she misses her dynamo of a mother, the kids are not adjusting well, the schools leave a lot to be desired, the other moms are cliquish and snobby, etc. etc. And trade in that brownstone in a leafy neighborhood for a too-small apartment in a modern high rise somewhere in Manhattan not near Central Park.

But somehow things start to look up when, through a series of unlikely events, she becomes the Personal Assistant to Carter Reid, a Justin Bieberesque super pop star. Allison is cheerful, nurturing, patient, responsible, intelligent, hardworking, and chock-full of integrity. Carter has never experienced anyone like her. And vice versa. Carter is a rude, ignorant, lazy, hedonistic degenerate with the manners of a feral child. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but just a little. How it turns into a match made in heaven makes for a very entertaining journey. It is by turns frustrating, hopeful, a little scary, funny, and heartwarming. It is one step forward and one step, sometimes two steps, back as Allison assumes responsibility for whipping Carter into shape for the Broadway debut he is bound and determined not to do the work for. But Carter’s whole future is on the line, and though Allison is determined not to fail, it is not until she enlists the help of her teenage daughter that we see there just might be some small possibility of saving Carter from himself.

As much as this book is centered around the development of Allison’s relationship with Carter, it is also about her whole family and their adjustment to the city, work, school, and creating a new social circle. By the end of the novel, they are all New Yorkers, even though Charlotte will be moving to the West Coast to attend Cal Tech. And although no, (spoiler alert) Carter does not win a Tony award and thank Allison during his nationally televised acceptance speech in front of the glitterati of Broadway, it ends pretty well for him too. **4 1/2 stars**

melrek's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0