Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison

10 reviews

j_raby's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I liked this book! Non fiction is hard for me to read! But I couldn’t put this book down and when I had to, other responsibilities I had, I wouldn’t stop thinking about it and what I have read! This book does shed a little bit more light in what happened in the playboy mansion and how Hef really was. If you wanna read about the playboy lifestyle. This is a good book to read! I would recommend this book. I do wanna read like Kendra’s version but that will be probably later this year or next! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Cancer and Death

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Trafficking, Alcohol, and Classism

jessthemess8112's review

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

3.25

I went into this book knowing nothing about Playboy.  Reading about Holly's experiences, learning about the behind the scenes of that lifestyle and seeing how she overcame everything that man put her through is beyond inspiring. I think it's very brave of Holly to write this and as a reader,  I enjoyed the insight into such a huge celebrity that definitely played to his audience.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Death, and Alcohol

chronicallyplotting's review

emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Holly Madison, Hugh Hefner’s number one girlfriend for a period of time shares her “Adventures Down the Rabbit Hole” in her debut memoir. 

I thought this memoir was very telling about the life of a playboy house bunny. Through the eyes of someone who came from nothing and mostly went into the mansion needing a place to stay. I am glad Holly’s life panned out after everything that went on inside that house. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

ktdakotareads's review

informative fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

jackieyvette's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

4.25

I read this book when it first came out (I was like 8 years old watching GND what do you expect) and have read it probably a handful of times, but have never listened to it, so with Spotify adding an audiobook section so I decided to listen this time. 
I loved hearing Holly's voice tell her own story since a big part of it is Holly finding her voice in so many different ways. I still follow Holly's life now and listen to her podcast Girls Next Level with Bridget Marquardt and love to hear them talk about their time at the mansion and flesh out more of the stories I heard in her book. 


Crying score: of course 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

growintogardens's review

informative medium-paced

3.0

I never actually watched any of the E series, but I knew about them and Playboy, so I've known who she is for a long time. I watched a newer docuseries "Sectets of Playboy," and I found Holly likeable and wanted to know more of her story. I think the book is easy to follow and it's an interesting look at that world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

bzliz's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

I’ve been listening to Holly and Bridget’s podcast Girls Next Level and thought I should reread this to compare new feelings with old ones. I was a big Girls Next Door fan when it aired. I especially loved Bridget and Holly (Kendra always gave me bad vibes) and I liked how fun the show was at its core even though these women were living a lifestyle I definitely couldn’t relate to. As I get older, it makes sense that the reality of the situation didn’t match up to the reality show. 

People can debate all they want about the truth of Holly’s words but now that she and Bridget are doing this podcast and doing interviews with people who were also in the Playboy circuit, I think their stories of mistreatment are pretty credible. Note: Kendra fans will probably not enjoy this. 

There are a few editing errors that jumped out at me but it wasn’t terribly distracting from Holly’s message. She does repeat herself at times and the allusion that her life had similarities to that of Marilyn Monroe seems a little grandiose but I think that overall I’m glad she seized the opportunity to tell her story and hold very little back. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

courteneykenyon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.5

An honest and sad coming of age story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

yaoipaddle's review

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

2.0

This book is an easy read and goes by pretty quickly. I like the behind-the-scenes of the playboy mansion and the reality tv life!

The most difficult parts of the book is how biased it is. Memoirs will always skew biased towards the author (it can't be helped) but Holly's seemingly zero awareness to this is hard to read. She classifies people basically as good or bad. But even the people who are 'good' at some point have a rude comment said about them or mysteriously stop being her friend.

Some other reviewers have mentioned specific hypocritical or biased moments and I cringed when she complained about not getting in a twitter fight and proceeded to explain a shady subtweet she made about someone else. Girl just ADMIT ITTTT ITS YEARS LATER!! Moments like that really make me call into question just how "mean" or "selfish" other people really were when Holly can't even bother taking accountability for making a shady tweet?

Anyways, the behind the scenes was fun but I wouldn't take it as truth unless another playboy girlie also confirms it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking