Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

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

9 reviews

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

2.75

I started this audiobook almost immediately after finishing Crystal Hefner's incredible memoir Say Only Good Things about her time with Hugh Hefner. As Crystal's memoir was the first to be released post #metoo, I wanted to get a perspective from another woman who had had an incredibly similar experience, but with a different lens. This review is more of a comparative analysis of the two than a singular appraisal of Holly's story, as that's the context I read it in.

My Spotify Premium app capped my audiobook minutes 3/4 of the way through it, and my impression of the last section of the book has definitely coloured my memory of the first part, but I will try and be as unbiased as possible.

Holly Madison's description of her time in the Playboy Mansion is as chilling and disturbing as that depicted by Crystal Hefner. From her reading, Holly seems to have worked through her trauma and put much more emotional distance between herself and her time in the mansion than Crystal, although I wonder if I would feel the same way reading the print versions of the two book.

The Hefner of Holly's book is ten years younger than that in Crystal's, and while his power is clearly ebbing by the time Holly entered his life, he still wields it cruelly and brutally. The Hefner of Holly's book is more calculating, more vibrant, and more deliberate than the one we find in Crystal's. Holly's Hefner orchestrates the world around him, making every person in his orbit bend to his petulant will.

In contrast, by the time Crystal enters the mansion, Hef is still just as abusive, but much of the abuse seems to be perpetuated by the clockwork of the Playboy Corporation based on the patterns that Hef had created for his partners in the preceding years rather than by the man himself, who is too frail to be as imposing as the figure Holly depicts.

Holly Madison is far more eager to throw the other women in Hef's orbit under the bus than Crystal, who seems reluctant to even name other women who she met in the mansion, let alone badmouth them. At first, I thought this cattiness may have just been a poorly aged product of the book's publication occurring pre #metoo, when the systemic dynamics of misogyny in Hollywood were less widely discussed. However, Holl 's continued cattiness and badmouthing of the women in her life in the last section of the book, once she is well away from the Playboy mansion, makes me think that this may just be an unfortunate part of Holly Madison's personality that Crystal does not share.

While the first part of Holly's story of reinvention following her time in the Mansion was filled with pathos and triumph, the last couple of chapters were a wall of self-aggrandizement interspersed with sniping at other D-list celebrities, repetitive and tireto the point where I almost DNF'd. 

Her own descriptions of her petty social media feuds paint her in a pretty bad light, and her continuous put downs of Crystal have aged even more poorly with the context of how much abuse and psychological torture she was experiencing at the points at which Holly chooses to mock her.  Her inability to recognise that Crystal was experiencing the exact same patterns of torment that Holly did lacks empathy to the point of cruelty.

The coda of Holly's book is milquetoast to the point of meaninglessness, throwing off some platitudes about loving yourself before loving anyone else and tying off the story in a "happily ever after" fairytale bow that contrasts awkwardly with the Alice in Wonderland metaphor that's been hammered throughout the entire book. This is especially true in comparison to Crystal's book, which ends with a stunning indictment on how the Playboy industrial complex churns out a dangerous fantasy for young girls to aspire to. Holly's self-absorbed Disneyland wedding ending comes across especially facile in contrast.

Overall I'd only recommend this as a read if you're a) looking for more perspectives on life in the Playboy Mansion after reading Crystal Hefner's book, or b) a big fan of Holly Madison in her own right.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

alisharose's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Alcohol

jnnrss's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

adrienanthony's review

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

emilieboeger's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault

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

georgiareadz's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

cristal10's review against another edition

informative inspiring slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

akut's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

1.25

The author describes sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse without framing it that way - to her it was a normal way to be in relationship with someone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship