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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison
20 reviews
effiezd's review
3.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming and Sexual content
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
2.75
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.
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
bmpicc's review against another edition
3.0
Loved the connection to Alice in Wonderland.
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
emileemaree's review
3.75
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
scifi_rat's review against another edition
3.5
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
3.25
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
lizdaniii's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
chronicallyplotting's review
4.0
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.
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
adrienanthony's review
5.0
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
ktdakotareads's review
3.0
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship