melissakuzma's review against another edition
4.0
I'm giving this four stars since my friend Martin told me I throw around the 5 star reviews too casually! I did really enjoy this, though, and found it riveting and entertaining from page one all the way to the end. If you love pop culture, this one's for you.
jajorgen's review against another edition
4.0
Maddy Freed is attending the Mile's End film festival to promote her first indie film. She hopes that her boyfriend, the director, can get a distribution deal for their film. What she doesn't expect is to come to the attention of talent manager Bridget Ostrow and her client, the mega-star Steven Weller. She's soon caught up in a whirlwind that doesn't show any signs of stopping. And can't imagine the impact the two Hollywood powerbrokers will have on the course of her life.
I loved this behind-the-scenes exploration of a Hollywood relationship and the burden of public expectations. Steven Weller (think of a George Clooney, Tom Cruise type) may have ulterior motives in pursuing Maddy, but she makes her own choices. As I read I thought about all 'are they or aren't they' discussions I've had about various movie stars. So who's to blame? The Actress certainly made me think.
I loved this behind-the-scenes exploration of a Hollywood relationship and the burden of public expectations. Steven Weller (think of a George Clooney, Tom Cruise type) may have ulterior motives in pursuing Maddy, but she makes her own choices. As I read I thought about all 'are they or aren't they' discussions I've had about various movie stars. So who's to blame? The Actress certainly made me think.
lola425's review against another edition
3.0
Good beach book. Sohn has the Hollywood lingo down and does a great job of capturing that self congratulatory, self-involved, self-immolating fragment of society. And I might have even rated it higher except that the story revolved around Maddy Freed who was just...ugh. Clueless, holier than thou in a society that is far from holy, self-delusional. She was just horrid. At first, I was willing to forgive her because she got caught up quickly in Steven Weller's world, but really for someone who was portrayed as so smart early on, she got stupid fast. And because I didn't find her believable in the middle of the book, her turnaround at the end left me cold. Good Hollywood book with a main character you wish would go away.
carleeiigh's review against another edition
3.0
I was conflicted throughout the whole book, and even as I write this, I'm still torn between two or three stars. It's a guilty pleasure, but some parts the characters are just unbearably unreasonable of just plain unlikeable. Any development that happens over the years in the book still seems rushed, and the author doesn't take too much time to show them and rather tells you what's going on, but at the same time just makes in confusing. Some parts were very interesting however, it was like I didn't want to read any more but couldn't put it down.
jggiggle's review against another edition
3.0
The writing & timing in this book are a little off.
The way it's written is odd at times, details seem randomly thrown in, and in more than one instance I was unaware the characters were angry until they stormed off - the dialogue and narrative didn't explain the feelings.
The timing impacts how well we readers can connect to the story. So much time passed that we weren't a part of that we don't understand what's going on. For instance, I didn't understand why Maddie wasn't still madly in love when in the paragraph before she was floating amongst the clouds. Things change, of course, but we are not aware of it.
And some timing doesn't seem to make sense - there's a marriage, then a scandal - the next act starts "about a year after". So we can assume they've been married "about" a year. Following are pages of days later, a week later, a few weeks later, etc. Then there's a comment that in August they will be married a year. But I had assumed the anniversary already happened (but not written about). While the timing may actually match up, the ambiguity of the writing makes it a little hard to follow.
The way it's written is odd at times, details seem randomly thrown in, and in more than one instance I was unaware the characters were angry until they stormed off - the dialogue and narrative didn't explain the feelings.
The timing impacts how well we readers can connect to the story. So much time passed that we weren't a part of that we don't understand what's going on. For instance, I didn't understand why Maddie wasn't still madly in love when in the paragraph before she was floating amongst the clouds. Things change, of course, but we are not aware of it.
And some timing doesn't seem to make sense - there's a marriage, then a scandal - the next act starts "about a year after". So we can assume they've been married "about" a year. Following are pages of days later, a week later, a few weeks later, etc. Then there's a comment that in August they will be married a year. But I had assumed the anniversary already happened (but not written about). While the timing may actually match up, the ambiguity of the writing makes it a little hard to follow.
lindapatin's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
hcothran's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a lot of fun to read. I am an avid celebrity gossip hound, though; It probably wouldn't be as much fun to a reader who wasn't. A perfect summer book for when you don't want to think too hard but don't want the writing to be insultingly bad either.
csquared85's review against another edition
2.0
I never warmed up to the characters. Maddy was so naive as to be obtuse most of the time, and the book moves through the years so quickly (encompassing at least 5 years) that emotional depth was impossible to establish. Her romance with Steven is so abrupt that it makes her very difficult to sympathize with. The tension between Maddy and her longtime boyfriend Dan is present prior to her being swept off her feet by Steven, but the way she goes about everything makes it seem like she never respected the relationship despite all the pining she does over it later. Considering how much Maddy attests that she loves Steven throughout the book, I never felt it and she spends most of the narrative completely apart from him. Questions of his fidelity and sexual orientation aside, the few scenes where they actually interact are either fights, make-ups, or times when Maddy is almost sure she's being manipulated.
I think this could have been awesome if it were framed as more of a psychological drama or thriller. Amy Sohn alludes to DuMaurier's Rebecca a few times and there are touches of tension and paranoia in Maddy's relationship with Steven. There were times I wondered if this book might just veer into Night Film territory, and I really wish it had. Maddy's insecurities and desperation are occasionally vivid to the reader, but the vague sense of claustrophobia Sohn builds never has much of an opportunity to sink its teeth into Maddy before she jumps into another film project and brushes it off. Instead you're left with a bland look into a celebrity marriage that lacks the juicy fun of a Jackie Collins book but is so breezy and shallow it can't make a literary point, either.
I think this could have been awesome if it were framed as more of a psychological drama or thriller. Amy Sohn alludes to DuMaurier's Rebecca a few times and there are touches of tension and paranoia in Maddy's relationship with Steven. There were times I wondered if this book might just veer into Night Film territory, and I really wish it had. Maddy's insecurities and desperation are occasionally vivid to the reader, but the vague sense of claustrophobia Sohn builds never has much of an opportunity to sink its teeth into Maddy before she jumps into another film project and brushes it off. Instead you're left with a bland look into a celebrity marriage that lacks the juicy fun of a Jackie Collins book but is so breezy and shallow it can't make a literary point, either.
mrs_merdle's review against another edition
3.0
This is pretty uneven, and some of it made me deeply uncomfortable (the sex scenes were odd, to say the least), but it had enough of a story to keep me reading until the end. It was hard to believe how long Maddy deceives herself about Steven's feelings and motivations, and also her own, but actually I think that happens a great deal in real life so I could let it pass. The stuff that was harder to let go was the author's awkward use of language at times: similes that pulled you out of the story with a "Huh?" moment, and weird descriptive phrases (such as comparing a lover's penis to the finger of a musical man. Pale and long...). Maybe she wanted the reader to be uncomfortable? I definitely was.
tpanik's review against another edition
4.0
An intelligent treatment of the interpersonal politics of Hollywood.