A review by subtlymelancholy
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

dark emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

It's a slow start but if you really like Old Hollywood (before the collapse of the studio system, so like 1940s-60s) once you start it's REALLY difficult to put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

There are a lot of seriously triggering topics covered in this book and it's not really something that can easily be skipped over. It's also a combination of the characters' internalized feelings and the result of the time and place the book was written.