Amanda Goldberg

I tried really hard on this one. I really wanted to like it. I liked the premise, and so many people had said so many good things. I picked it up on 3 separate occasions. I just could never get pulled in as much as I wanted to. I think not enough was happening. Or at least enough to keep me interested in what happened next. The name dropping was kind of amusing at first, but when it get to the point when we are name dropping Barbara Walters dog ChaCha, it get’s a little tedious. Maybe it’s me. I always thought I was into Hollywood, if not the fashion necessarily. But maybe not as much as I thought, or needed to be. Also, I had trouble loving the main character, when she seemed to be lying to everyone. Changing in the back of a cab, so you best friend (and boss) doesn’t know you are wearing ‘ugly’ clothes and your doctor boyfriend doesn’t know you are back to wearing heels? Sorry. I am not getting it. Now with that said, that could just be where my head is these days, and if I read it again in 6 months, it would be exactly the type of read I want/need. In fact, who knows? Maybe I will try it again down the road….… (mere)

What Stephanie thought:

What Stephanie Thought: I expected to enjoy Beneath a Starlet Sky a lot more than I actually did, since it looked so glamorous and pretty and all that. Even the blurb (though pretty much summarizing the entire book) wasn't that bad. And it wasn't a bad read at all. But I couldn't find myself to quite love it either.

The book is the ideal example of style over substance; while the book contains juicy and brutally accurate details of Hollywood society (not that I would know, since I'm not an LA insider), the plot falls flat and leaves the reader (in this case, unfortunately, me) restless. Written by Amanda Goldberg (a movie producer) and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper (a famous actor's daughter), it is evident the content that goes into the novel are real-life points of view. However, not all (or many) movie producers are fit to write novels; the cinema industry and book industry are completely different realms. Goldberg may have a successful film career, thanks to her bright imagination and vision statement, but her words penned down on paper fall undeniably flat. And as for Hopper, the only achievement she's made outside of being a celebrity herself, is co-write a previous book with Goldberg titled Celebutantes, which, I have not read, but can imagine is about.

Lola's journey as a rising A-lister in the captivating but deceptive Hollywood world is interesting, at best. Not even entertaining, because half the book describes in great detail, an outfit, or an interior design, or a power couple relationship. Maybe good for tabloids, but not a novel. I myself, am a fan of People and Cosmopolitan, which is why I found a lot of the celebrity observations interesting. But with each sentence filling up about a sixth of the page, the book itself was in no way, fun to read, or amusing, or really anything a good book should be.

If Beneath a Starlet Sky had been published as a magazine, I would have gobbled it up. But sadly, I just couldn't put admiration into it, due to weak writing, lack of intrigue, dull characters, or maybe a combination of the three.… (mere)