Review: The View Was Exhausting

When I first heard about The View Was Exhausting I was immediately intrigued. Celebrity gossip, WOC heroine who's a famous actress, and exotic locales? Sign me up. Authors Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta have written a novel that is engaging, smart, and thought provoking that avoids veering into frothy, gossip rag territory. It was a win in my books.

Here's the book's description:

Faking a love story is a whole lot easier than being in love . . .
The world can see that international A-list actress Whitman ("Win") Tagore and jet-setting playboy Leo Milanowski are made for each other. Their kisses start Twitter trends and their fights break the internet. From red carpet appearances to Met Gala mishaps, their on-again, off-again romance has titillated the public and the press for almost a decade. But it's all a lie.
As a woman of color, Win knows the Hollywood deck is stacked against her, so she's perfected the art of controlling her public persona. Whenever she nears scandal, she calls in Leo, with his endearingly reckless attitude, for a staged date. Each public display of affection shifts the headlines back in Win's favor, and Leo uses the good press to draw attention away from his dysfunctional family.
Pretending to be in a passionate romance is one thing, but Win knows that a real relationship would lead to nothing but trouble. So instead they settle for friendship, with a side of sky-rocketing chemistry. Except this time, on the French Riviera, something is off. A shocking secret in Leo's past sets Win's personal and professional lives on a catastrophic collision course. Behind the scenes of their yacht-trips and PDA, the world's favorite couple is at each other's throats. Now they must finally confront the many truths and lies of their relationship, and Win is forced to consider what is more important: a rising career, or a risky shot at real love?

It sure sounds like it would be a novel that could be all flash and no substance. But it's not. Clements and Datta (a wife-and-wife team) shine a light on all that is toxic about celebrity culture. For better or worse, Win is being run by a publicity machine and, the way she sees it, she has no choice but to go along with it. She can't be too loud or too opinionated or too pure or too loose. Not as a woman in Hollywood and especially not as an British Asian actress. I don't know what it's like to be an actress or a woman of colour but I do know what it's like to be a woman and could imagine, at least a little, the struggles Win was facing.

I can't quite put my finger on why I couldn't bump up my rating to a 4 star. This is a solid 3.5 star read for me and I definitely recommend reading it. But something is preventing me from all out raving about it. Part of it could be that I wanted to like Win more. She's not unlikeable but she is so caught up in managing her appearance that she hasn't thought about actual relationships and how the few people in her orbit feel about having to deal with such a particular way of life. She's referred to as "cold" a couple of times and part of what makes her a great character to read is that she's not, really, cold. She's really layered and she's struggling with her image and who she really is. Life is hard and it's easier to give into what's, well, easy and that, for Win, is putting on a persona instead of dealing with anything. I guess I didn't really like that some people in her life were being used as pawns in her life and, while I came around in the end, I still wondered what was real and what was an act. 

The writing in this one is smooth and I never felt like I was reading something written by two authors. The only blip I had that kind of annoyed me was halfway-ish through when we went back in time to see what Leo was up to before The Secret happened. It made sense from a story perspective - we needed to know what actually happened - but it threw off the flow for me. Other than that, though, the story ticked along at a good pace even with all the location changes and time jumps (a couple of weeks or so) in between.

I hesitate calling The View Was Exhausting "fun" because there were so many important topics authors Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta weave into this Hollywood story that kept it from being a mindless read. It is entertaining and it's funny but it's also smart and observant. If you're intrigued, you should definitely pick it up this summer.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, HBG Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Twice in a Blue Moon

I think a few blue moons have passed since I read Christina Lauren's novel Twice in a Blue Moon. I read it back in October, just before it was published, and have even read (and reviewed!) their latest novel, The Honey-Don't List, since then. Somehow, I just missed talking about this novel that I devoured in one day.

Here's the synopsis:

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.
During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.
Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

Now, a lot of people have said they didn't enjoy this one. There are various reasons, as there always are, but I really liked it. Maybe it was simply because I needed this kind of story at the time I was reading it.

One reason it could have appealed to me more is because I love a good second chance story. It's one of my favourite tropes and I enjoyed that this novel had the second chance happening way out in the middle of nowhere so they were kind of trapped with each other (but not totally alone, given they were on a film set).

I don't think I necessarily fell for the characters as hard as they fell for each other. Neither Tate nor Sam particularly stood out to me, especially when they were adults. I may have enjoyed their teenage love a bit more than their adult one. Perhaps because they were both so much...harder by the time they met again. I think I also just couldn't quite get over what Sam did to Tate.

I could, however, see that they still cared a lot for each other. There was a lot of hurt to get over on Tate's side but she was stubborn and didn't want to hear Sam's side of the story. Plus, she's a big star now and it was hard for her to look past that and focus on the movie they were making. Through all of that the reader can tell they belong together if they could just have an honest conversation about how scared they are and how much the other means to them.

While Twice in a Blue Moon won't stick with me forever, it was a delightful read. I'm still a big fan of Christina Lauren and am already looking forward to their next book.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Blog Tour: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Like many avid readers, I love finding that book that grabs hold of you from the beginning and refuses to let you go. It's that story that you want to finish because you love it so much but know you're going to be devastated when you turn the last page. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid's latest novel, was that kind of book for me. I. Loved. It.

Here's the synopsis, from Goodreads:

From Taylor Jenkins Reid comes an unforgettable and sweeping novel about one classic film actress’s relentless rise to the top—the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.
Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds through the decades—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Filled with emotional insight and written with Reid’s signature talent, this is a fascinating journey through the splendor of Old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means—and what it takes—to face the truth.

Reid's novels are always well written and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, while a bit different from her other stories, was no exception. Her characters jump off the page, the story flows, and you can perfectly picture yourself in the setting of the novel. Which, seeing as half of the book took place in the past, is quite impressive.

The entire book is told in first person - but that first person actually changes. The story starts with Monique (actually it starts with an "article" that gives just enough information about Evelyn Hugo so the reader fully understands her star power) but when Evelyn and Monique are working on the memoir, Evelyn's memories are told in first person as well. That sounds confusing but I didn't even notice it until I started working on this review. That's how seamless it was.

This novel has all of the best kind of drama that really helps the story grab you. There are family issues (Evelyn's upbringing left a lot to be desired and Monique's father died when she was young) and career struggles (Evelyn had to work to prove herself and Monique's journalism career isn't going the way she'd hoped). Relationship problems seem to be at the heart of the story (seven husbands, duh) but as Evelyn discusses her marriages you realize the husbands really aren't the point of the story, or her life.

I loved reading about Evelyn's career. Old Hollywood is so interesting (and always makes me wish I had taken more film courses in university). Reid balanced just enough historical details - what it would have been like when actors had contracts with studios, for example - without bogging down the overall storyline.

Evelyn fought for pretty much everything in her life. She's strong. She's unapologetic about using whatever tools she has at her disposal to get what she wants. She's not entirely likeable but she's captivating and a character I still haven't been able to get out of my head.

Monique was sort of a secondary character in the novel but I think Reid did a great job of showing her growth throughout the novel. Monique started out in a supporting role - in her life and against Evelyn - but as the story went on, and as she learned more about and from Evelyn, she began to turn into the leading actress of her own life. (Yeah, that's a bit cheesy but, come on. The story is about a famous actress. I couldn't not make those comparisons :) ) Evelyn changed Monique's life, and not just because of certain stories that come to light, but also by knowing and learning from this strong, formidable woman

I really wasn't sure how the whole story was going to play out. Reid kept me guessing and I actually gasped in a few places, and I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped too. The twists added a whole new, and wonderful, dimension to the story.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was the first book in a long time that gave me an immediate book hangover. I didn't know what to do with myself after I finished Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest novel. I wanted to reread it and also thrust it upon every other reader (and non-reader) I knew because it's just that good. This is a novel you are definitely going to want with you this summer and it's one that just might be my favourite of 2017.

Make sure you check out the other reviews that have already been posted as part of this blog tour. We were all in love with Evelyn and this novel!

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for a review for the purposes of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*