Thursday, June 04, 2015

Review: Absolutely True Lies by Rachel Stuhler

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I received this book for free from Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Absolutely True Lies by Rachel StuhlerAbsolutely True Lies by Rachel Stuhler
Published by Touchstone on May 26th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Source: Simon & Schuster
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three-stars

A fledgling entertainment writer stumbles into the gig of a lifetime writing a teenage pop star's memoir and soon realizes that the young celebrity's squeaky-clean image is purely a work of fiction.

Struggling writer Holly Gracin is on the verge of moving back home to upstate New York when she gets hired to write the memoirs of eighteen-year-old Daisy Mae Dixson, a former Nickelodeon child star who has moved seamlessly into both blockbuster movies and pop music.

Holly quickly realizes that Daisy's wholesome public image is purely a work of fiction, as Holly finds herself trailing the star as she travels around the world on yachts, gets stalked by paparazzi, and sneaks out of five-star hotels in the dead of night.

As Holly struggles to write a flattering portrait of a teenage millionaire who only eats "nightshades" and treats her employees like slaves, Daisy has a public meltdown - and suddenly, her book is the cornerstone of resurrecting her image. But working at all hours trailing a pop star has taken its toll, and Holly must decide if becoming the ultimate insider is worth losing a starring role in her own life.

Fun, juicy, and inspired by Rachel Stuhler's own stranger-than-fiction experiences as a celebrity ghost writer, Absolutely True Lies is an entertaining look at how the lifestyles of the rich and famous aren't always what they seem.

Going into this, I thought it would be a typical story about the sweet looking celebrity who is really a nightmare, and in a way it was, but it was so much more than that. I loved that it is told from Holly’s POV, who is ghostwriting Daisy’s book. I did find it to drag a bit, but I really did end up enjoying it. I admit that I did almost give up a few times early on, but I am happy that I continued on. It really goes inside the life of a young star and what happens all around them. We  see that even if Daisy is horrible, it’s because of her fame and how everyone treats her. She’s not really all that bad of a person. And man, just reading about a day in her life exhausted me. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters.

Holly is a writer who doesn’t have such a great career going at the moment. In fact, she has just lost her crappy job. When she gets the offer for this book, she can’t pass it up. What she doesn’t realize is how much it’s going to alter her life. And not necessarily in a good way. She deals with so much drama and other horrible things, that it’s amazing she can keep her head about her. Not to mention, two guys fighting for her affection, but don’t worry, it’s not really a love triangle. I liked Holly. She’s not the brightest at times, and she lets people walk all over her, but she has tremendous growth through the story.

Daisy is not quite what she seems, but what celebrity is. She comes across to the world as sweet and wholesome, when really her life if kind of a mess. She’s been famous since she was little and doesn’t even really remember life before. She’s always had a million people around her and never gets to make her own decisions. She seems to be a snob and not care about people around her, but the more you get to know her you realize how much of a victim actually is in all of it. It’s actually kind of hard to not feel bad for her even though she’s still super rich and has anything she wants. She’s actually a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for though as we discover. In the end I actually really did like her.

This was one of those book you pick up when you don’t really want to think too much, but then it ends up being a bit more deep than you think. Not that it’s super deep, but it does have a lot of substance to it. It was entertaining to read and despite my almost putting it down, in the end it did keep me interested enough to keep going and surprised me with how much I actually did enjoy it. It’s nothing that is going to take you on an emotional ride, but it was worth the read.

three-stars

3 Hot Espressos

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I'm no good at this, but I'm a mom of one little girl who really thinks she is a princess. I love reading all sorts of books (horror being a favorite genre of mine), love meeting new people, drinking lots of coffee, and eating chocolate. If you want to know anything else about me, just ask.
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3 Responses to “Review: Absolutely True Lies by Rachel Stuhler”

  1. Ksenia @ Ksenia's Book Blog

    I haven’t heard about this book before, and I found this idea of seeing celebrity behind the scene interesting. Looks like there isn’t much romance it this book and being romance addict that I am, I think I would miss it. Great review, Amy!

  2. Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

    It definitely sounds like it delved into some deeper emotions than the initial thoughts Amy! Even though it sounds a little draggy, it definitely sounds like it’s all about the characterisation and journey of discovery. Lovely review!

  3. Rashika

    I TOTALLY read this review in your voice. Is that weird? Pshhhht

    I actually really like the idea of the story. I am not sure how I’d feel about it when I read it (since I don’t usually like stories featuring celebrities .-.) but I think it’s such an interesting take given that it’s told from Holly’s pov who is the ghost writer for Daisy’s book.

    I don’t know if I’d like Daisy but I can totally see myself empathizing with her.

    I am glad you managed to like this book even if it wasn’t totally perfect!! 🙂

    Great review, hon <3

    (I MISS YOUR FACE, GRANDMA AMY)