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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper in Books
Feb 13, 2018
Lizzie Pepper became a famous actress as a teen -- growing up before America's eyes on her TV show. Eventually Lizzie meets America's most famous movie star, Rob Mars -- and quickly their courtship and marriage becomes tabloid fodder and her life changes forever. At first, Lizzie is head over heels in love with Rob and all that he brings: romance, lavish trips, and instant stardom. But soon, her life is taken over by Rob's wealth and fame -- his constant absences, a complete lack of privacy, and a world overshadowed by Rob's total commitment to One Cell Studio, a form of study and practice that nears cult status. Once they have children, Lizzie begins to doubt everything about their relationship -- and what her husband stands for.
This was a fun book. Written by Hilary Liftin, a celebrity ghostwriter, Lizzie is a really enjoyable and insightful character. The book is clearly supposed to be based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. I kept imagining Rob Mars as a creepy twist between Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe, which was a little frightening. The One Cell piece is oddly disconcerting, as it's supposed to be, and made me want to delve more into the weirdness that is Scientology. Lizzie's evolution was fun to read about (I enjoyed, on a personal level, that she had twins) and she remained a realistic and relatable character, despite being elevated to movie star status. It truly makes you think about some of the insanity that movie stars have to go through, especially those that have children. It also gets you thinking about various religious cults and the power they have over people. In the end, probably a 3.5 star book, as it's a quick, fun read, but with a surprising depth behind it in places. After all, in the end, a marriage crumbling is a marriage crumbling, even in Hollywood.
This was a fun book. Written by Hilary Liftin, a celebrity ghostwriter, Lizzie is a really enjoyable and insightful character. The book is clearly supposed to be based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. I kept imagining Rob Mars as a creepy twist between Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe, which was a little frightening. The One Cell piece is oddly disconcerting, as it's supposed to be, and made me want to delve more into the weirdness that is Scientology. Lizzie's evolution was fun to read about (I enjoyed, on a personal level, that she had twins) and she remained a realistic and relatable character, despite being elevated to movie star status. It truly makes you think about some of the insanity that movie stars have to go through, especially those that have children. It also gets you thinking about various religious cults and the power they have over people. In the end, probably a 3.5 star book, as it's a quick, fun read, but with a surprising depth behind it in places. After all, in the end, a marriage crumbling is a marriage crumbling, even in Hollywood.
The Revolutionary War Lives and Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox
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In 1774, Boston bookseller Henry Knox married Lucy Waldo Flucker, the daughter of a prominent Tory...
Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James
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Swing is back in style, and with it a renewed interest in the Big Band Era. And few players...
ClareR (5784 KP) rated When the Lights Go Out in Books
Nov 17, 2020
When the Lights Go Out is not just about climate change and the disaster that we seem to be hurtling towards. It’s also about a marriage: Emma and Chris’ marriage. I seem to be having a really good run with books lately. This is a book where not overly much happens on the surface, but it’s packed full of action if you look at the way that it’s scrutinising Emma and Chris’ marriage. These are two people who have a lot going on. They have both been pushed to their limits, and whilst Emma seems to be dealing with the changes in her life, Chris is really struggling. He is constantly plagued by thoughts of ‘worst case scenarios’. He stockpiles food and fuel in the garage, he buys fish antibiotics just in case the human version is unobtainable. And he tests his family’s resourcefulness by turning off the electricity in their home to make sure they can cope - and leads them to believe it’s a power cut. Chris is unhappy. Work is very slow - no one needs a gardener if it rains non-stop and the garden is submerged, or if it gets so hot that nothing survives to tend to. Money is tight since Emma lost her job when the library where she worked closed, and she works part time in a school, supplementing her income with her craft work.
Everything comes to a dramatic head on Christmas Eve - and I don’t think I was capable of breathing properly for the last couple of chapters.
This sounds like a morose, depressing read, but it really wasn’t. There are some really quite funny bits interspersed with the more serious aspects - I thought it was really well balanced, and I loved reading it.
Everything comes to a dramatic head on Christmas Eve - and I don’t think I was capable of breathing properly for the last couple of chapters.
This sounds like a morose, depressing read, but it really wasn’t. There are some really quite funny bits interspersed with the more serious aspects - I thought it was really well balanced, and I loved reading it.
Monogamy is just the kind of book that I’ve come to learn that I really enjoy. It’s a beautifully written novel about marriage, and what happens to people in the marriage as well as those on the periphery. It’s not all action, it’s not hugely exciting, but it IS compelling and full of characters that you want to get to know.
The main characters, Graham and Annie, are written as real people: not everything they do is particularly likeable. Graham owns a bookshop, Annie is a photographer. They have a daughter together, and a son from Graham’s first marriage. His ex-wife is very much present in their lives, which may seem odd at first, but they all seem to get on well, with no-one feeling threatened by the arrangement.
This is a story mainly about grief. Graham dies and Annie is left to grieve his loss. Then at his funeral, Annie makes a discovery which then causes her to grieve more than just the loss of Graham.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I really did love how the feelings expressed in this book all seemed so relatable (even if you haven’t experienced what the main characters have experienced), and that Annie didn’t feel the need to ruin her daughters or stepsons memories of their father. It was nice just to read a reasoned reaction to Annie’s discovery.
I’ve probably said too much, but it’s tricky writing about this book without disclosing too much of the storyline!
Anyway, many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book. It’s not one that I would have known about without their serialisation, and that would have been a great shame. It’s a wonderful novel.
The main characters, Graham and Annie, are written as real people: not everything they do is particularly likeable. Graham owns a bookshop, Annie is a photographer. They have a daughter together, and a son from Graham’s first marriage. His ex-wife is very much present in their lives, which may seem odd at first, but they all seem to get on well, with no-one feeling threatened by the arrangement.
This is a story mainly about grief. Graham dies and Annie is left to grieve his loss. Then at his funeral, Annie makes a discovery which then causes her to grieve more than just the loss of Graham.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I really did love how the feelings expressed in this book all seemed so relatable (even if you haven’t experienced what the main characters have experienced), and that Annie didn’t feel the need to ruin her daughters or stepsons memories of their father. It was nice just to read a reasoned reaction to Annie’s discovery.
I’ve probably said too much, but it’s tricky writing about this book without disclosing too much of the storyline!
Anyway, many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book. It’s not one that I would have known about without their serialisation, and that would have been a great shame. It’s a wonderful novel.
Debbiereadsbook (1303 KP) rated Dragon of Denmark in Books
Jan 18, 2025
these vikings are violent!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarain, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Skarde is the illegitimate son of the Danish King, Harald. Ylva is the illegitimate daughter of the Viking Duke of Normandy, Richard the Fearless. Thrown together in a marriage of based only on political power and sheer strength in numbers, the two are left to navigate the seas of their new marriage. But there are other forces at work, and they must tread carefully.
For the most part, I did enjoy this.
There is much description about how both Skarde and Ylva lived, separately and then together. I liked the way their marriage grew, and how they came to know each other better, in truth, rather than the image they had of each other before.
It isn't overly explicit, but there is violence. These are Vikings, after all, fighting for the things and people they love.
I liked that both Skarde and Ylva have a say, along with some other characters who I did not expect to hear from! So I really did enjoy that, hearing from the bad guy!
There are great descriptions about the runes, and what they mean, along with the herbs and plants, and the Gods that these people pray to. This is what I felt was a bit too much. The explanation of things is repeated, over and over and it really did get a bit annoying being told who was the God of what, and what certain gems did.
BUT
I did enjoy the tale, and it is the first I've read of this author. I liked the way she told her tale.
4 very good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Skarde is the illegitimate son of the Danish King, Harald. Ylva is the illegitimate daughter of the Viking Duke of Normandy, Richard the Fearless. Thrown together in a marriage of based only on political power and sheer strength in numbers, the two are left to navigate the seas of their new marriage. But there are other forces at work, and they must tread carefully.
For the most part, I did enjoy this.
There is much description about how both Skarde and Ylva lived, separately and then together. I liked the way their marriage grew, and how they came to know each other better, in truth, rather than the image they had of each other before.
It isn't overly explicit, but there is violence. These are Vikings, after all, fighting for the things and people they love.
I liked that both Skarde and Ylva have a say, along with some other characters who I did not expect to hear from! So I really did enjoy that, hearing from the bad guy!
There are great descriptions about the runes, and what they mean, along with the herbs and plants, and the Gods that these people pray to. This is what I felt was a bit too much. The explanation of things is repeated, over and over and it really did get a bit annoying being told who was the God of what, and what certain gems did.
BUT
I did enjoy the tale, and it is the first I've read of this author. I liked the way she told her tale.
4 very good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated Surprise Me in Books
May 25, 2018
I usually like Sophie Kinsella books, but I have to say this one was not a favorite. I felt like I was reading two different books - one about a couple trying to add Surprise to their marriage (so the title works) and one about a secret between another couple. The two just did not mesh. The Surprise Me part got lost along the way. And WHAT COUPLE goes into marriage not thinking FOREVER?? and one minute they're crazy in love and in a split second hes brooding and mean and terrible to her?!! It just doesn't work. Sorry. Granted though - it got 3 stars because I was dying to know why the hell the switch flipped and Dan became psycho. I couldn't put it down cause I wanted to know what the secret was. It was so annoyingly crazy that I just wanted to get it over with and find out WTF was going on. The job thing almost felt like a third story and the neighbor and her son a 4th story! Things were just not meshed together very well and I felt like I was all over the place, with no real ties.
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