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Sep 26, 2017wendybird rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This novel was on many 2017 summer reading lists : the thumbnail plot description piqued my curiosity. I don't usually read "glam" books, but the story line was intriguing: an aging, beautiful and reclusive Hollywood movie icon is finally ready to dish her scandalous, privileged life. She chooses an unknown magazine reporter to do so (and will consider no one else). Is this Ava Gardner's rags to riches biography in story form? Readers hear Evelyn's life story as Monique (the reporter) takes notes, so the book is presented as a series of chapter - long flashbacks set into the current day . The writing was good, the story was full of plot twists, and certainly some research into old Hollywood's mechanisms meant a fairly satisfying read. This isn't great literature, but it's entertaining and nicely put together. My only real quibble is that author Taylor Jenkins Reid seemed undecided about what the book was really going to consist of - there are a few too many things swirling around. Is this a book about human rights? Is this a book about the wide range of loving relationships in the world? Is it a kind of mystery? Or, is it simply a fictional (albeit interesting) actress biography? You'll have to read it to decide - and the journey is a decent one.