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abookishaffair's review
4.0
"No Ordinary Life" is the story of Faye Martin and her children. When her youngest, Molly, is discovered one day right after they move to Los Angeles, the whole family's world is turned upside down. At first, Faye can't believe her fortune but she is faced with a slew of new problems that she could once only imagine. This is the story of one woman trying to hold her family together when their world is turned upside down. Hollywood glamour isn't always glamorous!
The Hollywood life is definitely not for me but that did not prevent me from enjoying living vicariously through Faye and her family in this book. The book is told from Faye's perspective, which really pulled me into the story. I really enjoyed seeing the events of the book through her eyes. This book definitely shows the unglamorous side of Hollywood. At first, Faye thinks that being in Hollywood is going to solve all of her family's problems but she finds that the problems just change (and arguably get worse) as her family gets more entrenched in the business. This book made me really anxious for the family throughout the book and I love when a book can elicit such a strong response in me!
The writing of the book is good. I thought that the author did a good job of showing the characters' growth (especially Faye's) throughout the book. The flow works well and kept me involved with the book. Overall, this was a good read that gave a lot of insight into a world I'm not familiar with!
The Hollywood life is definitely not for me but that did not prevent me from enjoying living vicariously through Faye and her family in this book. The book is told from Faye's perspective, which really pulled me into the story. I really enjoyed seeing the events of the book through her eyes. This book definitely shows the unglamorous side of Hollywood. At first, Faye thinks that being in Hollywood is going to solve all of her family's problems but she finds that the problems just change (and arguably get worse) as her family gets more entrenched in the business. This book made me really anxious for the family throughout the book and I love when a book can elicit such a strong response in me!
The writing of the book is good. I thought that the author did a good job of showing the characters' growth (especially Faye's) throughout the book. The flow works well and kept me involved with the book. Overall, this was a good read that gave a lot of insight into a world I'm not familiar with!
elliew's review
3.0
The writing is mediocre but the story is interesting and new so it compensates. Worth reading for now, until someone does a better written version.
jillheather's review
1.0
Teach me to neglect to check out my reviews for the author's previous books.
The writing is ok. The plotting is idiotic, the characterization does not resemble humans, the main character is a not particularly great mother who starts out making bad decisions for understandable reasons and then continues to make bad decisions so that the book keeps going, and there's a Jew named Chris (the only character to make a big deal of his religion, and if he isn't the villain he's in the more blackly characterized half).
The writing is ok. The plotting is idiotic, the characterization does not resemble humans, the main character is a not particularly great mother who starts out making bad decisions for understandable reasons and then continues to make bad decisions so that the book keeps going, and there's a Jew named Chris (the only character to make a big deal of his religion, and if he isn't the villain he's in the more blackly characterized half).
kellyhager's review
I really enjoyed this novel! I love the story of a child star as told by her mom (who is really not what we'd think of as a stage mom).
I was expecting Faye to get in trouble for using some of Molly's money for family use, but that didn't happen. (Isn't that what Macauley Culkin's father got in trouble for?)
At any rate, this was a smart, fun story and I definitely want to read more from Suzanne Redfearn.
Recommended.
I was expecting Faye to get in trouble for using some of Molly's money for family use, but that didn't happen. (Isn't that what Macauley Culkin's father got in trouble for?)
At any rate, this was a smart, fun story and I definitely want to read more from Suzanne Redfearn.
Recommended.
leahmichelle_13's review
5.0
I must have had No Ordinary Life sitting on my Kindle a while, but it was brought back to my attention when the books publicist emailed asking if I was planning to review, I then made it my immediate priority, because it sounded amazing and I'd remembered all over again why I had requested it in the first place.
No Ordinary Life is SUCH an on-point novel. Kids acting, and kids becoming superstars, is something always in the news. You see adults who used to be child stars messing up their lives left, right and centre, and there must be a reason, and that reason seems to be the mess that is Hollywood and Redfearn is on point with the lovely Molly, who herself becomes famous after a dance throw-down on the streets of LA. We follow Molly's mom Faye as Molly's fame skyrockets and she even gets the chance to be part of one of the most popular sitcoms, and you just knew it was all going to end up blowing up in Faye's face, and it was like waiting for a car crash to happen, but I felt for Faye because all she was trying to do was to care for her kids, all of her kids, and Molly acting allowed them to do more than just exist.
Faye is an amazing mom, everything she does in the novel is amazing, and even when she sometimes lets Hollywood take over and Molly do things she's not entirely comfortable with, she realises her failings and always vows to do better. Her end game was astounding, and I wanted to stand up and give her a standing ovation, because what she did was brave. Some might say cruel, I say brave. A mother does what she has to, to protect her kids, and Faye knew Hollywood was destroying her kids and acted accordingly, and I applaud that.
Molly is of course the scene-stealer in the book, she's amazing and her little rhymes and the way she could ape anything was amazing. She's precocious, and adorable, and I just wanted to keep her for myself. But there's also Molly's two other kids, Emily and Tom. I actually really loved Tom, he was so shy, and at times had crippling anxiety which caused him to stop speaking, and I felt so bad for him. Emily was another matter. I liked her, and I understood why she was so annoyed at her mom, but the way she acted made me despise her at times. She did things that you can't just write off as teen angst, and she needed to make things right, which we sadly didn't get to see.
This was such a good read. I always love books set in the world of Hollywood, and TV shows, and it's crazy, but I do love reading about it. Suzanne is a very, very talented writer and I'm definitely going to go and find myself her first novel Hush Little Baby. I perhaps would have liked more to the ending, because it was left soooooo open, I wanted to know what happened, I wanted MORE. I craved more. I would love a sequel, I would sooo love a sequel, please Suzanne. I really, really loved this read. It's been a long time since I've really loved a women's fiction novel and this was an amazing read, so nuanced, so clever, and it asked a lot of questions. Make sure you read this book, it's amazing.
No Ordinary Life is SUCH an on-point novel. Kids acting, and kids becoming superstars, is something always in the news. You see adults who used to be child stars messing up their lives left, right and centre, and there must be a reason, and that reason seems to be the mess that is Hollywood and Redfearn is on point with the lovely Molly, who herself becomes famous after a dance throw-down on the streets of LA. We follow Molly's mom Faye as Molly's fame skyrockets and she even gets the chance to be part of one of the most popular sitcoms, and you just knew it was all going to end up blowing up in Faye's face, and it was like waiting for a car crash to happen, but I felt for Faye because all she was trying to do was to care for her kids, all of her kids, and Molly acting allowed them to do more than just exist.
Faye is an amazing mom, everything she does in the novel is amazing, and even when she sometimes lets Hollywood take over and Molly do things she's not entirely comfortable with, she realises her failings and always vows to do better. Her end game was astounding, and I wanted to stand up and give her a standing ovation, because what she did was brave. Some might say cruel, I say brave. A mother does what she has to, to protect her kids, and Faye knew Hollywood was destroying her kids and acted accordingly, and I applaud that.
Molly is of course the scene-stealer in the book, she's amazing and her little rhymes and the way she could ape anything was amazing. She's precocious, and adorable, and I just wanted to keep her for myself. But there's also Molly's two other kids, Emily and Tom. I actually really loved Tom, he was so shy, and at times had crippling anxiety which caused him to stop speaking, and I felt so bad for him. Emily was another matter. I liked her, and I understood why she was so annoyed at her mom, but the way she acted made me despise her at times. She did things that you can't just write off as teen angst, and she needed to make things right, which we sadly didn't get to see.
This was such a good read. I always love books set in the world of Hollywood, and TV shows, and it's crazy, but I do love reading about it. Suzanne is a very, very talented writer and I'm definitely going to go and find myself her first novel Hush Little Baby. I perhaps would have liked more to the ending, because it was left soooooo open, I wanted to know what happened, I wanted MORE. I craved more. I would love a sequel, I would sooo love a sequel, please Suzanne. I really, really loved this read. It's been a long time since I've really loved a women's fiction novel and this was an amazing read, so nuanced, so clever, and it asked a lot of questions. Make sure you read this book, it's amazing.
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