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wordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/08/2015-book-197.html
Liftin--who has ghost-written celebrity memoirs for people like Tori Spelling, Miley Cyrus, Mackenzie Phillips, and Tatum O'Neal--has written a novel that is very very very much based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' marriage. Which is interesting enough, but I wasn't really a fan of the way she fictionalized EVERYTHING. All the celebrities, even all the film festivals are made up, but context doesn't always do enough to help figure out equivalencies. And the fake version of Scientology doesn't really seem sinister enough here. I think the problem is the narrative device--that this is actually a book by the Katie Holmes character--so it can't be dishy enough! I mean, it's entertaining, but most of the characters aren't really fleshed out, and it didn't have the fun tone I really wanted from this book (again, that rings true to the narrative voice). I dunno. B.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.
Liftin--who has ghost-written celebrity memoirs for people like Tori Spelling, Miley Cyrus, Mackenzie Phillips, and Tatum O'Neal--has written a novel that is very very very much based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' marriage. Which is interesting enough, but I wasn't really a fan of the way she fictionalized EVERYTHING. All the celebrities, even all the film festivals are made up, but context doesn't always do enough to help figure out equivalencies. And the fake version of Scientology doesn't really seem sinister enough here. I think the problem is the narrative device--that this is actually a book by the Katie Holmes character--so it can't be dishy enough! I mean, it's entertaining, but most of the characters aren't really fleshed out, and it didn't have the fun tone I really wanted from this book (again, that rings true to the narrative voice). I dunno. B.
__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.
carlaserrano's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
i’m so pleasantly surprised with this book. i picked it up from a second hand store and i wasn’t expecting much from it. well, it turns out i really really liked it. it kind of gives me the seven husband of evelyn hugo vibes.
i really liked the main character. and more importantly i really liked how i was always in tune with her and her feelings. so i felt the happiness, giddiness, let down, disappointment, hope, confusion, and every other emotion possible.
i was impossibly intrigued by one cell and up to a certain point i believed their ways. however there was always that didn’t felt right.
i am honesty astonished by how much i liked it. it just gave me a pov about starts that i don’t really consider or take into account and it is refreshing to have a reminder that money and fame does not equal power and happiness by any means. it reassured my idea that i would never be able to handle that type of life as well.
this genre of books is so cool to me.
i’m so happy with this book really.
and i’ve just discovered that it is loosely based on tom cruise and katie holmes. that news are incredible to me i’m such a gossip. i don’t think i will be able to see tom cruise in the same way though.
wow. lizzie’s journey was so interesting. i was not once bored or felt the book was too long. it kept me turning page after page.
lizzie is incredible i love her as a mc. i was really so coordinated with every single one of her feelings and that is so great. and rob. well. he is someone i cannot bring myself to love or hate. he just doesn’t have enough personality traits for that. he is an actor. and thats it, he is not a person.
so surprised. i loved it. enjoyed every second. so good
i really liked the main character. and more importantly i really liked how i was always in tune with her and her feelings. so i felt the happiness, giddiness, let down, disappointment, hope, confusion, and every other emotion possible.
i was impossibly intrigued by one cell and up to a certain point i believed their ways. however there was always that didn’t felt right.
i am honesty astonished by how much i liked it. it just gave me a pov about starts that i don’t really consider or take into account and it is refreshing to have a reminder that money and fame does not equal power and happiness by any means. it reassured my idea that i would never be able to handle that type of life as well.
this genre of books is so cool to me.
i’m so happy with this book really.
and i’ve just discovered that it is loosely based on tom cruise and katie holmes. that news are incredible to me i’m such a gossip. i don’t think i will be able to see tom cruise in the same way though.
wow. lizzie’s journey was so interesting. i was not once bored or felt the book was too long. it kept me turning page after page.
lizzie is incredible i love her as a mc. i was really so coordinated with every single one of her feelings and that is so great. and rob. well. he is someone i cannot bring myself to love or hate. he just doesn’t have enough personality traits for that. he is an actor. and thats it, he is not a person.
so surprised. i loved it. enjoyed every second. so good
lilisayshi's review
3.0
Great concept, but took a while to pick up - and the ending fell a little flat.
elliesreviews's review
3.0
I was provided an Advance Reader Copy by Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.
This book is “ghostwritten” by Hilary Liftin for Lizzie Pepper, who is a small-time movie star turned big-time paparazzi magnet. Lizzie meets Rob Mars, one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, and they fall madly in love. Some think too madly and quickly. Rob Mars is also a major advocate for a secretive cult-like “community” called One Cell, where they focus heavily on meditation and betterment of self. However, when Lizzie joins One Cell, things slowly spiral out of her control, and she has to find her way out of the community, celebrity, and her beloved husband’s home. This is a great guilty pleasure read, with romance, mystery, and a fight for life.
It would be impossible to ignore the fact that this story is a fictionalized version of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes's relationship. The marriage, the crazy controlling religion, down to the movie roles and relationships that the characters have. There were enough changes to help deny the connections, but it was very easy to spot from very early. Don't get me wrong though -- I found it very interesting as I hadn't followed the story of TomKat, and there are some things that are speculated that the public would not have known.
However, if you look past that, the story is intriguing and it was hard to put down. From the very beginning, I followed Lizzie's emotions. It was easy to see how she became so entrapped in her life of luxury and celebrity. It was also an interesting view into how Hollywood and One Cell/Scientology operate from the inside (allegedly). The end was kind of anti-climactic and less dramatic that I had wanted, but it did tie up most loose ends.
This book is “ghostwritten” by Hilary Liftin for Lizzie Pepper, who is a small-time movie star turned big-time paparazzi magnet. Lizzie meets Rob Mars, one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, and they fall madly in love. Some think too madly and quickly. Rob Mars is also a major advocate for a secretive cult-like “community” called One Cell, where they focus heavily on meditation and betterment of self. However, when Lizzie joins One Cell, things slowly spiral out of her control, and she has to find her way out of the community, celebrity, and her beloved husband’s home. This is a great guilty pleasure read, with romance, mystery, and a fight for life.
It would be impossible to ignore the fact that this story is a fictionalized version of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes's relationship. The marriage, the crazy controlling religion, down to the movie roles and relationships that the characters have. There were enough changes to help deny the connections, but it was very easy to spot from very early. Don't get me wrong though -- I found it very interesting as I hadn't followed the story of TomKat, and there are some things that are speculated that the public would not have known.
However, if you look past that, the story is intriguing and it was hard to put down. From the very beginning, I followed Lizzie's emotions. It was easy to see how she became so entrapped in her life of luxury and celebrity. It was also an interesting view into how Hollywood and One Cell/Scientology operate from the inside (allegedly). The end was kind of anti-climactic and less dramatic that I had wanted, but it did tie up most loose ends.
craftycsw's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyable--at first I was annoyed by Lizzie's naivete. But then at the end I was really rooting for her to succeed--and not in the Hollywood way.
onecandace's review against another edition
4.0
A very enjoyable, fun read. It's not going to win any awards but that's not why you read a book like this. I appreciated that it was "juicy" without being at all raunchy.
aritrow's review against another edition
4.0
Didn't want this book to end, I really liked it. Yes, I kept comparing it to that famous couple that it sounds like it is based on... Still, really good light read.
kazwesterman's review against another edition
3.0
I had heard such glowing reviews about this book, that I was ready for it to be FANTASTIC! It was fun and interesting. Definitely a good summer read, but not mind-blowing. I thought the fictional ghost-writer conceit was really clever.
acdom's review against another edition
4.0
Look, is this book going to win the Pulitzer this year? No. But did I enjoy this book so much I stayed up two hours past my bedtime to finish it? Hells yes.
Like many teenagers of the late 90s, I loved me some Dawson's Creek. And, of course, I was Team Joey (along with Team Pacey and Team OMG-Dawson-Shut-the-Hell-Up). Therefore, I followed the TomKat ridiculousness and was definitely Team Free Katie.
This book was a fun hypothetical look into the TomKat phenomenon and ended in a much more satisfying way than the ordeal did in real life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and really liked the concept of "ghost-writing" the story. So do you need a fun mindless pop culture filled read? Then give this one a try.
Like many teenagers of the late 90s, I loved me some Dawson's Creek. And, of course, I was Team Joey (along with Team Pacey and Team OMG-Dawson-Shut-the-Hell-Up). Therefore, I followed the TomKat ridiculousness and was definitely Team Free Katie.
This book was a fun hypothetical look into the TomKat phenomenon and ended in a much more satisfying way than the ordeal did in real life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and really liked the concept of "ghost-writing" the story. So do you need a fun mindless pop culture filled read? Then give this one a try.