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abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
"Movie star by Lizzie Pepper" by Hilary Liftin is a faux celebrity memoir that has flavors of so many of those celebrity couples whose faces and combined names (TomKat, Brangelina, etc.) grace the likes of People and US Weekly. I've definitely been fascinated by that world and so I was looking forward to reading this book. It's fascinating to me that the author decided to write a faux celebrity memoir but what makes it even more interesting is that the author partially started her writing career as a ghostwriter for celebrity memoirs so she knows where she's going. As she put it, Lizzie Pepper would be her dream client!
Lizzie Pepper is a middle-of-the-road actress until she meets Rob Mars, one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood. Lizzie falls for Rob quickly and thinks that what they have is real but she slowly starts to realize that their fairytale is anything but a fairytale and all the things she loved about their relationship have a really cheap veneer. The book is written from Lizzy's perspective which I really liked because it allowed me to get into her head and to understand what she was going through.
This book is for those who are intrigued by the world of celebrity like I am. I love reading serious books but you can also find me scanning the tabloids in the grocery store checkout line. I loved the Hollywood insider flavor of this novel. The cool thing about this book is that because it is a faux celebrity memoir, we get closer to the elusive Hollywood world more than any other real celebrity memoir would allow us to get. Overall, this is a fun read that engaged me from the very beginning.
Lizzie Pepper is a middle-of-the-road actress until she meets Rob Mars, one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood. Lizzie falls for Rob quickly and thinks that what they have is real but she slowly starts to realize that their fairytale is anything but a fairytale and all the things she loved about their relationship have a really cheap veneer. The book is written from Lizzy's perspective which I really liked because it allowed me to get into her head and to understand what she was going through.
This book is for those who are intrigued by the world of celebrity like I am. I love reading serious books but you can also find me scanning the tabloids in the grocery store checkout line. I loved the Hollywood insider flavor of this novel. The cool thing about this book is that because it is a faux celebrity memoir, we get closer to the elusive Hollywood world more than any other real celebrity memoir would allow us to get. Overall, this is a fun read that engaged me from the very beginning.
catdad77a45's review against another edition
3.0
Yeah, it's a piece of cheesy schlock that won't be up for any book awards... but it is still somewhat entertaining, in a Sidney Sheldon/Jackie Collins insider peek at Hollywood kind of way...
kyracbs's review against another edition
4.0
Fun summer read! Details seemed too real not to be true about tomkat...
justacatandabook's review against another edition
3.0
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.
jayvall's review against another edition
3.0
I spent a lot of time wondering how much of this was fiction and how much was real. So much so that my search engine now auto-populates with Katie Holmes the minute I start typing "Ka-". It took me months to read this, but that's because it was my work book, not because of any deficit in the story.
scaluba's review against another edition
4.0
Listen, I understood the metaphor to the Church of Scientology almost the second One Cell was introduced, but I didn't figure out that this is essentially the story of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise until I read some other Goodreads reviews. That being said, I know about two things regarding their relationship, so it's really no surprise that I didn't get the references.
Regardless, this book was pretty good. In my opinion, a lot of the characters didn't have a ton of depth or development apart from a random name thrown out. This goes for Lizzie as well. She seemed to 'tell' rather than 'show' what she was talking about and who she was as a person, but I really wasn't expecting a literary masterpiece from this. It was a cheesy, celebrity read for someone who just wants to lose themselves in the drama of Hollywood. I had a good time.
(Plus, Cap is one of my new favorite literary characters. Five going on sixty? Relatable. Loving a random animal a weirdly large amount? Relatable. Falling in love with Matilda? Hella relatable.)
Regardless, this book was pretty good. In my opinion, a lot of the characters didn't have a ton of depth or development apart from a random name thrown out. This goes for Lizzie as well. She seemed to 'tell' rather than 'show' what she was talking about and who she was as a person, but I really wasn't expecting a literary masterpiece from this. It was a cheesy, celebrity read for someone who just wants to lose themselves in the drama of Hollywood. I had a good time.
(Plus, Cap is one of my new favorite literary characters. Five going on sixty? Relatable. Loving a random animal a weirdly large amount? Relatable. Falling in love with Matilda? Hella relatable.)
kellyhager's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a novel that is pretty obviously based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. A lot of things were changed (a lot of little things), probably for plausible deniability but if you follow celebrity gossip at all, you'll know it's them.
Anyway, this is an incredibly fun book. I don't think you need to love celebrity gossip to adore this book, but it wouldn't hurt.
The most interesting thing is how invested I became in the story, even though I knew how it ended. It's a very fun book and I would definitely read Hilary Leftin's next book.
Recommended.
Anyway, this is an incredibly fun book. I don't think you need to love celebrity gossip to adore this book, but it wouldn't hurt.
The most interesting thing is how invested I became in the story, even though I knew how it ended. It's a very fun book and I would definitely read Hilary Leftin's next book.
Recommended.
krista7's review against another edition
2.0
This is a faux memoir that retells the story of Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise in a thinly disguised manner.
Pro: The concept, at least, is popcorn fun.
Con: There isn't much new here. Anyone who knows pop culture already has the basic story. Also, the character of Lizzie just isn't that interesting or strong enough to merit the super-serious tone throughout the book. You endure that kind of reading drama for a character who is engaging, not a flat one riding along the waves of the plot.
Pro: The concept, at least, is popcorn fun.
Con: There isn't much new here. Anyone who knows pop culture already has the basic story. Also, the character of Lizzie just isn't that interesting or strong enough to merit the super-serious tone throughout the book. You endure that kind of reading drama for a character who is engaging, not a flat one riding along the waves of the plot.
manogirl's review against another edition
3.0
Oh joy, another TomKat fictionalization. How did I read two of these?
Except this was SO SO much better than [b:The Actress|18775388|The Actress|Amy Sohn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413166620s/18775388.jpg|26680521], which isn't that hard to achieve, because that book was AWFUL. I don't know, the author clearly tried to make this about the scientology aspect of TomKat, which sort of? worked. Also, she definitely tapped into what I think is our biggest fear about Tom Cruise: that he's a weird robot who has NO FLIPPING clue how to be a person. She really nails the robot Tom Cruise character.
It's worth a perusal, but don't expect anything ground-breaking.
Except this was SO SO much better than [b:The Actress|18775388|The Actress|Amy Sohn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413166620s/18775388.jpg|26680521], which isn't that hard to achieve, because that book was AWFUL. I don't know, the author clearly tried to make this about the scientology aspect of TomKat, which sort of? worked. Also, she definitely tapped into what I think is our biggest fear about Tom Cruise: that he's a weird robot who has NO FLIPPING clue how to be a person. She really nails the robot Tom Cruise character.
It's worth a perusal, but don't expect anything ground-breaking.
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