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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I wanted to read this title because I enjoy Old Hollywood fiction, and the premise reminded me a bit of [b:A Touch of Stardust|22318399|A Touch of Stardust|Kate Alcott|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417727747s/22318399.jpg|41711584], which I enjoyed. Like that book, Stars Over Sunset Boulevard is set during the filming of Gone With the Wind, but the movie is merely a distant backdrop in the story of two women with different ambitions in the 1930s. Audrey wants to be a "star," more so than being an actress, while Violet longs for a picket fence and family. The progression of their friendship could easily have existed without the GWTW subplot - unlike Kate Alcott's book, there's very little interaction between the film stars and the main book characters.
Overall, the book reads rather quickly, but seems to fall short in places. It's not exactly a love triangle story, and you might lose sympathy for one character in the story due to her meddling and manipulation of her friend and the gentleman in question. I suppose I had expected something different in the story.
ARC received from NetGalley.
Overall, the book reads rather quickly, but seems to fall short in places. It's not exactly a love triangle story, and you might lose sympathy for one character in the story due to her meddling and manipulation of her friend and the gentleman in question. I suppose I had expected something different in the story.
ARC received from NetGalley.
First, a note: the synopsis leads you to believe that it's the story of Christine McAllister and Violet Mayfield. No---Christine is barely in the book. This book is all about Violet and her friend Audrey.
If you are a movie fan, you will almost definitely love this book. A lot of it centers around the filming of Gone With the Wind, which was a real treat to read. And by the time we move away from GWTW, I was already incredibly invested in the story.
(Note: we learn some behind-the-scenes facts about GWTW but the actors and directors are not characters in this book. They're mentioned but we don't meet them. That works really well for the story because I think having Clark Gable wandering around might be a little bit distracting.)
I was a fan of Susan Meissner's already and this one only cemented that.
Recommended.
I liked this latest audiobook from Susan Meissiner having thoroughly enjoyed Secrets of a Charmed Life. I loved the setting of the main story in Hollywood during the filming of Gone With The Wind. I've only ever seen famous clips of the movie and was a bit concerned I might miss out on the story line because of that. Fortunately it didn't ruin the story for me at all as it wasn't about the film but about imaginary characters working behind the scenes.
Anne Marie Lee was superb narrating the main characters as she really did become, Audrey, Violet and Bert. I would definitely prefer listening to this rather than read the print version as I enjoyed hearing and experiencing all the emotions performed so well by the narrator.
I would recommend this to all listeners, probably more so to women, as it is an excellent story with a great theme of love over fear through out. Thanks to christianaudio.com Reviewer's Program for this copy.
Anne Marie Lee was superb narrating the main characters as she really did become, Audrey, Violet and Bert. I would definitely prefer listening to this rather than read the print version as I enjoyed hearing and experiencing all the emotions performed so well by the narrator.
I would recommend this to all listeners, probably more so to women, as it is an excellent story with a great theme of love over fear through out. Thanks to christianaudio.com Reviewer's Program for this copy.
See full review here: http://ilayreading.com/2016/01/06/stars-over-sunset-boulevard/
I did tend to skip over the modern day sections of the bookâmostly just because I loved the main storyline so much. I wanted to get back to the past. Of course, those sections did make more sense at the end, but during the book they got in the way a little bit. Overall though, the book is wonderful. Four dragons!
I did tend to skip over the modern day sections of the bookâmostly just because I loved the main storyline so much. I wanted to get back to the past. Of course, those sections did make more sense at the end, but during the book they got in the way a little bit. Overall though, the book is wonderful. Four dragons!