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A review by librarykate
No Ordinary Life by Suzanne Redfearn
3.0
You know how when there is a car accident everyone slows down to look? Reading this book is like gawking at a car accident. As the inciting moment dives you into the story with Molly's unexpected fame, I found myself thinking, "This is not going to end well! This can't be good!" And it wasn't.
The film industry and celebrity are two things that chew people up and spit them out. The film industry crushes the dreams and hopes of many more than it fulfills. It creates an artificial environment that can be dangerous to those not grounded enough to understand that. Faye is reeling from a broken marriage. She has no idea what she is getting into, and Molly's insta-fame means that she hasn't seen the pain of broken dreams that she is riding upon.
There were a few inaccuracies that I saw in the portrayal of the film industry. In a TV show like The Foster Band, There would most likely be a rotation of directors. Directors for TV shows are even occasionally actors. Chris spent the entire time acting both as producer and director. In TV, this is apparently pretty rare. He might have directed a few episodes, but not all of them like he did.
One last thought, living in LA occasionally makes me think, What would I do if my child was "discovered"? This book is more of a worst case scenario and a perfect storm of events. But, I have an answer to the question if you care. The answer is community theatre. If my child is interested in acting and has a talent for it, I will give my child exposure to that world through theatre. As they grow older, the decision to pursue television and/or movie acting as a career would be made when the child had demonstrated unwaning interested for some period of time, maturity to handle the stress and pressure, and an understanding of the difficulty that they might face both from success or failure.
The film industry and celebrity are two things that chew people up and spit them out. The film industry crushes the dreams and hopes of many more than it fulfills. It creates an artificial environment that can be dangerous to those not grounded enough to understand that. Faye is reeling from a broken marriage. She has no idea what she is getting into, and Molly's insta-fame means that she hasn't seen the pain of broken dreams that she is riding upon.
There were a few inaccuracies that I saw in the portrayal of the film industry. In a TV show like The Foster Band, There would most likely be a rotation of directors. Directors for TV shows are even occasionally actors. Chris spent the entire time acting both as producer and director. In TV, this is apparently pretty rare. He might have directed a few episodes, but not all of them like he did.
One last thought, living in LA occasionally makes me think, What would I do if my child was "discovered"? This book is more of a worst case scenario and a perfect storm of events. But, I have an answer to the question if you care. The answer is community theatre. If my child is interested in acting and has a talent for it, I will give my child exposure to that world through theatre. As they grow older, the decision to pursue television and/or movie acting as a career would be made when the child had demonstrated unwaning interested for some period of time, maturity to handle the stress and pressure, and an understanding of the difficulty that they might face both from success or failure.