My confession: I've read the A-list series. It was summer, the local library didn't have much in stock, I was bored. What I got was pretty much what I expected - fun enough to read but not really memorable or well-written. (Except for the book where the main character and the girl who once had a lesbian crush on her get high on mescaline and wander around Mexico. It was so weird.) Unlike that series, HOLLYWOOD IS LIKE HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY is for adults. Like it, I knew the trajectory of the story when I started.Zoey Dean does a good job with the classic nice girl must become like mean girls to survive, becomes too mean, gets slapped down, becomes nice again and her life falls into place. (Reading the novel, I started thinking while Taylor made a terrible decision, "I want someone to write this story where the protagonist remains true to his or her ideals. It will push the moral conflict, but the protagonist never crosses the line." If anyone has read this book, please tell me. If anyone is trying to get it published now, you know who to put on the ARC list.)I was worried that the book was going to be awful after I finished the chapter, due to a simile on page 10: She reminded me of Sienna Miller in the film Factory Girl, playing Edie Sedgwick, except that her hair was long and wavy and dark gold, with butter-colored highlights that framed her face.Why not just compare her to Edie Sedgwick? I felt like the simile was trying to be hip, but then why reference a several years old movie that was never popular?But things quickly improved. Taylor Hennings is quite charming, with her weekly notes to the director who inspired her to work in the movie industry and begging a teenager to teach her how to act cool. I really fell in love with the way she dropped clothing brands after teen queen Quinn gave her a wardrobe of last year's clothing. She describes the events of a night out and then gives a little squeal at the end of the chapter, "And did I mention I was wearing Zac Posen?" She's cleary overwhelmed but reveling in the pricey clothing, and what normal girl wouldn't?When she does step over the moral line, it feels fake. She knows it's wrong and says it, before being instantly convinced to do it. Like her roommate says, she's like a cute little dog. Her mean girl persona never feels as real as the awkward, friendly Taylor. It really is relieving to see the real deal return at the end.HOLLYWOOD IS LIKE HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY isn't groundbreaking, but I didn't expect it to be. It's a fun summer read, with a far more likeable protagonist than the A-list series. Zoey Dean is also the author of TALENT and PRIVILEGED, now a show on the CW. What did I learn from this book?1) If you want to be a success in Hollywood, it's essential to have a random deux ex machina shower you with huge garbage bags full of designer clothes that fit perfectly.2) However, if you work too hard and get too good at what you do, you'll become a conniving weasel who deserves to lose everything omg!!!13) So the BEST thing is to sort of learn to dress a little bit better and still work hard but be really super NICE and then everything will be perfect!!!1I hate Zoey Dean and I don't know why I read this, except that I got it for 99 cents at Value Village the day before leaving on a long plane ride. It is a bad mishmash of a thousand other bad chicklit novels I should have learned by now not to read. Total trash, and about as believable as me moving to LA to become a supermodel and totally making it although I am 5 foot 3 and 33 years old.
Do You like book Prochain Arrêt Hollywood (2010)?
A fun beach read. If you liked How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls, you will enjoy this novel.
—Courtney
