Because all actresses are secretly sirens in their own way.
Song Vibe Check:
"Dancing in the dark" By: Au/Ra
"Your Age" By: Rina Sawayama
"Sirens" By: Cher Lloyd
I remember how this book caught my eye when it first appeared in a Barnes and Noble newsletter. After reading the summary, I knew it would be the sort of book I would keep in mind to read and then it got released and I forgot about it... until now.
While I have never read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (yet) this book delivers a sharp and blunt take to the old Hollywood that contrasts from Myra Breckinridge, one of my other favorite books from this time. It's my first time reading Nghi Vo's work, so let's dive into this alluring magical realism book (which is also not a genre I read often)
Short summary: A young Chinese girl accidentally stumbles into an ongoing film project as she becomes obsessed to become a star at whatever cost... even if it means to become the monster too.
Now, there are some beautiful quotes scattered throughout this book that deeply resonated with me. Reading such a sharp and to a certain extent, grating sense of the objectification of women in the film industry was something I was a bit surprised about even though it was also something I expected. Then comes the sickening obsession of beauty, the allure of "foreign beauty" that is really just a lot of sexism and racism which serves as the uncomfortable slap in the face to all the judgment women face in the film industry.
The narrator, while wanting to be a movie star, is detached from the way she sees the world, shifting herself into a chameleon of sorts as she works to manipulate, charm and lie her way to the top. An ambitious woman, I admit that there were moments I cheered for her because it isn't until much later that we discover the true nature of her name, of the way she molded herself to the point that she couldn't recognize who she had been before. While the storytelling can drag at times, it is a story that hides some things in plain sight and leaves enough loose threads to pull you into the next chapter until you eventually reach the end.
Alluring, disorienting, sharp and realistic, I can see why people were drawn into this book and by the writing as well, but I definitely do tell people to read this at their own risk.
Overall: 3/5 stars
Comments