Review: Hollywood in Heels by Charity Gaye Finnestad

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Hollywood in Heels is the true story of a working model struggling to make it as a writer AND find meaningful relationships in a city where sex is the primary commodity and illusion the name of the game.

Sexy, smart, shockingly honest and wickedly hilarious, this memoir chronicles the life of Charity Gaye Finnestad, a small town girl from Oregon on a quest to make it in Tinsel Town.

From sipping on five-hundred dollar bottles of champagne in celeb-filled mansions in the hills to cruising the aisles of the 99 Cents Only Store to stock her fridge, Charity's adventures are like nothing any dreamer could've imagined. While the landscape may differ from where many call home everyone will relate to the dating highs, hopes and heartbreaks she encounters along the way. Join Charity on her journey to catch her writing dreams and find the true love of her life to fly beside her.

Coming from 36 Inch Publishing, Hollywood in Heels will be available for purchase April  3, 2012 at Apple's iBookstore, Amazon's Kindle Store, and Barnes and Noble's Nook books.

MY TAKE:

I was so excited to read this book. Really.

Hollywood in Heels is a collection of stories from Charity's early years in Hollywood. It's a pretty brutal look at Hollywood and kinda shatters illusions.

The book is written in a very playful way and Charity brings her best stories forward. However, there was one thing that really bugged me about this book. Every so often, she would say something about how pretty and tall she is. I don't know if she was saying it in a tongue-in-cheek way, but it didn't feel like that most of the time. Maybe it's a culture thing, but where I come from, extolling your own virtues is sort of frowned upon. If you say it jokingly, then that's okay, but for the most part, not even popular local celebrities say out loud how beautiful they are. If Charity had just let the photos speak for itself, I would have given this book four stars. As it is, I found the descriptions very distracting.

This book does have potential, though. It just needs a little bit of fine-tuning and editing.

Thanks to NetGalley and 36 Inch Publishing for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. There are some insightful bits.
2. Charity is funny and wild.
3. The book provides a realistic view of Hollywood.

THE BAD:

1. Some people might not like how she tends to describe herself.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Could it be that when I whined about my flaws I sounded as ridiculous, shallow and self-absorbed as she did?

READ IT IF:

1. You like Sex and the City-type novels.
2. You like exuberant heroines.
3. You're not bothered by heroines who tell it like it is.

RATING:
 

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