Customer Reviews

Hollywood Is like High School with Money

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Taylor Henning is about to fulfill her dreams of making it in the movie business. Inspired by his movie Journal Girl to pursue film, she's been writing to the reclusive director of the movie for 7 years about her life and receiving nothing back in return but that doesn't stop her. She's landed the job as second assistant to a creative exec at a studio, and is determined to succeed. What she doesn't realize is the atmosphere is permeated with cattiness and assistants willing to set others up for termination. Taylor's never been popular, but she's never been unpopular either. She was categorically the "nice girl" in school, getting along with everyone. After being set up to be fired after only her first week, Taylor realizes she needs help to play the game. So she enlists Iris' daughter Quinn, the head of the popular girls in her elite school, to help make her over. Quinn agrees with the stipulation that she may call on a favor anytime.

Quinn's lessons involve faking it 'til you make it, never accepting blame, and stealing first assistant Kylie's (she of the firing attempts) boyfriend Luke. What she doesn't anticipate is falling for Luke. When a really good script falls into Taylor's lap, she sees an opportunity for promotion all of the assistants are vying for, and leaps in without thinking it all through. What she doesn't realize is for as much as she loathes Kylie's mean girl attitude, Taylor's slipped into her shoes pretty easily.

This was a really cute novel. Quick, easy, fun to read. Again, even during the periods of Taylor becoming more Hollywood and cocky, you really root for Taylor to succeed as Taylor. The story arc with Taylor and Michael, the director of Journal Girl, is interesting, as is the storyline with the first-time screenwriter who is so eager to get notes for her script and make something good.
The story dragged me in more than expected too. I really wondered if Taylor had burned all her bridges, work, love, and friendship wise and was pleasantly surprised at the ending, even though I should have anticipated it. I really enjoy Zoey Dean, and I loved the show Privileged which was based on her novel How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls. I look forward to much more from her!

"Hollywood is Like High School with Money" by Zoey Dean is a charming story about trying to break into the film business and staying there without getting stabbed in the back. Again, another story about Hollywood I had to read; but this time from the viewpoint of an assistant (the lowest of the lowest in that world). This one is funny and quirky and an easy read. Certainly, a good book to escape to the beach with!

I should have read the description of the book more closely or checked out what the author has also written. This is a weak Lifetime movie (and I like Lifetime movies!). I guess Ms. Dean writes mostly young adult novels and this certainly reads like one. The book would have been much stronger if she'd learned her lesson & had to work ker way back rather than the incredibly cliche happy ever after ending, Definitely wished I'd spent my money on something else.

I have to say that I originally thought this book would be another knock-off of The Devil Wears Prada- I was delighted to find that in fact Taylor's boss was a wonderful employer, not a psycho. Of course, her assistant is a psycho, but I can much more readily understand accepting that dynamic of hostility than I can working for someone insane.

The book was funny and the scenarios rang true for assistants. Taylor was not the most sympathetic of characters, but I was invested in her story and thought it unfolded well. Though this book did rely on some fairly improbable coincidences, and I certainly think the roommate was way quirkier than necessary, overall the book rose above others in the genre because of quality writing and an interesting premise. Definitely a good summer read.

Taylor Henning's favorite movie all-time is Journal Girl. Every since she saw it, she's been writing to the director. Sometimes it's only a few lines on a postcard, sometimes its a letter, but she mails them. He just never responds. Because of his movie, she wants to make movies, and goes to film school and does well. When she lands a job as a 2nd assistant she is over the moon. She finally has her foot in the door and like a fairy tale she believes that everything she ever wanted is going to happen. Wrong.

The other assistants are ruthless. You need to wear the right clothes, know the latest hollywood gossip, etc etc. Taylor was basically a geek in high school, and nice to everyone, so she has no clue how to do this to climb the corporate ladder. But she enlists the help of her boss's sixteen year old daughter to help her in exchange for a favor. Now Taylor has got the mean girl going on, and destruction may lie on her path, but she's going places. But when Kylie, an assistant always competing with Taylor, turns the tables on her, Taylor needs to decide who she really is, and if this is what she wants for her life.

This was very hard to put down! The writing flowed seamlessly and the characters were full of personality, vitality, and attitude. Even though there is a lesson to be learned between the pages, HOLLYWOOD IS A LIKE LIKE HIGH SCHOOL WITH MONEY is a fun, fresh, and engaging read for teens and adults.

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.

Review copy
From In Bed With Books

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it wasn't badly written. The pace is good, the characters are colorful (though a little stereotypical), and it's a window into a world most people don't know anything about. On the other hand, the "mean girl" stuff doesn't sit well with me. The fact that Taylor resorts to those sorts of tactics was enough to sour any good feelings I formed about her at the beginning. Frankly, I thought her ending was a little more happy than she deserved. I think what it really means is that this particular vein of chick-lit is not for me.

I discovered Zoey Dean while browsing the book section at Target. I noticed her A-list series in the store and purchased the first story. Over the next few years, I read many of the books in the series. I was excited to find out that Dean had published a non-YA novel, How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls, which I read and enjoyed.

I kept purchasing new works by Dean because I found each new story entertaining and original. The plot of each book was unexpected and enjoyable. As a result, I was excited to see that Dean had published a second novel, Hollywood Is like High School with Money. I expected the same great story telling in this latest release, however I was largely disappointed.

The main problem with this story was that I felt as if I had read it before. The story line was largely predictable with its "20-something relocating from Middle America to a big city" tale. Taylor, the main character, hits a rough time at first, but starts to be able to maneuver the difficult world of working with celebrities. With the help of a surprising ally, she falls into the classic pitfall of becoming overconfident, which leads to her hitting a road block. In the end her ability to stick with it leads to a happy ending.

There was one plot-line in the story that I did find original. This was the fact that Taylor's ally was her boss's 16-year-old daughter Quinn. While this had the opportunity to make the story more creative, it just ended up not being believable. The fact that such an integral part of the story didn't feel real dampened my enjoyment of the story.

Review: The combination of predictable plot and forgettable characters led to a book that was just OK. This book would be a good vacation or beach read: entertaining but not really memorable.

Perfectly fitting in the fun-loving, somewhat thoughtless, chic lit genre and paired with our culture's love of celebrity. It follows the typical formula: naive, midwestern girl hits the big city (L.A. this time), discovers that big-city girls are really mean and tough (Gossip Girl meets Hollywood), tries to beat them at their own game, eventually triumphs while staying true to her kind, somewhat innocent self.

Taylor Henning, a 24-year old from Cleveland, realizes her dream to get to Hollywood - she becomes an assistant to a big-time movie producer. She struggles to find her footing in this new world, especially with her back-stabbing fellow assistant. She wants to learn how to function in this world so she makes a deal with Quinn, her boss's wise and somewhat evil 16-year old daughter, who gives her a set of designer clothes and tips on getting ahead in Hollywood. The tips and clothes work, Taylor skates ahead to success. But she does so taking risks and losing her basic goodness. Can Taylor ever succeed in Hollywood by staying a nice girl?

Although formulaic and silly, this is still a fun, enjoyable read. For better or worse, I love the name-dropping and descriptions of fashion. It's also fun to see how a movie studio works, even it's not too realistic. Or perhaps it is.

My Thoughts: I read the book description of this book and thought I would like it. I like to read about the Hollywood scene and it seemed like a fun book I'd enjoy. And boy was I right! We meet Taylor who comes from a small town to Hollywood. She just wants to make movies and succeed. She wants to enjoy what she is doing. She has had a penpal for years now, but he has never written her back! She keeps sending him postcards along the journey to Hollywood. She than realizes that Hollywood is just like High School, the snobby people sit with the snobby people, you have to be cool to fit in, etc. She turns to her boss's daughter for help. The daughter steps in and starts giving her lessons on how to make it work. One of the lessons is steal the mean girl's boyfriend. And she does. But things don't work out smoothly and Taylor learns a lot of lessons along the way. I would haved liked to see more of Kylie's boyfriend but he was in the book just "enough." I liked all the lessons, I liked all the characters (except Kylie of course). I especially liked her "pen pal" and the way that situation worked out. If you want to know more, go read the book! I highly recommend it!

Overall: Loved this book! It was so good. And entertaining. And right up my alley! Loved It!