Book: The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale
Genre: Literary Fiction... Romance-ish
Rating: A-
I finally fit in this book that I've heard so much about. Some loved it, some not so much. I was anxious to know what my reaction would be.
First, the story. A Utah Mormon mom with four kids (sheesh, sound familiar?) goes to LA to close the deal with a screenplay she's written. What luck! She runs into her celebrity crush! And he hangs around, giving her a ride, taking her out to eat, etc. They hit it off and become best friends. So how does her husband handle it all? He tries to be understanding, but when things really get going, he starts feeling a little more weird about the whole thing. And so the conflict goes from there.
I don't know why, but some stuff made me a little squirmy. Maybe because the character was so familiar (except she was funny and outgoing, and I'm so... not.) But it did make me wonder, what would I do if my celebrity crush (any guesses who it would be?) suddenly became part of my life. Weird. I mean... really really weird. But fun to ponder anyway.
But weird or not, I totally enjoyed it. What a fun book, really. The character had some hard choices to make, and all was not fun and games, but it was interesting to see where it all lead.
Other Reviews:
Wasn't this a terrific book? I really enjoyed it, even though, yes, sometime I thought "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!" I could not guess where it was going to go.
ReplyDeleteI didnt like it for so many reasons. But mainly it made me too squirmy to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me I really need to read some Hale. It has been a while!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this one. I just let myself enjoy the ride and tried not to think too deeply about it. Having said that, I cried like a baby.
ReplyDeleteI just put this one toward the top of my TBR pile tonight. All the reviews and comments make me think I am missing out!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a really great book - and it must have been a little difficult (at least) to publish something so different from her other stuff. I thought she did it very well, even while some stuff made us a bit nervous. I thought the ending was awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think I felt much as you did about this one. On the one hand, I was caught up in the story and even managed to cry a little. But, in the end, it just didn't come together for me. There was some awkwardness there.
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