Holly Madison

I loved the series "The Girls Next Door" and watched all episodes when it was on Bravo in the 2000's.
One of the first Kindle books I purchased was [b:Bunny Tales|58925|Bunny Tales|Izabella St. James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388242068s/58925.jpg|57372] and having read that I wanted to see what Holly had to say. I must preface this by saying I lived in Los Angeles and have been to the Playboy mansion in the past for outside events, as well as having known a couple of the "girlfriends" over the years. So, it was easy to follow the events in this book.

That being said:

It felt like it was very, very easy to read in that it could have been written by someone in high school. The grammar, style and mechanics were textbook. The story was pretty much what I expected, but I did enjoy it. A pretty easy read, nothing too heavy. If you get it for free, it's probably a good poolside summer read. I also just listened to the Audible copy in my car.… (meer)

I'm reading this in October, the month I typically reserve for nothing but horror reading. But I feel like this sort of fits the theme; it's just a different kind of horrifying.

I never really watched The Girls Next Door, I didn't read this book because I want an inside look at Hugh Hefner's bedroom escapades (gross), and I really don't care about knowing anything of the inner workings of the "famous for fame's sake" world. I was really drawn to this book when I read a preview of it, and the voice of the narrator (and writer) sounded so sad and vulnerable and sincere when she described how she would end it all. Oh, and intelligent. That made me sit right up and re-think how I had judged this person in light of how she became famous.

The book pretty much lives up to all of that. I never expected the prose to be beautiful or poetic. It feels honest. Although, there seems to be a certain amount of branding to it that, every so often, creeps over the genuine line. The details are salacious, but, to me at least, the book manages to avoid that sticky, tabloid tell-all feel. I would have liked a bit more self-reflection. There's some, but it's really just a story of her time being with/escaping from Hefner with a little bit of feminist hell-yeahing at the end. There is vulnerability, but only in a retrospective and sort of superficial way. Hefner is never called out as being abusive (except maybe once), manipulating, yes, and the implication is definitely there. But flat out abusive, no.

Overall, it was an interesting read (obviously, I read it in one day). And I'm glad to have my preconceived notions that Hugh Hefner is sad, lame human being confirmed.… (meer)