“Never judge a book by its cover.” Agreed. But sometimes it just can’t be helped. When I was asked if I wanted to review City of Toys I agreed. The blurb sounded interesting but the front cover didn’t leave me expecting much. Boy, was I wrong!
City of Toys by Lindy S. Hudis is set in Hollywood and tells the story of four young women as they try to make it as actresses. Living in a less than desirable apartment complex in Los Angeles, the four soon become friends and support each other through many lows with few highs.
Hudis knows exactly what she is talking about when it comes to Hollywood. She and her husband, a Hollywood stuntman, have their own production company called Impact Motion Pictures and have several projects and screenplays in development. Her experience in the industry really gives readers a deep insight into its darker side, something which is often sugar-coated in other books. City of Toys immediately opens with a suicide, so us readers know exactly what we are in for.
The character development in this book is fantastic. Each of the four girls, Rhonda, Marlo, Kim and Guyla, are completely different and each brings examples of the many different paths an aspiring Hollywood actress can take. Their current story is intertwined with flashbacks of their past. This information really helps the reader to understand why each of the girls is as they are today. However, it doesn’t (at least in my case) force us to soften toward them and we can judge, support, etc. from an objective standpoint.
However dark each of the four stories may be, there is a brighter, underlying theme which comes to the surface and is what ultimately sticks at the end: stay true to yourself. know that not everything in City of Toys is doom and gloom.
Overall, I really have nothing bad to say. I truly enjoyed every single page of this book. I am looking forward to reading more of Hudis’ work and, if you are reading this Lindy, I would love you to write something similar based on the struggles men have breaking Hollywood.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Joyful Antidotes 