Review: so much more than I imagined it would be
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 14, 2014
If you’re looking for a traditional, light read about a movie star romance, Star Attraction might not be for you. If you’re looking for a thought provoking and tender love story that will stay with you long after you’ve read the last page, then I highly recommend it.Star Attraction is about Madison and Jamie, a Sydney newspaper journalist and a Hollywood celebrity. Meeting through work commitments and despite less than promising circumstances, they’re mutually shocked to find themselves in the middle of one of those once-in-a-lifetime ‘conversations’ that to use Madison's words, could last fifty years. Despite their care-worn spirits, there’s an endearing innocence around Jamie and Madison, particularly when they’re together. Unfortunately, there’s also a collective villain in this story, one who might keep these two apart forever: it’s you and me, and everyone who plays a part, big or small, in fuelling the cult of celebrity.Star Attraction is one of those books that turns the spotlight back on our own society. Its focus is the almost universal and sometimes destructive fascination we have with fame and all of its trappings: power, wealth and the illusion of immortality. Reminiscent of writer Tom Wolfe and his ‘social x-ray’, no one escapes Ms Stubbs’ scrutiny: all-powerful talent agents, producers and newspaper editors sit at the top of her celebrity-feeding-frenzy food chain. Madison’s friend, Lucy, resides at the bottom of the chain, overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy as she obsesses over fame’s unattainable glamour. Somewhere in between we find Jamie and Madison, chosen by the powers-that-be to work up the cult of celebrity, only to find that they’re entrapped by it, their lives and more importantly, their souls, no longer their own.This is a bold, honest, gnarly, fabulous book, but it demands more from the reader than your regular romance/love story. Jamie is something of an anti-hero, eliciting emotional responses that swing between aversion, sympathy and admiration. The writing, too, will not suit everyone with its internal monologue style of narration. Nevertheless, I’m so glad I stayed with it. Towards the end, although they’d challenged me along the way, I was cheering for Madison and Jamie. I wanted these star-crossed lovers to finally slay their ‘celebrity beast’ so that they could be together and find the happiness they deserved. More importantly though, however things turned out for them, I wanted the integrity of this novel’s voice to remain intact until the end - I wasn’t disappointed.(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)