Reviews

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

moxiemills's review against another edition

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1.0

this was undoubtedly one of the worst books i have ever read. this book makes wattpad fanfics written by twelve year olds look like pulitzer prize winners. there was no consistent plot, no character integrity, and no enjoyable storylines. i truly cannot believe this was published. wow.

emily2348's review against another edition

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5.0

just absolutely nuts i could not put it down! amazing commentary on how women in the show industry are treated, how men treat women and the detrimental impact of a woman purely being seen as a “sex symbol”. the characters were messy women who all just wanted to be seen and loved. the males all need to be lined up and shot though… i couldn’t stop thinking about so many actresses in post-war usa, how the industry and men contributed to their deaths may they rest in peace.

miadesiree's review against another edition

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4.0

Valley of the Dolls gave me Evelyn Hugo and City of Girls vibes. At least in the beginning half of the novel, things get much darker after that. I can’t believe this was written in the 60s, definitely was ahead of its time.

chingonareads's review against another edition

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4.5

My bookshelf will always be a safe space for messy, haunted and off-putting women. 

trinitymae's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

xiuyichoe's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

larsenc23's review against another edition

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4.0

The back cover says "At a time when women were destined to become housewives, Jacqueline Susann let us dream." so I thought this would be about truly independent women and felt a little bait-and-switched. Each one of the women leads at some point mentions they dream of finding the one, settling down and having babies; and it's largely the dominating theme throughout. p. 427 "I have to find a guy -- then I'll get thin and love myself."

That said, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Susann is a decent writer with great flow, despite some of the plot points being predictable. I really wanted more for the Anne character and found myself physically cringing at the choices she makes nearly the entire book. Both Anne and Neely were fairly predictable. Jennifer was fantastically written. Grass is always greener is a common theme. Breadcrumbs are a little too heavy and spoil plot points. There were still a handful of surprises.

Really interesting to read some common themes for the generation that raised the baby boomers. Reminded me a lot of the TV show Mad Men. Thought it was funny that when pregnancies are revealed there is usually that character taking a drink within the next couple paragraphs, explains many of the baby boomers.

jessroan's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

omg I loved this book so very much, one of my new favourites!!!

julesmarie22's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

this started out very slow but picked up when the drama really set in. i will say since it's not a happy ending it really just pissed me off. the good characters got no happy ending and the awful characters got whatever they wanted. i honestly hated most of them. but this felt like a great critique of Hollywood and life then. I imagine this was pretty groundbreaking in the 60s as well. i wanted to enjoy it more but honestly it pissed me off. Helen, Neely, and Lyon are absolutely terrible people and i wish them nothing but the worst 

onekat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0