- ISBN13: 9780446697194
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Twenty-four-year old Taylor Henning has just landed her dream job as an assistant at a major movie studio. But when her catty coworkers trick her into almost getting fired, she realizes that the old saying “Hollywood is like school with money” just may be true. The thing is, Taylor wasn’t exactly a social butterfly in high school-how is she supposed to do any better the second time around?
That’s when she meets her boss’s popular sixteen-year-old daughter Qui… More >>
Hollywood Is like High School with Money
Tags: boss, coworkers, dream job, henning, High, Hollywood, like, Money, old taylor, remainder mark, School, second time, social butterfly
#1 by Alison on April 18, 2010 - 9:18 pm
Perfectly fitting in the fun-loving, somewhat thoughtless, chic lit genre and paired with our culture’s love of celebrity. It follows the typical formula: naive, midwestern girl hits the big city (L.A. this time), discovers that big-city girls are really mean and tough (Gossip Girl meets Hollywood), tries to beat them at their own game, eventually triumphs while staying true to her kind, somewhat innocent self.
Taylor Henning, a 24-year old from Cleveland, realizes her dream to get to Hollywood – she becomes an assistant to a big-time movie producer. She struggles to find her footing in this new world, especially with her back-stabbing fellow assistant. She wants to learn how to function in this world so she makes a deal with Quinn, her boss’s wise and somewhat evil 16-year old daughter, who gives her a set of designer clothes and tips on getting ahead in Hollywood. The tips and clothes work, Taylor skates ahead to success. But she does so taking risks and losing her basic goodness. Can Taylor ever succeed in Hollywood by staying a nice girl?
Although formulaic and silly, this is still a fun, enjoyable read. For better or worse, I love the name-dropping and descriptions of fashion. It’s also fun to see how a movie studio works, even it’s not too realistic. Or perhaps it is.
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by princess bookie on April 18, 2010 - 9:27 pm
My Thoughts: I read the book description of this book and thought I would like it. I like to read about the Hollywood scene and it seemed like a fun book I’d enjoy. And boy was I right! We meet Taylor who comes from a small town to Hollywood. She just wants to make movies and succeed. She wants to enjoy what she is doing. She has had a penpal for years now, but he has never written her back! She keeps sending him postcards along the journey to Hollywood. She than realizes that Hollywood is just like High School, the snobby people sit with the snobby people, you have to be cool to fit in, etc. She turns to her boss’s daughter for help. The daughter steps in and starts giving her lessons on how to make it work. One of the lessons is steal the mean girl’s boyfriend. And she does. But things don’t work out smoothly and Taylor learns a lot of lessons along the way. I would haved liked to see more of Kylie’s boyfriend but he was in the book just “enough.” I liked all the lessons, I liked all the characters (except Kylie of course). I especially liked her “pen pal” and the way that situation worked out. If you want to know more, go read the book! I highly recommend it!
Overall: Loved this book! It was so good. And entertaining. And right up my alley! Loved It!
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Readers Favorite on April 18, 2010 - 9:36 pm
Taylor Henning dreamed of working in the movies one way or another. She discovered right away that she could not act, She developed stage fright and seemed to stutter with any word that stared with an S. Then she thought she could be a director. Well that wouldn’t fly either. For some reason she had a hard time telling people what to do, and working an editing machine.. forget that idea. Finally she decided she could be an assistant and work behind the scenes.
Finally landing a job as the second assistant to Iris Whitaker, she moves from Connecticut to California, and ready to take on the movie scene by storm. But right off she kept putting her foot in her mouth. Then she meets the first assistant Kylie. Nothing like feeling a little put down and feel a little lower than the ground she walks on. Listening to Kylie almost causes Taylor to lose her job. Then she meets Quinn, her bosses daughter. Things are now changing, from a loser to a winner, from being pushed around to being a leader. Can this sixteen year old diva teach Taylor the ropes of the movie industry. Can she beat Kylie at her own game. As she is encouraged to steal Kylie’s boyfriend, she never expected to fall in love with him. Can she still keep her little mean streak she has developed but still to her own self be true.
This was a delightful, fast and enjoyable read. Taylor is the perfect example of what you would call the Low Man on the Totem Pole. But as Taylor turns the tables you can’t help but urge her on. If you love to read Chick Lit books then I recommend getting a copy of “Hollywood Is Like High School With Money.”
Rating: 4 / 5
#4 by D. Quinn on April 19, 2010 - 12:00 am
Obviously the premise of this book first struck me as a knockoff of The Devil Wears Prada. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to discover that this was not another tale of assistants putting up with impossibly awful bosses; rather, Taylor’s boss was not the problem – she’s the kind of classy lady you would want to work for – instead it was Taylor’s fellow assistant who turned out to be the complete psycho.
Taylor’s character wasn’t wildly appealing, but the story was funny, fast-paced and truly captured the lives of many assistants. I was interested, I wanted Taylor to prevail over her seemingly-insane roommate and her shallow judgemental co-workers – even when the story took some unrealistic turns, I was rooting for Taylor to win. I definitely recommend this book as a quick and fun summer read.
Rating: 3 / 5
#5 by www.bookshipper.blogspot.com/ on April 19, 2010 - 12:10 am
I am very happy that I have never been a fan of the “Hollywood” scene or that I never found myself “needing” to go Hollywood – because if I base myself on the novels I have been reading about Hollywood, this is NOT a place that I want to be.
In Hollywood is Like High School with Money, we discover that Taylor Henning has, unfortunately, been bitten by the mighty Hollywood bug as she finds herself in the lowest of all the positions (or is that security guard at the gate?). She is an assistant and she is desperately trying to move on up in that world. Enter some competition/potential BFF??? – especially Quinn who is loaded with advice, but is she giving it to help Taylor or destroy her?
This novel, which I thought was a fun and devilish read is loaded with true moments of what I would call some true Hollywood horror experiences and stories – as Taylor struggles to stand above it all, she finds herself caught in two worlds – that of her conscious and that of the real Hollywood scene. What does a sweet, innocent (but quickly becoming less innocent by the minute) girl do to get ahead? stick by her beliefs or become one of the backstabbers.
I loved that the author explores this issue in an honest and fortright manner – especially through the character of Quinn – which I pretty much hated for much of the book, but also thought was pretty true to the storyline.
This book made me want to scream at Taylor to run far away, but at the same time, I wanted to keep reading to get more “dish” on the whole scene.
One of those great beach read/end of summer books that you love to read.
Rating: 4 / 5