The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements, Onjuli Datta is a perfect fit for readers who crave a lighthearted, emotional, and swoon-worthy romance that explores the complexities of being a woman of color in Hollywood, with a dash of fake dating and celebrity glamour, making it a must-read for fans of romantic comedies and stories about self-discovery.

While I was initially excited to read The View Was Exhausting, given the premise, I just don't think this book was for me. I felt like the story could have been good but Clements wrote it from a distance to the point where the characters become detached and two-dimensional, making it harder for readers like myself to ultimately care about the characters themselves. The entire story fell a bit flat and was pretty uninteresting.

eARC was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange of an honest review.

Despite this taking me a while to read, I really liked this book. It was wholly different from what I'm usually into, but nevertheless, I was hooked. The writing was electric and the characters made it all the more outstanding. I never understood what critics meant by "sharp" to describe a book before, but now I do. This was sharp and witty and enticing. The life of the rich and famous is always fun and games until you get to the root of their problems and boy is the drama amazing. Win and Leo have my absolute heart and I loved their journey back to each other in this book. While it touches on a lot of topics, I'm not the right type of reader to really talk about it but I appreciated the conversations they brought up regardless.

DNF 40%
As much as i wanted to enjoy this one I didn't care for the characters or their problems. all the glamour none of the fun

This book is a great romance to take to the beach - it's absolutely sizzling and the tension between Win and Leo will keep you on the edge of the chair. These two have been fake-dating for years in order to diffuse scandals that could have ruined Win's acting career and the reputation of Leo's family. Even though they have been curious once or twice about whether there could be more between them, Win insisted on keeping it professional. But even her practical sense starts to crumble as they kiss on glamorous yachts, have photoshoots together, and become a bit too familiar with each other's families.
The fact that this book had a slow-burn romance and my favorite trope (fake dating) in it made it a winner from the very beginning.

I am easily sold on books – it turns out. You see, I went to the Forever/GCP Open House via Crowdcast and one of the books discussed was The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta. With how this book was presented, I just knew I had to read it. It sounded like it would be this amazing read. Turns out maybe it would have been amazing if I was still in my 20s or just in another season of my life. But for the me right now? This book just wasn’t it.

Whitman “Winn” Tagore is the star of The View Was Exhausting. This book follows her as she deals with a blow to her reputation. You see, Winn has been fake dating Leo who is a society party boy. Word gets out that it was fake and Winn loses out on movie auditions. Some of her famous friends drop her. Also her mom is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Winn’s childhood best friend is getting married to Leo’s best friend. Also, things are getting awkward for Winn.

When it comes to things that I liked about Clements and Datta’s book, I felt like the portrayal of Winn as a British-Indian woman in Hollywood was really interesting. She was portrayed as a woman who had to be on top of reputation and be a master of her craft. Due to racism in the industry she has to be better than everyone else just to be given a chance. So, I wish that part had been explored a little more in depth.

Anyways, I ended up feeling like the pacing of this book was really slow. I wanted a read that kept my attention and this was not it. Also, I just wasn’t really feeling the romance aspect — there was a lack of chemistry for me. I felt like Winn was using Leo and her realizations were too little too late.

TYSM to NetGalley for my copy of this book.

Wow, what an incredible novel. As the year begins to come to a close, I can confidently say that this one will end up in my top ten reads of 2021. The story itself was incredibly interesting, however, it was the writing and the characters that pulled me in and captivated me almost instantly. I wasn't able to put this one down, constantly thinking about both Leo and Whitman and what trouble the two were going to manage to get into next.

Actress Win Tagore and Leo Milanowski are the “It” couple and tabloid darlings. But what the public doesn’t know, their relationship is all fake and is really just a business deal to help with publicity. But when a secret about Leo comes out, it puts everything in jeopardy and makes them confront the truth.

This book was one I wanted to love but struggled to get into. I loved the exotic settings, and there were many things I enjoyed about Win and Leo as a couple, but for some reason this one fell flat for me. I usually love Hollywood behind the scenes and fake dating stories, so I’m not quite sure why this one didn’t capture my interest.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the gifted copy!

This book is smart, sexy and not as cheesy as the typical fake relationship trope usually implies. I loved Win's character. She is a bright, powerful British Indian actress/feminist who is controlling her own narrative in a town that often wants to control it for you. This is a contemporary romance at its finest with realistic elements about the real life pressures of living in the spotlight.
Although predictable (most romance novels are because we love those happy endings), we enjoyed the dynamic between Win and Leo. Their attraction to one another is evident, their banter is fun, their arguments are raw, and their sexual chemistry is fire!
I ate this book up even faster than the press ate up Win & Leo's fake relationship. If you are looking for a glamourous and witty modern love story, get this book now!
Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a great rom com! I tore through this in just a couple days, I loved the characters and the tension. Extra kudos to the two authors, whose styles and voices came together beautifully and subtly. This would make a perfect beach read for any fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid!

Thank you to @grandcentralpub, the authors, and @NetGalley for the gifted copy of The View Was Exhausting! All opinions in this review are my own.

Whitman "Win" Tagore is a famous Hollywood actress so when her ex-boyfriend starts slandering her reputation, damage control is needed to save her public persona. Luckily, Win has Leo to rely on. The public goes crazy whenever Win and Leo hint at a relationship together so Leo is always there to help Win spin things in a positive way. Despite being perceived as passionately in love, Leo and Win are good friends. However, what happens when all of the pretending leads to real feelings?

The View Was Exhausting was such a fantastic summer romance! Despite the celebrity glamor and gorgeous settings, Win does not have it all together. There are some heavier topics dealt with like Win still grieving the loss of her father, struggling to find her place in Hollywood when it is not kind to people like her, and struggling with the recent diagnosis of her mother. There is real friendship between her and Leo even with the bumps in their story.

Read if you want to pretend you are also on a yacht in the south of France!

When I first heard about The View Was Exhausting I was immediately intrigued. Celebrity gossip, WOC heroine who's a famous actress, and exotic locales? Sign me up. Authors Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta have written a novel that is engaging, smart, and thought provoking that avoids veering into frothy, gossip rag territory. It was a win in my books.

Here's the book's description:
Faking a love story is a whole lot easier than being in love . . .
The world can see that international A-list actress Whitman ("Win") Tagore and jet-setting playboy Leo Milanowski are made for each other. Their kisses start Twitter trends and their fights break the internet. From red carpet appearances to Met Gala mishaps, their on-again, off-again romance has titillated the public and the press for almost a decade. But it's all a lie.
As a woman of color, Win knows the Hollywood deck is stacked against her, so she's perfected the art of controlling her public persona. Whenever she nears scandal, she calls in Leo, with his endearingly reckless attitude, for a staged date. Each public display of affection shifts the headlines back in Win's favor, and Leo uses the good press to draw attention away from his dysfunctional family.
Pretending to be in a passionate romance is one thing, but Win knows that a real relationship would lead to nothing but trouble. So instead they settle for friendship, with a side of sky-rocketing chemistry. Except this time, on the French Riviera, something is off. A shocking secret in Leo's past sets Win's personal and professional lives on a catastrophic collision course. Behind the scenes of their yacht-trips and PDA, the world's favorite couple is at each other's throats. Now they must finally confront the many truths and lies of their relationship, and Win is forced to consider what is more important: a rising career, or a risky shot at real love?

It sure sounds like it would be a novel that could be all flash and no substance. But it's not. Clements and Datta (a wife-and-wife team) shine a light on all that is toxic about celebrity culture. For better or worse, Win is being run by a publicity machine and, the way she sees it, she has no choice but to go along with it. She can't be too loud or too opinionated or too pure or too loose. Not as a woman in Hollywood and especially not as an British Asian actress. I don't know what it's like to be an actress or a woman of colour but I do know what it's like to be a woman and could imagine, at least a little, the struggles Win was facing.

I can't quite put my finger on why I couldn't bump up my rating to a 4 star. This is a solid 3.5 star read for me and I definitely recommend reading it. But something is preventing me from all out raving about it. Part of it could be that I wanted to like Win more. She's not unlikeable but she is so caught up in managing her appearance that she hasn't thought about actual relationships and how the few people in her orbit feel about having to deal with such a particular way of life. She's referred to as "cold" a couple of times and part of what makes her a great character to read is that she's not, really, cold. She's really layered and she's struggling with her image and who she really is. Life is hard and it's easier to give into what's, well, easy and that, for Win, is putting on a persona instead of dealing with anything. I guess I didn't really like that some people in her life were being used as pawns in her life and, while I came around in the end, I still wondered what was real and what was an act.

The writing in this one is smooth and I never felt like I was reading something written by two authors. The only blip I had that kind of annoyed me was halfway-ish through when we went back in time to see what Leo was up to before The Secret happened. It made sense from a story perspective - we needed to know what actually happened - but it threw off the flow for me. Other than that, though, the story ticked along at a good pace even with all the location changes and time jumps (a couple of weeks or so) in between.

I hesitate calling The View Was Exhausting "fun" because there were so many important topics authors Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta weave into this Hollywood story that kept it from being a mindless read. It is entertaining and it's funny but it's also smart and observant. If you're intrigued, you should definitely pick it up this summer.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, HBG Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

I enjoyed this debut romance featuring a fake dating trope. Especially enjoyed this as a summer beach read (and I've been leaning in to this type of book during the pandemic).

This was a major cover buy for me! The cover is one of the best of the year, but unfortunately for me, I couldn't get into the story. It seemed like it has everything I love: exotic locale, fake romance, a look inside the lifestyles of the rich and famous.. but even with all of that, I got bored. It felt like a lot more dialogue than I needed. Win frustrated me pretty much throughout the entire book, but I did enjoy Leo. I did love that they brought dialogue about what it means to be a woman of color in the media today- I guess I just wanted more of that!

This book was STUNNING! Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid are sure to love this Hollywood love story following Bristish-Indian actress Whitman Tagore's journey of being a woman of color in the industry, as well as her torrid fake romance with Leo Milanowski.

Whitman Tagore is seen as a control freak by those who know her best. And perhaps she is, however she *has* to be, because one crinkle in her public reputation may very well lead to the end of her career. Set in our modern universe, Hollywood has a gross lack of Desi actresses, and Win can't risk her fragile place among Hollywood royalty.

Enter Leo Milanowski.

Anytime Whitman's public reputation needs tweaking or fixing, Leo swoops in to publicly woo her. This decade-long on again/off again public romance has ensnared the press and public back to her good side. In reality, Win and Leo have settled on being good friends. But When Leo reveals a secret that could change everything, Win must re-evaluate his role in her life, and work to find ways of managing her reputation on her own; however is this fight worth giving up her shot at true love?

The way the authors write Whitman with such complexities, intricacies, development, and care really makes this book shine. Whitman is such a 3-dimensional, multi-faceted character in a way that I rarely see women being written, which I adored about this novel. Whitman's relationship to Leo is written with *such* strong chemistry; you will fully believe in their love for each other!! I was constantly rooting for them, even when I wasn't, which made this relationship /so/ special.

I strongly, strongly recommend this book to anybody who likes reading about famous people, realistic Hollywood pairings, and dynamic representations of race and feminism, particularly amongst Hollywood.

I loved this book! It is about a romance but so much more. Whitman and Leo have been fake dating for the paparazzi and fans for many years. Whenever Win (an actress) needs to look like she is happy and in love she calls on playboy Leo to help her out. In the beginning it is just fun but as time goes on they develop deeper feelings for each other. Win is completely about her career and her public persona. Being a woman of colour in Hollywood is not something easy to navigate when you want to be at the top. Win is solely focused on her career and lets the rest of her life pass by until she starts to have second thoughts. This book was one I couldn’t put down. Both of the main characters were compelling with their charms and their flaws. This story really intrigued me and I loved the writing. This is another one I’m recommending for your TBR.

The View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements & Onjuli Datta is a total delight to read. Cue the opening credits, pick up a glass of champs and get ready to escape into Win's world.

Whitmore Tagore, aka Win, is an international actress who constantly struggles with her image. She's "too good," " too cold-" always too much or not enough. To help "fix" her image, she makes an agreement with bad boy socialite Leo Milanowsk to pretend to date whenever they need to control the media narrative. But it's not easy to pretend to be in love without catching feelings along the way...

When I had to put the book down because #life, I was constantly thinking about the next time I could pick it up and get back into the story. This books brings so much to the table. You have your glamorous settings and characters, your fake dating romance with all the tension and build up. You also have a story about how hard it is for Win, as a British Indian woman to make it in Hollywood and how much harder she has to work to maintain a perfect image, You have a story about privilege, wealth, culture, friendship, family and finding yourself.

Highly recommend this book and can't wait to see what this writing duo does next! Congratulations on an amazing debut.

Thank you to Grand Central, Hachette Book Group Canada & Netgalley for the e-arc to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

I really liked this book. It was exactly the kind of summer read I wanted. Win and Leo were both interesting characters and I really liked them together. The insight into Win and how she had to deal with everything and why she tried to always be perfect was really good and made me understand her and her actions a lot better, even though I did get annoyed with both characters at times.

I was very excited to get what I expected to be a potentially complicated love story with exotic, ritzy locations. However, what this ended up being for me was a mediocre love story with surface level characters and barely any glitz and glamour descriptions of the locations. I like the characters well enough but don't feel that the authors gave us much substance from either of them. And the amount of dialogue was too much which I rarely say but by the midway point I realized they were always talking but nothing was happening. This is definitely a case for me of there needs to be some plot and setting to go with all the talk.

I absolutely LOVED this book, which is so smart and sharply observed and sexy--in addition to being incredibly well-written--that I can't wait to see what the authors do next. For now, I'll just say that THE VIEW WAS EXHAUSTING is one of my favorite books of the year so far, and one of the best romances I've read in several years, so do not miss this fantastic debut novel (especially if you like a good Hollywood/celebrity fake dating and friends to lovers story! Or actually more like friends to lovers to friends to lovers, but whatever... just read it.)