Karin Tanabe is one of my fave authors, so when I heard she was releasing a new novel set in 1970s Hollywood with scammer elements, my jaw hit the floor.

THE SUNSET CROWD follows a group of high-profile friends navigating 1970s Hollywood. Bea, a socialite who abandoned NYC for life as a photographer in LA, finds herself intertwined in the life and exploits of Evra Scott, the daughter of two Hollywood heavyweights who has eschewed stardom in order to open her own store. While Bea enjoys Evra, she also keeps her close for selfish reasons: Evra is dating Kai, who Bea has always harbored a not-so-secret crush on since their days at a Swiss boarding school. When the group meets Theodora Leigh, their lives are turned upside down. Theodora is ruthlessly ambitious, and will stop at nothing to achieve the stardom she’s always longed for.

I largely enjoyed my experience reading this book, but I think it suffered from a bit too much in the way of telling and not showing. I’d expect a novel set in the lush world of 1970s Hollywood to be full of details about the clothes, the parties, the pop culture and big names that defined the period. While Tanabe crushed it in that aspect, a lot of the actual plot points feel like they were relayed to us after the fact. I often feel this way with historical fiction — there’s so much pressure to adequately and accurately set the scene that a lot of the actual storytelling can fall to the wayside.

That’s not to say that the entire book was bogged down in this. Once I got about a third of the way through, I think the pacing ramped up. While most of the characters aren’t particularly likable, I thought they were well-developed and pretty compelling. Elements of this almost felt Gatsby-esque, which I really liked!

All in all, not my favorite of Tanabe’s work, but still a good summer read.

If you’re interested in the elite and famous this was an incredible behind the scenes story that showcases all the drama, love, loss, ambition, money and familial relations.

A great pick for summer or a book club, just wasn’t 100% my style.

Not actually what I thought 'The Sunset Crowd ' would be. Yes, there was the '70's vibe of sex, love and rock and roll. The characters were good, even though some of them, I'm not sure why they were in it, they didn't add anything to the book to me. When one character entered the book, after a very short while, I pretty much knew what would happen. It became a little bit predictable too me. I didn't expect some stuff and that had upped my rating. Then by the end, I was expecting something more from a couple characters, but it didn't happen, which lowered my rating back to 3⭐ . It ended up being a very light 3 for me.

Published July 4, 2023

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 😊

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Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Set in 70s LA, I loved this look at the cutthroat struggle for fame and money. Great characters involved in the party scene and reaching the Cannes Film Festival. Good read.

I love novels that put me in a place that I am not familiar with. It always makes me wonder if that is (or was) how it really is. The Sunset Crowd is firmly set in Hollywood in the 1970s. I have no clue what Hollywood was like then, barely have a clue what it’s like now.

I found the characters interesting, possibly a little stereotypical. Everyone is out to get somewhere, to be someone. I liked the glimpse of what goes into getting a film made, though Theodore waltzing in and just magically having everyone fall all over her and her film was one of the parts that I questioned.

My favorite character was Evra, I loved the idea of her store Sunset on Sunset, where everything is curated to be just so.

There is plenty of drama, lots of lies, some love stories. Pretty much everything you could want in a fun summer read!

I had high hopes for this book. There’s a lot of people in this book to keep track of. Overall I found this book to be rather boring
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

This book is definitely for the fans of Daisy Jones Evelyn hugo and Malibu rising. this is the story of the Hollywood crowd in the 70s, but the perspective of people just on the outskirts of the stars. When a mysterious woman joins their group. Can anyone figure out who she really is and what her motives are?

The book was a little slow to start, and the side characters can be a little difficult to keep up with, but it definitely hooks you in and ties up at the end to be a good read.

I so enjoyed this book! I did feel it was a little long towards the end, but I think that might have been a personal opinion as I tried to rush to finish before the publish date.

This book gives perfect summer vibes, particularly if you’re into rich people drama, the movie starlight scene, and the forever queen Taylor Jenkins Reid. The use of multiple POVs made this book that much more intriguing and it gave a good flow to keep you gripped to the story, even though it wasn’t hugely plot driven.

A 1970’s brat pack of sorts, each a bit different but also sharing many similarities of finding fame and relevance in each other which makes the backbone of the Sunset Crowd. Amidst the egos and golden Hollywood veneer lies secrets, womanizing, mystery and perhaps murder, and the Sunset crowd is entrenched in it all.
A glamorously human story of a time and place where dreams are built and come to die, and where people can carve an actual life for themselves. Great read!

Thank you MacMillan audio and St Martin's Press for the copies of The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe.
Tanabe effectively captures a mood and writes stylishly about scenes and details nicely, creating an effective visual and feeling about the 70s, Sunset on Sunset, and the mood/vibe of the time. The audiobook is nicely narrated and I enjoyed how Sarah Mollo-Christensen paced the story and captured the mood and style of Tanabe's book.

Despite my appreciation for the stylized writing and the nicely produced audiobook, I can't quite say this was a win for me. I found it hard to get into the story, there was a lot of for me disjointed set up of background and characters and it was hard to follow who was who for a bit and it felt like despite the vidid writing that... not much was going on until later in the book and for me, that was too late for me to get into the story. A lot of the story felt a bit too predictable for me as well. Some of my less than enthusiastic response might be that because of travel and life stuff I had to put the book down a bit and this might be one best read/listened to "all at once" or least over less time than I was able to give to it. So pick it up when you can spend time getting into the story!

This though will work for a lot of people, it's a great light summer read and it does a nice job of just absorbing a reader into a time and setting. 3.5 stars for the writing and also a nicely narrated audiobook.

Experience the intoxicating world of Evra Scott, LA's style queen and daughter of Hollywood legends, and Theodora Leigh, a determined Paramount assistant aiming to break through Hollywood's sexist barriers. Bea Dupont, a photographer and outsider in this glamorous realm, harbors a secret flame for Kai, Evra's love interest. Karin Tanabe's "The Sunset Crowd" takes readers on a journey from Rodeo Drive to the French Riviera, exploring the survival, reinvention, and glittering allure of success in Hollywood. Amidst complex friendships and betrayals, this character-driven novel poses the question of who truly achieves the American dream. A glamorous atmosphere, relatable dynamics, and a captivating ending make this a compelling read for those enthralled by ambition and the illusions of the entertainment industry.

This took me a minute to get into. All these rich and fabulous characters just loving life as Hollywood royalty, it's not exactly relatable. And for a while it felt like it was mostly a description of these fabulous people just being fabulous. But once it got into the heart of the story, the writing really hooked me and I couldn't put it down.
*
The main character, Bea, is a photographer, and that helped to start to feel connected. While she's certainly a part of this crowd, she's slightly more of an outsider, and watching her one chance with her teenage crush slip away.
*
I really got into the dynamics of all the relationships. Every character was so unique, which meant that every relationship had a different drama, a different insecurity, a different way they could each tear each other down, and in some ways it was exactly the type of backstabbing I'd expect in Hollywood, but in other ways these were some very real friendships.
*
This is really great if you're looking for a glam atmosphere and great character-driven writing.

While I have read several of Karin Tanabe’s novels and enjoyed them all, The Sunset Crowd was a bit of a let down. The story takes place in 1970’s Hollywood, filled with never ending parties, drugs and fashion. Evra, the owner of a popular store, Kai, a screenwriter with one hit movie to his credit, and Bea, a photographer, form the Sunset Crowd. Evra welcomes Theodora, a production assistant, into their group. Bea is the voice of reason who begins to question Theodora’s ambitions and actions, but even she accepts her and does nothing to call attention to them. It was difficult to connect with any of these characters. The story is slow to develop and the plot is fairly thin. Then they all take off for Cannes and the film festival and the story begins to take off. The lies are exposed, the relationships fracture and not everyone survives. It is the final third of the story that makes this worth reading. While the beginning is slow, Tanabe ratchets up the tension at the end with twist after twist, leading to an ending that is heartbreaking. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book for my review.

This wasn't what I wanted it to be! I wish I hadn’t read the comparison to Daisy Jones because that colored my view.

Set in 1970s Los Angeles, our story centers around high end clothing store Sunset on Sunset, helmed by Evra Scott, the daughter of an Oscar-winning director and a Brazilian actress. Evra is flanked by Kai de la Faire, Hawaiian screenwriter, and various other Hollywood-adjacent players. Observing it all as our narrator is Bea DuPont, well-liked photographer from New York who has held a flame for Kai since they were boarding school teenagers. Enter Theodora Leigh, who will shake up their crew with her unrelenting ambition. For fans of Daisy Jones, the 70s, and the rich and fabulous. While this felt light on plot at some times I think it would be more fair to call it a slow burn, and it packed in an unexpected twist or two for those of you looking to be surprised.

The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe
Published: July 4, 2023
St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Friendship Fiction
Pages: 327
KKECReads Rating: 3/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Karin Tanabe is a fiction writer and former Politico reporter whose writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and The Washington Post among many other publications. Before turning to fiction, Karin worked as a journalist covering politics and lifestyle. She has made frequent appearances on Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition and CNN. A graduate of Vassar College, she lives in Washington D.C.

“It, and I, were waiting.”

Hollywood in the 1970s was full of glamour, opportunity, and parties. Especially if you were young, connected, and beautiful. Bea is a photographer who finds herself among the most desirable group of the Hollywood elite, from raging parties fueled with drugs to exclusive events filled with celebrities to secrets and drama.

This book took me longer to get through than I would have preferred. It was a slow burn, and nothing happened. But a lot happened with the characters. I didn’t enjoy the characters or their shallow struggles.

There were a lot of people to follow in this book, and several were not necessary. I found the insecurity of all of the characters a bit exhausting. I was not enamored with the partying and name-dropping.

I understand what the author tried to do, but everything became repetitive and tedious. The pacing stayed very static, and despite the characters all claiming to be going through the worst drama of their lives, I was bored.

The writing felt wordy, the dialogue was awkward, and the character development lacked. Maybe having other narrators would have helped the story move along. Overall, I did not connect with this story.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for making this title available to read now on NetGalley!

This book was a 3.75 rounded up to 4 for me personally. The Sunset Crowd will not be a book for everybody, especially if rich Hollywood people doing rich Hollywood people things with minimal critique is not your cup of tea (also CW for lots of drugs). But for me, this book read as if The Great Gatsby was placed in 1970s party culture in terms of how fully realized each character was and how they relate to each other. This is a story of striving, and I felt that viscerally throughout.

Congrats to Karin Tanabe for being able to write historical fiction across eras, ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5!

this was… trying to do too many things and I didn’t vibe with it. is this a character study? a heist story? a mystery? it certainly tried to be all 3 of them but I don’t think it did any of them well. I cared more about the story after the 50% mark, but until then I didn’t look forward to picking this story up. I didn’t connect with any of these characters and some of the events seemed like they came totally out of left field ??? I think the vibes ARE there if you’re interested in rich people stories and/or are familiar with famous figures and the hollywood lifestyle kind of thing.

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc

Reminiscent of Daisy Jones and the Six (1970's California). The story starts off slow but quickly becomes propelled by celebrity drama. Perfect summer read. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy,