I found this book to be pretty disappointing. I absolutely loved her last novel, A Woman of Intelligence, and hope that this one would bring me in right away, but it felt very disjointed to me. The plot was not very clear. There was some interesting history about Hollywood, but the actually substance of the novel was just not very interesting to me. I hope the author's next novel will pull me in the way that A Woman of Intelligence did.

This novel was very well written and features an incredible cast of characters. Definitely a good novel for those looking for something to read on the beach, or who are fans of "Daisy Jones And The Six!" Although the novel has a slow start, it accelerates in the last 40% until you can barely put the book down!

The story allows us to learn along with our characters, how to stand in our own two feet as an individual rather than living in the reflected glow of someone else's fame. We see our characters at their worst, and their best in various moments, but they're growing and learning every moment.

I like how the writer uses the male character as a catalyst for all of our female characters. However, how they interact with each other in the smaller moments is where this story really sings. Great debut novel about a moment in time in LA, chasing dreams.

Have you missed Jackie Collins, but aren’t keen on her sexual content? Because Karin Tanabe seems to be channeling her to a degree – cutting her heady blend of sex, drugs and celebrity with a wry and witty Eve Babitzian/Marvelous Mrs. Maisel tone - with The Sunset Crowd. It’s the story of three women grappling their way to success in 1970s Hollywood. The end result is good old fashioned soapy fun, though it’s not stellar enough to garner a top grade.

Beatrice Dupont (yes, in the prose of the novel she is actually of the famous Dupont clan), our narrator, works as a photographer for several slick magazines and is described by another character as “Helmut Newton meets Henry Diltz. But with a vagina.” In spite of her active social life, Bea remains as single as can be, and is the lynchpin around which her small clique revolves. She’s also a rich girl from a snobby blue-blood New England family avoiding the demands of her mother to just get married already. Bea is indeed obsessed with one man – she has a long-term crush on her best friend and high school confidante, screenwriter Kai de la Faire, who happens to be dating another of her friends.
That friend happens to be Evra Scott. A true child of Hollywood, Evra was born and bred into the culture of celebrity but her true passion is fashion. She runs the popular store Sunset on Sunset and is squired around by Kai who is – you guessed it – secretly carrying around a torch for Bea.

The third member in this triumvirate is PA Theodora Leigh. She wants to become a producer and will do just about anything to achieve her goal. To do that she, too, mixes up with Kai and Evra, trying to convince them with her body that she’s the one to produce his latest script. Kai and Evra fall under Theodora’s spell, but Bea is not convinced. As the end of the 1970s play out and the 1980s loom, tensions build. Will Bea ever figure out her relationship with Kai? And will she figure out who Theodora really is?

It's rare that I think a book would benefit from more than one PoV, but The Sunset Crowd is hampered a bit by being told through Bea’s eyes exclusively. Maybe I would have liked Kai better if I’d gotten his perspective, or sympathized with Theodora more if I could understand her ambition through any conduit but dialogue translated to prose by the jealous Bea. What are Theodora and Evra getting up to out of her sight? We learn through gossip, but that only helps point up the book’s own superficiality.

Far too much of the novel is about everyone’s obsession with Kai, who is not interesting enough on his own to be anything but a pretty shell. He’s a hot screenwriter and a major cocaine fiend, but they claw over him like he’s Brad Pitt, and his moderate wit does not convince me of his attractiveness or brilliance. He and Bea use other people to avoid confessing to their shared attraction and it’s just annoying. Bea surfaces as the only really likable character, if only because Evra is underwritten.

The book veers between tones. We start with women’s fiction, fall into Babitzian tones of fond excess and Hollywood (Evra appears to be loosely based on Eve’s sister, Mirandi Babitz, a child of LA, former groupie and eventual addiction counselor who opened her own fashionable clothing store that was huge among rock stars) and somehow end up with a crime drama and revenge fantasy. There are trips abroad, booze, drugs, and rock and roll. It’s told with some élan, but it feels very erratic. The prose is airy and filled with namedrops (Pam Grier! Lauren Bacall! Dustin Hoffman!) and is best when it’s about Bea’s observations of her polyester-soaked world. When it tries to convince us of Bea and Kai’s love, it rings less true. The fact that the book takes way too long to get out of its muddle and start telling its story just added to my frustration.

This, naturally, isn’t really a love story – our star crossed pair barely touch, and by the end, it’s more of a let-go-and-live-life story. I wish The Sunset Crowd had spent more of its length embracing that attitude.

3.75
Bea DuPont, photographer, 1970s in LA with sex, drugs and rock n roll.
Slow paced in the beginning, but picked up in the middle. The best novel to showcase the fake it until you make it motto!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I've read a few of Tanabe's books before, so I know she's a gifted writer. I found myself immersed in the world of the mid to late 1970s when I was just born with Bea Dupont and her circle of friends in Los Angeles. Beatrice is from New York and the DuPont family. When she's 15, she's expelled from Spence and sent to boarding school in Switzerland. She befriends and crushes on a classmate, Kai De La Faire, who is Hawaiian and French. Another friend encourages her to try photography, so she ends up becoming a photographer, working with Rolling Stone, Vogue in the 1970s'. Bea is befriended by Evra Scott, whose parents are a famous actress and director duo. Evra has no interest in acting, so when she buys a clothing store on Sunset Boulevard, it becomes very successful because she sells both designer labels and very inexpensive fast fashion. Evra is in a relationship with Kai, who wrote the book and screenplay for a successful film. They're also friends with a runway model and her rock star lover.

When a new person enters their world, claiming to be an assistant at Paramount, things get interesting. Theodora Leigh is an enigma with talent for getting ahead in the gritty Hollywood world of the 1970's. But who exactly is she, and is she really who she says? While I enjoyed trying to figure it out, it wasn't a mystery, and the plot felt a little loosey-goosey. It wasn't until the end that as a reader, I had any sense where the book was going and for a tragic, somewhat French ending. There were references to famous people, from Susan Lucci to Carrie Fisher, who was doing a "space film"- in 1977 before anyone knew Star Wars would be such a big hit and eventual franchise that is very relevant today. We can see Bea still very much loves Kai, even though he is with her friend. The focus on this "Theodora Leigh" who catapults out of thin air to hob nob with Hollywood elites is somewhat of a flimsy plot, but I found myself immersed in the world that Tanabe created.

TW for drug use, anorexic disordered eating, and a mention of rape in the past.

4/5☆ out July 4, 2023.

This definitely started to fill the 70's rock and roll grime & grit hole that Daisy Jones and the Six left in my life but was ultimately unsatisfying in comparison.

"This place. This city. It's all one big con. Everyone is a grifter until they're not."

Growing up in California in the 1970s, I would go to my mom's friend's house and read her #Rona Barrett's Hollywood Magazines." I remember reading about Cher, Farrah Fawcett, Robert Redford, and all the other music and film stars at that time. It all seemed so glitzy and glamorous and also very hedonistic. So, after reading the blurb for "The Sunset Crowd," I thought the book would carry the same vibe. While it did, unfortunately, it brought along some characters with no redeeming value. But maybe that was the point of the book.

Bea Dupont, from "That Dupont family," is friends with Evra Scott, Hollywood royalty's daughter and the owner of L.A.'s hottest store. Evra is also the girlfriend of Kai de la Faire, a talented Hawaiian screenwriter who is one of Bea's oldest friends. In waltzes, Theodora Leigh appears at Evra's store at the right time. The story whisks us off around the town and then off to the French Riviera, where things get sticky and complicated. There were also quite a few more characters, but these are the main ones you need to keep track of.

It took a while to get into the story, and because I didn't care for any of the characters, it was hard for me to sink my teeth into it. However, I'm sure some will enjoy the book, and I think it would be a great way to pass the time at the beach or by the pool.

***Review will be posted to Instagram on 06/20/2023 to @read.rest.recharge.

To me, this book is perfect.

At first, I was drawn in by the magic of the setting, Hollywood in the 70s, the creativity of the characters, the access to royalty I was given through the pages.

But at it’s core it’s a story about growth and love. And while I’d never pretend to be as glamorous as Bea DuPont, her love story is one that I’ve lived- right down to the ending. I’ve never seen that story on a page, but here it is. It was cathartic for me to read, to feel my heart soften a little realizing maybe I’m not the only person on earth to know those feelings and get that ending.

I’ll never forget it.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

The Sunset Crowd is absolutely dripping with glamour, depicting the lives of the golden crowd in 1970s L.A.

Bea is a photographer who is part of a well known group that includes a daughter of Hollywood royalty (Evra), a screenwriter (Kai), a model, a rock star, and a girl who desperately wants to be part of the in crowd (Theodora). Theodora comes out of nowhere and quickly mesmerizes the town with her audacious moves and scantily clad body. The women are intrigued by her, the men want to be with her, and yet Bea isn't sure what to think of her.

This book is very much character driven, making it more of a slow burn. The plot revolves around the characters drinking and drugging their way around L.A, secrets coming out, and the aftermath of those secrets. The beginning read so slowly that I was worried I wouldn't be able to get into it, but things did pick up in the middle once Theodora started causing trouble.

The sole narrator here is Bea, and she is an interesting character. A well known photographer for magazines like Vogue and Rolling Stone, she is still insecure about her standing in the group and at times doesn't feel worthy of being there or being loved by them. She can be a flip flopper, worried about Theodora one minute then chasing after her and acting just like her the next. She could be tough to like at times, but I think we can all identify with that feeling of imposter syndrome from some point in our lives.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I tend to not read full synopsis’s I just pick out keywords which this one I locked onto location, professions and time period. The cover totally drew me in as well, setting the tone of a great summer read. I think this is 💯 a me problem because I was expecting something different. I did read and enjoyed what I could follow in the story. I love a ton of characters in a book for this one maybe a physical would have worked better for me as a reader. I did kindle and audio to try and get them down but wasn’t following along. What I really enjoyed from this was the history, the celeb name dropping the descriptions of settings and clothing.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61214141-the-sunset-crowd" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Sunset Crowd" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1667221692l/61214141._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61214141-the-sunset-crowd">The Sunset Crowd</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6459679.Karin_Tanabe">Karin Tanabe</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5168787067">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This is Los Angeles in the 70’s. We get a look inside the Hollywood crowd where parties, drugs, sex and alcohol are the norm. It is fun to take a peek at this sort of life, but it would not be for me. I would not sell myself for a little bit of fame.<br />I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/14352791-carol-dass">View all my reviews</a>

This book was a whirlwind, building into something oversaturated and indulgent and yet so difficult to look away from. It wasn’t what I expected, and though it took awhile to get going (about 25% in), I was pretty much hooked from there. It’s intensely character focused historical fiction, both very set in its era and not. After finishing, I think it tells you exactly what it’s going to be from the beginning, but you won’t realise until it’s all said and done. Despite the slow start, if this is your kind of thing (and maybe even if it isn’t), I would recommend it.

THE SUNSET CROWD is 70s LA glamour and glitz wrapped in intrigue and the very human people behind their specific scene. Though it indulges the Hollywood scene and its elements, it isn’t dominated by it. In all of its character-focused glory, the characters themselves could be insufferable, but through the eyes of the narrator they’re near impossible to look away from. It takes some time to pick up, exposition that takes a little too long and is much harder to appreciate when none of the details mean anything just yet. But once it gets going, it’s like an explosive disaster that’s hard to look away from.

What isn’t explicitly advertised but makes the book stand out to me was the elements of thriller and mystery, though not at the forefront of the story. There is a sense of unease throughout, and an ending that made my initial instincts feel that much sweeter. Though there isn’t much of a plot at play, the characters are so strong that it’s a plus instead of a minus.

Most of all, Tanabe’s writing was addictive, especially as someone who treasured every single art history reference throughout the book. At first, it feels a bit too much, as if the constant description of LA parties, drugs, and wealth, is just a glorified dream and nothing that I care about. And for the first part of reading it was, but the characters take hold and before you know it you’re reading the last chapter.

While there were some pitfalls to this book and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to everyone, I really enjoyed it with the caveat of knowing the first 25% was a bit slow. It’s drenched in sunshine and shade, and a narrator who I found myself in more than the women she admired. It’s messy, and yet so interesting because of, not in spite of it.

I struggled getting into it. It has Promise to be a good book. Set in LA in the 1970s, it's a time to let loose and party. Not a life I'm familiar with. Was entertaining at times but seemed to drag for the most part.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a book by an author that I have not read before, and I highly enjoyed it. The story was fast paced and kept me intrigued from start to end. The characters in this house, or multidimensional in the plot, was both well written, and moved at a good pace.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this review copy.

Fun book with a lot of detail, it was engaging

The Sunset Crowd is definitely different than what I normally read! Karin Tanabe is a great writer, you will love her writing in The Sunset Crowd!

I had a hard time getting into the book. I think the writing was amazing just wasn't something I could get into.

This book was slow and confusing in the beginning but oh did it take off after that…I loved the era and the characters.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this novel! Rich, strong female characters, and one lovely man, drive a tale of LA in the mid to late ‘70’s. Fashion, glamor and fame are where its at and sunset on Sunset is where to go to chase the dream. But at what price comes this fame? Is it worth it?
This is a perfect book club or beach read. Perfect for fans of City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert or anything by Fiona Davis.

I am so very sorry. This is a book that I just could not get into. Thank you for the opportunity though.