I was so excited for this book based on the premise, but unfortunately, it didn’t meet my expectations. I thought there would be more gossip and intrigue, but the plot felt flat for me. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

An amusing look at life for film actresses during “campaign season”. The story follows 5-6 actresses who are up for an award (presumably the Oscar) over the course of several weeks. The narrative switches between their points of view, and unfortunately, the timeline jumps around a bit. Consequently, the narrative feels a bit cluttered and it is sometimes difficult to keep track of the action. The action is limited, however, most of what happens takes place in the actress’s heads. They are all unreliable narrators, and a lot of time is spent on individual thoughts and feelings; consequently, the story takes forever to move forward. Despite these shortcomings, the story is well-written, the characters distinct, and I enjoyed feeling like an “insider”. Most of us have no idea what it is like to be nominated for an Oscar, this novel gives you an opportunity to see what it might be like. Recommend.

Daniel D'Addario's debut novel "The Talent" offers an insider's look at the cutthroat world of Hollywood's awards season, following five actresses competing for the Best Actress Oscar. The book provides an authentic behind-the-scenes perspective from a Variety chief correspondent, compelling audiences with its exploration of fame's pressures and the intricate machinery of Hollywood campaigns.

While the novel attempts to deconstruct the glamorous facade of Hollywood, revealing the complex personal struggles behind the red carpet, it struggles with narrative cohesion. The character voices sometimes blend together, and the pacing becomes uneven, with character development feeling inconsistent across the multiple perspectives of the nominated actresses.

D'Addario navigates the internal politics of awards season with insider knowledge, presenting nuanced archetypes including the child star, perennial nominee, and newcomer. However, the narrative can feel intentionally opaque, with moments that seem to deliberately withhold information from the reader, creating frustration rather than intrigue.

Despite its flaws, "The Talent" remains an intriguing glimpse into the high-stakes world of Hollywood recognition. Recommended for film industry enthusiasts and awards season followers, the novel earns 3.5 out of 5 stars. It may not be a perfect debut, but it offers a fascinating, if uneven, exploration of the psychological landscape of celebrity and the intense competition for recognition.

I really wanted to like the book more than I did, since it’s all about Hollywood and I love behind the scenes stuff from Hollywood. This though didn’t give me what I really wanted. I liked the set up and I liked getting to jump from women to women, but I feel like I never got to know any of the women well enough to really know how I felt about them. And not that it matters but I did not like who eventually won, although I’m glad there was an actual winner

I couldn't put this novel down. The Talent follows the five actresses nominated for the year's Oscar race as they launch their campaigns to win. Each is dealing with different issues--from the eternal loser to the constant winner, the new woman on the scene, the former child star, and the theater actress. The internal politics involved were fascinating--people who enjoy royal court or political dramas will enjoy this book. The one character who didn't quite land for me was Davinia--she seemed to be perceived completely different from her pov chapters, and to do things that didn't quite seem in character. I also didn't love the ending, aka the person who won the category, but I imagine that outcome will land different for different people, depending on whom they are rooting for. Overall, a great read, especially at this time of year.

I've loved award shows my entire life. The red carpet, the silly interviews, the beautiful dresses... everything a little nerd from Oklahoma thought was glamour. The Talent from Daniel D'Addario is a look at the five nominees for Best Actress at an "Oscar-type" award.

This isn't a fluffy, gossipy story. It deals with the stress of fame and the dirt behind the sparkle. The women, Adria, Davina, Bitty, Countess, and Jenny, are all struggling with something. The pretty outfits and smiles hide so much, and each woman feels that this award could be life-changing.

D'Addario is a Variety chief correspondent and a moderator of the Actors on Actors series, so he is writing from experience...I would assume. While reading, I was trying to figure out who he was talking about, especially as the Oscars are coming up quickly. Who is the 'always the bridesmaid", the child actor who has grown up, the secret lesbian, the alcoholic, and the three-time award winner? I have my ideas, but only D'Addario knows how much of real life he applied to The Talent.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced reader copy.

I really wanted to like this book--following four actresses, at different points in their careers, as they vie for nominations (and wins) in award season. The four women were distinctly different and I enjoyed getting to peek behind the curtain of the machine that is someone's "team," but the author kept dropping in these moments that made it feel like he was intentionally keeping the reader out of fully knowing the characters, which eventually was so frustrating that I had to quit reading. With so many books vying for a reader's attention, I wasn't keen to feel like the author was withholding information that wasn't vital to understanding the story, but was treating the reader like they needed to stand on the other side of the velvet rope.

The Talent is out February 25, 2025

definitely interesting characters but i find other parts of it a bit weak, like the overall story. 3.25 stars. tysm for the arc.

Wanted to love this one so much but I could never ground myself with the characters and their stories. Lost interest and wasn't able to finish. LOVE the idea of this- award season is my favorite time of year!

I’m simply not sure what to make of this book. As a huge fan of awards season (my favorite season!) and the author’s coverage of Hollywood, I thought this would be a slam dunk. I expected a salacious, page-turning look at catty actresses and juicy drama. However, I found it quite boring and unoriginal. I truly expected more from an author who has covered this world for years and who is fantastic at creating drama himself (I had also been a fan of his Twitter and oft controversial opinions.

As we follow 5 actresses all up for the top awards of the year, we learn about each one in alternating chapters. But a vast Hollywood narrative is not made - it’s almost like those 5 actresses, along with another one who isn’t nominated and one actor who is in two of the nominated movies and in a love triangle with two of them as well, are the only celebrities in the world! It felt insular and I didn’t learn all that much about each character since we bounce around a lot. I dunno, maybe I went in with too high expectations but it just wasn’t that I wanted it to be.

As someone who considers awards season the best season, I was instantly drawn to The Talent—a novel following five Best Actress nominees through the highs and lows of their Oscar campaigns. Unfortunately, I think I know too much about award season to fully enjoy this fictionalized version.

Daniel D’Addario, a former Variety writer, is well aware of the actual beats that define awards season—precursor awards, critics' prizes, and industry politics—but he seems to have streamlined the process in favor of building suspense for the final prize. While I get the narrative choice, it took me out of the story. (There are real moments of unpredictability in Oscar history—Marcia Gay Harden’s Supporting Actress win, anyone??)

The book also struggles to find its tone, oscillating between juicy celebrity gossip and overly sentimental moments. It didn’t fully live up to my expectations, but I did have fun casting the book in my head and decoding which real Hollywood figures inspired each character.

If you love all things celebrity culture, devour stories about Hollywood, and consider awards season to be your favorite season, THE TALENT is the book for you! I was so excited to read this one based on the plot description alone—I thought the premise was just so great. I really enjoyed Daniel D'Addario's writing style, and it's clear that he is so knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the film industry and the overall world the story takes place in, how stars navigate the chaos of awards season and what winning might mean for them, their careers, etc., as well as living in the public eye and being "in the business of being perceived." Similarly, D'Addario does a fantastic job of developing all five actresses as characters and fleshing out their backstories, as well as exploring the different relationship dynamics and tensions among them.

I will say that while I love stories with multiple POVs, and thought it was a great decision to include those here, I struggled a little with that choice in format initially/found it difficult to distinguish some of the voices from each other at first, and really hone in on their individual journeys. As the story went on, that aspect became easier for me, however! I would recommend THE TALENT, especially for film buffs who are eagerly awaiting Oscars Night and following everything related to awards season—this book is releasing at the perfect time! Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC.

A good quick fun read for fans of Hollywood. A little behind the scenes peek at the comings and goings of awards season. Fun to recognize oblique references to Telluride, Variety and the Golden Globes.

I was absolutely champing at the bit to read the debut novel from one of my favorite writers, Daniel D'Addario. I've followed his work online for many years and know he is very aware of the ins and outs of the film industry. This book charmingly covers a subject matter I find fascinating but didn't know a ton about - how actresses campaign for their films and roles during awards season.

I ended up enjoying much of this book and felt really interested in the outcome of the awards race (and also wanting to see the films!). I think D'Addario was able to really demonstrate how the backstories of the actresses lead them to make decisions and play the game they need to play.

The thing that didn't really click with me was I think format-based. Each chapter is from an actress' perspective, and because there were 5 women we follow, it led to lot of side characters, names, and framing of the characters that was a bit unclear. If I would have read this in one day, I likely would have remembered a lot more of the side characters, but as it was, I read this over many days and had a hard time with it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who like reading about how women interact, especially famous ones.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was not what I expected it to be, it had the basis for a gossipy and juicy Hollywood romp but the execution was highly lacking. Nothing really happened it was a lot of rambling and I was just bored.

I’ve loved the Oscars for as long as I can remember, and best actress is the most important category obvs (cc: the amazing @andtherunnerupis podcast!!), so I was super excited for this one. It was really fun to read this during the current awards season, where best actress happens to be one of the most up in the air races! I thought the tone of this was going to be more fluffy and funny, but it’s more cynical and wry (and also still hopeful)…it was definitely a reminder how every public facing moment with an actor is likely a performance to some degree. The author, as someone who works in the industry, did a great job of capturing all the awards season campaign shenanigans and balancing the five leading ladies between being their own original characters and taking inspiration from their real-life analogs.

In The Talent, Daniel D'Addario takes readers behind the scenes of Hollywood’s most glamorous night, where five actresses are each fighting for a chance to claim the top prize. But what seems like a competition for the most coveted award soon becomes a window into the lives of these women, showing us their inner struggles, ambitions, and fears. With a mix of humor and sharp insight, D'Addario crafts a story that’s as much about the price of fame as it is about the complex, often messy relationships these women share with themselves and each other.

The novel introduces us to a diverse cast of characters, each representing a different stage of a career in an unforgiving industry. There's Adria, the established grand dame of cinema, determined to secure her legacy. Bitty, on the edge of a breakdown, battles a alcohol addiction while searching for genuine connections. Contessa, former beloved child star, fights for respect, while Davina, a serious London stage actress, navigates the superficiality of Hollywood's spotlight. Finally, Jenny, the perennial underdog and recluse, sees this season as her opportunity for redemption.

Through each character, D'Addario, who is the Chief Correspondent at Variety, deftly explores themes of ambition, legacy, and personal sacrifice. These women are constantly being watched, molded by the public’s perception of them, yet what we see on the surface is only a fraction of their stories. The tension between their public personas and private selves drives the narrative forward.

With humor and wit, The Talent skillfully explores the intricacies of female relationships in a highly competitive environment. D'Addario forces readers to question the very nature of success and how women in the public eye are often asked to balance their personal desires with societal expectations. What is the cost of ambition? Should these women push their careers forward at the expense of their personal lives and relationships? The novel raises poignant questions about the choices these actresses must make and the emotional labor they endure.This is a must-read for anyone who enjoys sharp social commentary wrapped in a gripping, character-driven story.
#gallerybooks #thetalent #danieldaddario

Much like Moira Rose, my favorite season is awards! The fashion, the drama, the gossip. So of course I was looking forward to this one. The story follows six leading ladies vying for five nominations during awards season leading up to the big one.

It’s a peek behind the Hollywood curtain, but it’s definitely more heavy than I expected it to be. I wanted more gossip, but instead got a subdued story that doesn’t really go anywhere. Yes, actors are human too, but a balance of gossip with hardship would’ve livened things up a bit. Following the six ladies’ POVs was difficult to keep track and their stories seemed to end abruptly with no resolution aside from the outcome of the awards. I will say the second half was better, as the story picked up a bit and things got into a groove.

Thank you to Gallery Books and Simon & Schuster for the ARC! This is officially out 2/25.

Daniel D’Addario’s The Talent follows five actresses during a ‘turbulent’ awards season. Each are unique and it is apparent the author knows the industry, painting a picture easily confused as real. I won’t guess what real life actresses inspired these gals, but I may know one…

I’m disappointed, though, given the drama was fairly ho-hum, I’m a SUCKER for fictional Hollywood stories (Evelyn Hugo is one of my favorites), so my expectations were high for this one, but I may have flown too close to the Hollywood sign. When I wasn’t struggling with the “so what,” I was having to slow down and re-read entire pages as to not get these ladies mixed up. Seriously, I can’t be the only one, can I? The five share some similarities and when some share chapters togethers, I almost had to pull out the notebook or sticky note to properly track them.

I know that D’Addario understands Hollywood given his background and career at Variety, which makes this even harder to write but I didn’t love this as much as I know he wanted his readers to. Despite this, if the description interested you, please give it a read when it’s released this February — just in time for awards season!

The Talent is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at awards season, packed with all the juicy drama you’d expect. I found it a bit challenging to keep track of all the characters. While we follow Adria, Bitty, Contessa, Davina, and Jenny, there are also a number of secondary characters in their circle, each with their own backstories. The constant mingling between these characters left me a bit confused and made it hard to follow.

I think a lot of readers will really enjoy this one. It's light, entertaining, and definitely not meant to be taken too seriously. You can tell the author has a real insider’s perspective on awards season, which adds to the fun. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.