She's a Lamb!

There is so much I want to say about this book but I’ll try to be concise. As an actor and overall theatre nerd, I was drawn to this book, especially as it was compared with one of my all time favorite books, All’s Well by Mona Awad. Like Awad’s novel, this is a glorious unhinged woman story with a staged twist. And what Meredith Hambrock has done is create a character study of the worst, most entitled narcissist you’d ever meet and still make her sympathetic and complex. That’s hard to do, and it’s a testament to Hembrock’s talent as an author. I love a story where you see someone’s entire persona fall apart piece by piece, going past the point of “how could this get worse” and making the story absolutely bonkers in the best way. All I know is that if this ever gets optioned for a film, I’m gonna pull a Trisha Paytas and gun for the role. In the meantime, I’ll just be forcing every actor I know to read this. Oh, and the Singin’ in the Rain homage in the climax? Perfectly executed. Five stars, no notes.

What a toxic, twisted gem this is. Really loved Meredith Hambrock’s writing style and the way she crafted her main character, Jessamyn St. Germain (the name!). I was really dazzled by the way Hambrock made Jessamyn a mildly demented, narcissistic, vapid woman, but also allowed her to make sharp, extremely valid and true statements about the inherent misogyny in the entertainment industry, and in society in general. The book was funny and propulsive and I could not stop reading once I started. Also, what a cover!

OMG this book is genius. The protagonist is so outrageously flawed that you cannot look away. Still, call me crazy, but I felt for her too and could feel the intensity of her reaching for her dreams despite her overt arrogance, which is really all smoke and mirrors. It's hard to review this without giving away any spoilers but I will say I've never quite read anything like it, I enjoyed it so much because it's so different! It's bold and risky and so brash and perfect. How can you root for her, but somehow you do and then as her world changes there's that swallow of dread, that feeling things may of hand - inevitable maybe? Maybe not? I still had hope! What a cracking read!