Guest review by: Becki Bayley
Welcome to the world of model Joey Superstar - a whirlwind of cocaine, sex, and money.
U.S. residents only, please.
Joey lied all the time about little, unimportant things, like the time she told the South African back in Hamburg about her ‘sisters’ when she had none. Well, none that she knew of, but how would her lie change the South African’s life? It hadn’t. Not really. Charlie wanted to go down a path. She took Joey’s lie to make the journey easier. For Joey? Lying was the lubrication of life. Even if you didn’t lie, everyone thought you did, so you might as well. Joey lied by omission, for control, because she could, and also because it was fun. But she never confused truth and lies. The lies she told hurt no one. They added color to life.
Fran was a whole other story. Part of Joey knew that she lived the lie of Giovanni because Fran could not face the truth of Hamburg. The House of Rest, the lithium, the subsequent fracas? It had been a fog to cover the lie that Fran perpetrated. Joey had tried to get Fran to talk about the truth of Hamburg, but Joey didn’t have a good track record with being heard or believed.
Joey has been let down by nearly everyone throughout her life, but she’s learning that she needs to be able to trust and rely on herself, most of all.
Official synopsis:
Josaphina Brinkley seems to have it all: she’s a superstar model in 1980s America, a cover girl plastered naked on fashion billboards above Sunset Blvd. Women want to be her. Men simply want her.
But underneath the glossy veneer she hides a traumatic past. The end of her marriage to Italian Aristocracy led to a stint in rehab. As she returns to parties, premiers and modeling, she’s hoping a life of designer clothes and beautiful people won’t take her back to blow. If only she could be truly seen, heard and understood, perhaps she wouldn't self-destruct again?
Joey sets out to confront the roots of her wildness – but must admit to a youthful act that haunts her. As Joey fights from addiction to redemption, can she change the course of her life, deal with her dark past and become the superstar she was always destined to be? Former Miss Universe Margaret Gardiner gives readers the key to a secret world of supermodels, sex, style and scandal in her deliciously intoxicating debut, Joey Superstar, the first in an exciting Damaged Beauty series.
Most other characters in the book don’t think very highly of Joey, and it seems like this has shaped a lot of her expectations for herself. Luckily, the ending of her marriage lands her in The House of Rest, where a doctor finally convinces her to look at how she really feels about things, and what serves her instead of just her image.
The craziness of a 1980s party lifestyle was fun to read, but even more curious was watching how the different characters existed to enjoy, manage, or even thrive. The relationships between the characters and Joey’s evolving observations about them was engaging.
Overall, the book earned 4 out of 5 stars, and as the first book in a Damaged Beauty series, it’s expected that the author will bring us more good reads with interesting stories of compelling characters.
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Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys reading and watching 80s movies. See more of what she’s up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.
GIVEAWAY:
One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Damaged Beauty: Joey Superstar!
Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Friday, February 14th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified the next day via email, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.
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