Review - Limelight

​​Limelight

​​by Amy Poeppel

​​Released 5/1/2018

​​406 pages

​​4 out of 5 stars

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​​According to the publisher, “AllisonBrinkley—wife, mother, and former unflappable optimist—discovers that a carefully-weighed decision to pack up and move her family from suburban Dallas to the glittery chaos of Manhattan may have been more complicated than she and her husband initially thought.

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​​Allison learns that New York is unruly and bewildering, defying the notions she developed from romantic movies and a memorable childhood visit. After a humiliating call from the principal’s office and the loss of the job she was counting on, Allison begins to accept that New York may not suit her after all.

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​​When Allison has a fender-bender, witnessed by a flock of mothers at her son’s new school, she is led to the penthouse apartment of a luxurious Central Park West building and encounters a spoiled, hungover, unsupervised teenager who looks familiar. It doesn’t take long to recognize him as Carter Reid—a famous pop star who has been cast in a new Broadway musical. Through this brush with stardom, Allison embraces a unique and unexpected opportunity that helps her find her way in the heart of Manhattan.

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​​In a book that delivers laughs, warmth, and delightful wish fulfillment, Poeppel dives into celebrity culture and modern motherhood with her trademark style. “

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​​The premise of this book - a middle-aged NYC transplant accidentally and unknowingly becoming the personal assistant to one of the hottest pop stars in the world - is completely unbelievable, and somehow so very enjoyable!

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​​I had read another book by this author, Small Admissions, back in the day before I started Blonde Bibliotaph and thought it was great, so I was very excited to finally have a chance to read Poeppel’s newest book.  She has such a talent for writing what seems to be a not-so-deep plot, but filling the story with deeper themes and fabulous character arcs.  While the main plot of Limelight is, I admit, pretty silly, the characters are all skillfully developed.  Barring some very minor characters that are only mentioned as background props, there isn’t a character in the story that we don’t explore thoroughly, to understand what motivates them, why they are the way they are, and where they need to go throughout the story.  

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​​Poeppel also explores themes such as marriage, parenthood, growing up, and even dealing with cancer, which can all be really heavy topics when left to the wrong author.  She presents these topics in a lighthearted way, while always giving respect to how much each of these themes weigh on both characters and readers.

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​​If you only read the summary of this book, you might think it was just an easy book to read poolside (which it was) but it’s so much more than that!  I became so invested in this book, and what would happen to all the characters, that I had a hard time putting it down.  

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​​I highly recommend this book, especially if you are in the market for something that has a happy ending(spoiler alert)!