after aging out of young adult fiction years ago, i’ve found it really difficult finding a genre or any fiction books that really resonate with me. so much so that i gave up reading fiction altogether and then i found i just didn’t enjoy reading as much when i was just reading non-fiction.
by chance last summer i discovered hollywood wives by jackie collins and i gave it a spin expecting a very camp and fluffy experience. while it was definitely camp i was enthralled by the interweaving narratives, the fast-moving character-driven plot, the likeable and unlikeable characters and the heightened setting drew me in and has been probably the best book i’ve read in a long time.
this summer i’m halfway through chances and i like it even better than hollywood wives. i love how much time is spent with each character and i feel so thoroughly invested in them and i think the story and characters are even stronger than hollywood wives. i’m excited to read more of the series but worried her other books won’t be as good as the last two i’ve read!
i never thought that an author who is considered ‘trashy’ or ‘lowest common denominator’ would get me back into reading, but i guess that’s just what i like. and there’s a strong case to be made against all of the labels stuck on jackie collins and her work.
i’d like to know if there are any other authors and books similar to jackie collins. ideally it would actually not be a ‘romance’ book since i find that while that theme does feature in collins’ work, it often is not the primary focus. i like chances because the plot is very focused on survival, building an empire, family, mob politics and so on.
by joannababe