![]() ![]() They end up in Los Angeles to film a movie but boss Sarah has to return to NYC because of a family crisis. He acts like the book version of Harvey Weinstein, with a reputation of pursuing women. A British billionaire named Hugo North decides to invest in her company in order to become a producer himself. Her boss is Sarah Zimmerman and she owns the company. Sarah gets the job and soon becomes a valued employee. Sarah is the daughter of Chinese immigrants who is finishing college when she finds a flyer advertising the opportunity of working with a NYC producer. I enjoyed the writing for the most part, but this could have been a masterpiece. The story, albeit long, felt fully developed. Although the buildup was done well, the payoff was not quite there. ![]() There was a lot of buildup for two particular events which were revealed in the last third of the book. The author did veer into the territory of over-generalizations, particularly about Caucasian men and women and the tactics employed to get what they want. The book exposed much of the sexual misconduct that was common, primarily instigated by men with money and power. Every facet was described, both good and bad while sparing no detail. What this book did do very well was give the reader an inside look at the film industry and the movie-making process. I think this book could have used additional edits and conciseness to make more of an impact. The writing style flows well and is quite enthralling. Sarah's story is told in an elaborate and detailed manner, making it seem more like an excuse for sharing a life story told under the pretext of a tell-all interview. I wished the author employed more of a "show, don't tell" technique, and allowed us as the reader to make connections and come to conclusions on our own. She often speaks to the reader often through her inner dialogue, which lends a more casual, conversational tone to the narration. After separating herself completely from the industry and the public eye, why choose to expose everything now? It was unclear why Sarah decided to reveal her deeply hidden secret to this particular journalist from The Times. But a few of the details left me wanting. The initial setup is well done and piqued my interest immediately. The synopsis gave me the impression that this would be a story filled with suspense, lurid behavior, and the exposure of powerful, wealthy players in the film industry. This book was not quite what I was expecting. The female characters feel very stereotypical and one dimensional, and I’m not sure that describing this book as a thriller is a good choice - there’s not much surprise, plus the slow pace makes it even less suspenseful. There is a moment when Sarah admits that she might’ve been harsh towards other women in her environment, but even though she’s retelling her story years later, she doesn’t really try to present them any differently. What turned me off is that for a book about abuse against women, its main character is surprisingly judgmental and misogynistic. It’s also very clear that Li has tons of knowledge about the movie industry and I appreciated her insight into it, especially from the perspective of a Woman of Color. I was so ready to love this book - I found the premise fascinating and I was excited to read a novel that deals with the # metoo movement. What happened and how did it impact her life? But the glimmer and glitz of Hollywood has a much darker side that Sarah experienced first hand. When we first meet her, she teaches screenwriting 101 at an obscure college, but years ago, the movies she helped make were shown at the Cannes Film Festival screenings and Sarah herself used to crash parties of celebrities like Quentin Tarantino. Sarah Lai, the main character of Complicit, loves movies. I would like to thank #NetGalley and the author #WinnieMLi for my ARC of #Complicit in exchange for an honest review. Knowing we are not the only ones and seeing the change that #metoo has brought to the way women are treated and taken more seriously when reporting instances of assault is moving in the right direction. When something hits this close to home it's hard to reopen those wounds, but sometimes we have to, to be able to heal. Reading about the ways so many women carry the guilt and shame foisted on them by their abusers resonated with me and to be honest I had to put it down and take some time off from reading it quite a few times. This was just how you got ahead in the industry. We see that at one time it was expected and widely accepted as commonplace activity within the movie making community. We see just how women are blamed for what happens to them. The story takes us behind the scenes of Hollywood. This story was so many things all at once, it spoke on misogyny, power and corruption. Being a victim of sexual assault myself this book was like opening a wound for me. ![]()
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