Book Synopsis
Sienna McMahon was born into glamour. The granddaughter of film legend (and ogre) Duke McMahon, she grows up amid Hollywood scandal and opulence. Determined to forge her own identity, she becomes first a successful supermodel, then an actress; but unhappiness and tragedy keep breaking through. Then, in the time-honored tradition of Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel, the love of a good man brings her happiness and fulfillment.
Review
I hated most of the characters. At times it was painful reading something with only like three redeeming characters with any sense of a moral compass. I found the whole novel irritating with the selfishness of most of the characters; their goals revolved around money, fame and power in Hollywood. Adored is mainly about the lives of members of the McMahon family, mainly young Siena who wants to shed her McMahon image and claim Hollywood through her own talent and not name. Apparently this is a true kind of depiction of what ambition, greed and Hollywood can do to people, which is quite disturbing. Not exactly what I was prepared for when I picked up the book but the ending made it worthwhile- a little.
I also found myself sincerely irritated by the frequent sex scenes in the novel. It reminded me of reading Sex and The City by Candace Bushnell only it was six hundred pages worth of self-centered, horny nonsense. Okay, that’s taking it a bit too far because there are characters, like the male hero-of-sorts Hunter McMahon- Siena’s loving uncle in the novel – who was sweet, dreamy and everything you’d want in a guy. But I fail to understand the need for so much sex. A couple of times, fair enough, but IN EVERY DAMN CHAPTER? Change the record already! I don’t know, it felt like the frequent sex scenes were the only way to excite the reader seeing as the plot itself lacked true drive. I really failed to empathise with most of the characters in the novel so I didn’t really connect well with the book. My friend lent me this so I’m glad I didn’t spend money on something I didn’t enjoy.
I will say this though, there are some shockingly violent scenes and horrible relationships that are infuriating but towards the end, the novel gets so much better. Quite sad what happens at the end but I like how things turn out; the sacrifices give the novel some depth after being crammed with shallow people!I finished it feeling like I did kind of waste my time but I was glad some good came at the end and Siena had finally grown up by the end. Tilly Bagshawe wrote Adored really well in my eyes though but I just did not like what the book was about. A mixed bag of feelings overall :/
My rating: 3/5