How to Be a Movie Star (How to Be #2)


Title: How to Be a Movie Star
Author: T.J. Klune
Release Date: November 4, 2019 (Second Edition)
Publisher:  BOATK Books
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 350
Rating: 5+ stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

I'm still a relative neophyte in all things TJ Klune (yes, yes, I know, how big was the rock I was hiding under?) so delving into "How to Be A Movie Star" was an unexpected joy and I just regret that I'll never again have the incredible pleasure of reading this book for the first time. And for that reason, this review isn't about the ins-and-outs of the plot, which is a stinkin' masterpiece by the way, but rather some rambling thoughts that I hope will entice you to run out immediately and get this book.
Hi, my name is Josiah. I like ferrets named after presidents, and sometimes I turn on music really loud in my apartment and dance in my underwear. [...] My life is in shambles and I've got a friend-crush on a guy who writes Sasquatch porn who I laughed at when he asked me out on a date.

Josiah Erickson is almost literally "liquid sunshine" and he's sweet and kind ... and usually more than just a bit baked. Josy still isn't sure why he had to audition nude for that Japanese energy drink commercial or take off his pants for an audition with the Mattress Dictator and jump on a trampoline in a Speedo while he smoked a cigar ... but hey, he's working on his dream of being a movie star. And when he meets Q-Bert at this weird poetry-smash at a library, their first conversation is ... epic.
"Hi," Q-Bert said.
"Hi," Josy breathed.
"Huh," Dee said again.
"Jesus Christ," Xander muttered.
It's easy to love Josy and also easy to buy into your own preconceived ideas of his intelligence, until TJ unleashes some Josy wisdom and you realize that yeah, "maybe, just maybe, he was exactly the way he was supposed to be." And if you read Josy's comments about his parents ("But, I think sometimes kids are born to the wrong parents. You know? Not because the parents do anything wrong but because they don't know how to just .... parent.") without shedding a tear or two, you have a heart of stone.

And yes, the book is a bit long, and there were several points where I looked at my Kindle and went "Huh, only 72% done?" But then when it got to the end ... there was more and I was eternally grateful for another chapter or two plus a killer epilogue. Oh, I loved this book so much and I highly recommend it!

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