My thanks to NetGalley and SparksPress/BookSparks for the ARC of "Charity Trickett Is Not So Glamorous" in exchange for an honest review.

What a juicy plunge into behind-the-scenes Hollywood filmmaking and dealmaking. It's a La La Land world of preening egos, conniving backstabbers, and striving, talented young hopefuls, gasping and grasping for the golden ticket to fame, fortune and a three picture deal.

Having toiled as a studio production assistant herself, you can tell from the storytelling that author Christine Stringer knows her subject all too well.......and lays out her depiction of the film business with unerring, take-no=prisoners wit.

At the roiling center of this asylum run by the inmates (around 1997) is Canadian production assistant and aspiring screenwriter Charity Trickett. She's now settled in Hollywood to help an up=and-coming director finish post production on the studio's next box office blockbuster. Charity's Gal Friday efficiency may work wonders on a movie set, but navigating the jungles of studio politics exhausts and confounds her. She's stuck in a toxic 'Devil Wears Prada' duel with Saffron, a so-called 'Associate Producer' who ruthlessly pursues her own agenda while sabotaging Charity at every opportunity.

Charity's fortunes (and hopes for making a deal for her own script) take a catastrophic turn for the worse - a terrible unforeseen misstep makes her a scorned pariah in the industry and puts her in the crosshairs of an FBI investigation.

Can Charity find romance, restore her good name, stay out of the slammer and get her script into production? Hey, it's Hollywood where anything can happen and that's the fun this book delivers on every page. You'll find yourself cheering her on as she encounters, outwits and fends off more topsy-turvy characters than Alice ever found through the looking glass.

For anyone who loves an insider's peek behind the mad, mad world of film showbiz, consider this one a must. ;Make a "Let's do lunch, baby, mean it sincerely" date with Charity ASAP.

Thank you Netgalley and Sparkle Press for my ARC copy.
Charity Trickett is not so Glamorous is a quirky, fun look into 90s era Hollywood. Charity is an assistant to a Hollywood big wig. Her dreams of breaking into the movie industry being fulfilled. Well until this happens, then that happens, then she's crying, but that's not near as bad as the FBI investigation.
Charity finds that her dream boss, isn't so dreamy. Her co-worker is more women fight each other to the top rather than raising one another up. Hollywood is a boy's club & has no interest in her dreams. Her decision making isn't super stellar, but her friends are truly the best.
The read is fun and Charity is a great character. Daniel is a good bestie and I enjoyed his character. The rest of the supporting characters weren't fully developed to me and there were several areas the were a little slow for me & I caught myself skimming those.
There's some romance, but this is truly a story of a girl with a dream & no matter what the world throws at her, she will not give up (though she is rather emotional about it).
Overall, a good debut novel. A quick, easy read for a girl with a dream.

This was a fun, quick read that I enjoyed! While it did take me a few chapters to fully get into it, I thought it was a fun time and I loved our FMC Charity. Her personality is ultimately what hooked me and the plot was so interesting and unique in my opinion. Definitely a fun read if anyone is hesitant on picking this one up.

A fun and fluffy — but addictive — book! Charity, our protagonist, is a mess: her boyfriend cheated on her, she’s moving to LA broke for her new job, her job spirals out of control…and all of a sudden she’s under investigation by the FBI? A main character who is immediately likable, and who readers will undoubtedly root for.

I loved that this book written about an assistant in the film industry investigated by the FBI is written by a former assistant in the film industry who was investigated by the FBI. And frankly, once the investigation started, I couldn’t put this book down until I knew what happened.

Some parts of the book, though, didn’t quite convince me. Nearly all of Charity’s friendships and her love interest felt so underdeveloped (and some of them far-fetched) and lacking in meaning to me that I suspected every single one of them was the one who landed her in hot water with the FBI.

Ultimately: a fun way to spend a few hours; but not necessarily a must-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and SparkPress for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I have mixed feelings on the book.
I likes charitys character - she was a fun, goal driven girl..
But the storyline was just okay. I liked the 90s references but as a whole I lost interest and just read along hoping it would get better

Thank you SparkPress, NetGalley and author Christine Stringer for the advanced e-book copy for an opportunity to review. All opinions are my own.

Charity is a fantastic, relatable main character with early career drive and energy. Set in 1990’s Hollywood, this book is filled with fantastic pop-culture references any GenX reader or fan of that decade will get a kick out of. The first 2/3 of the book, I didn’t want to put it down. The Nellie Olsen (Little House on the Prairie) sabotaging energy the character Saffron brought was captivating!

***SLIGHT SPOILER HERE***I was just waiting for her to get caught or get her due…but she doesn’t. ***END OF SPOILER***

And the last 1/3 of the story went in a different direction that lowered my interest level. The story seemed to hop around a bit at the end, but wrapped up nicely with strong friendship / found family vibes.

Overall, a fun summer read with some laugh out loud moments. This was a 3.75/5 read for me - fun, interesting, just a little inconsistent toward the end.

This is a tricky one. I really liked some aspects of this book, and I really disliked others.

As a millennial, I loved that this was based in the 90s, and I adored the throwback chapter title names. It was such a fun read to go behind the scenes of the film industry during that time. It did seem a bit at times like there were too many things happening at once and not all of them got proper resolutions, and it just seemed completely unbelievable at times, which sometimes took me out of the book.

I had forgotten the FBI investigation part of the description, so when it finally happened in the book (which was more than halfway through), it took me off guard because it seemed like such a turn from the style of book that I was reading up to that point, and the resolution for that storyline was also really weak. Kai as a love interest was just okay. He didn’t have much to do, he was kind of just there for Charity to flirt with.

Overall, it was a fun read, but not one I’d revisit. Now off to watch some classic 90s movies!

Charity Trickett Is Not So Glamorous is the perfect summer read.

Charity Trickett is an assistant on a movie set in Canada and is offered a job in LA finishing up the movie. The story takes us through her move to Hollywood and the travails of the movie industry.

Charity is the kind of character you want to root for and the friends she makes in Hollywood make a wonderful found family for her.

A quick read and a great book that is out June 10.

Oh, Charity. I really wanted to like this book, but it just kept falling flat. Multiple plot points were never resolved or connected to the actual storyline. If the description had avoided the phrase "FBI investigation", I think I would've enjoyed the story much more, as it never delivers on the assumed intrigue I was hoping for. While I appreciate the perspective from a young woman in a male-dominated field (and in the late-90s), I really wish the story had packed more of a punch and taken the time to wrap up some abandoned plotlines.

I first want to say that the cover of this book is so pretty! I knew right away I needed to read this book. I absolutely love a 90s Hollywood themed book, so this had me so excited to read it. I also really like that this is based on true events. The author did a great job depicting what it was like working in Hollywood during that time. The things the main character had to deal with were appalling! The Romance aspect of the book added such a nice touch. Overall, such a good book!

I did not finish this one because it was not for me at all.

Its a nostalgic, based on a true story, 90s hollywood thing.
Which I think misses me because I was a baby in the 90s and I don't have the whole Y2K interest in it.

Charity is a film assistant in Canada, drives through the night to visit her boyfriend and he's in bed with another woman *shocker*.
Then the classic, I thought you broke up with her, I did its over, what are you talking about.
Predictable and done to death.

Then she at a club cuddling a huge star and her boss offers her a huge job in Hollywood.
This joyful moment is ruined by the female assistant director saying shes seen a lot of assistants come and go.
In others words throwing her influence around and that was as much as I could stomach.

If you were a teen or young adult in the 90s it will be nostalgic.
If your into the whole Y2K thing you'll probably love it.

Its just not for me

This book was so much fun. There were times in the book for me when it just lagged but the humor in the book kept me going. It was such a fun read and made me laugh out loud multiple times.

Charity Trickett is Not So Glamorous
4/5 stars

Set in 1997, Charity Trickett is Not So Glamorous follows Charity Trickett, a recent film school grad who lands what seems like a dream job working for a big-shot director. But her dream job isn’t so dreamy.

The book is fast-paced and filled with awkward and funny moments. I even physically cringed a couple of times. Charity deals with toxic coworkers, disappearing paychecks, romantic drama, and even an FBI investigation. Some parts feel a little dramatic, but that’s also part of the appeal.

Many readers on compare it to Bridget Jones’s Diary, which I could totally see. It can feel like Charity never catches a break. But her determination keeps you rooting for her. Charity Trickett is Not So Glamorous is out June 10th, 2025!

I found this to be a cutesy throwback to the 1990’s. I read another book that tried to do something similar but it felt overkill. This book, I thought had the throwbacks blended in nicely and I appreciated the accuracy of it all.
I found Charity to be incredibly likeable and Saffron the perfect villain. I appreciated the secondary characters and the attention to detail the author gave to everything Charity was doing and going through.
I thought the romance part with Kai was second fiddle to the book as a whole and I wished for more details about their relationship throughout the book but ultimately, the book was really fast paced and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

This book was fun. I needed a fun book to read after some heavier things that I had been reading.
It was also so nostalgic!
If you grew up in the 90s.. man, this will take you back! All the references.. so fun.
This is almost like reading a movie you would have watched back in the 90s.
Misadventure with emotional moments all mixed in.
Charity wants to be in film and isn't giving up easily.
She works for a big-time director on a blockbuster set.
She has mishaps, all those awkward moments, and of course, an almost catastrophic event.
There is wittiness, vulnerability, optimism, and RESILIENCE to Charity.
The reader roots for Charity throughout the entire book.
We also got those learning moments, like in most of our '90s films and TV shows. Some ethical challenges, struggling to keep afloat (financial struggle), co-workers who made life far more difficult than it needed to be, and running around with your "hair on fire," as my boss calls it.
Overall, this was a lighthearted, fun, and enjoyable book. A little serious but not much.
It was a quick read.
We have all been Charity in our 20s to some extent.
I think this is a great poolside book for the summer.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Happy Reading!

Thank you, Netgalley for another read. Unfortunately, this book is on my "did not finish" pile. I tried to like the story but I am not a big fan of the plotline. It is a pretty slow plot in my opinion.

This was a fun book about the thrills (or lack thereof) of Hollywood. You follow Charity, a film assistant, as she moves from Vancouver to Hollywood with a coworker to attempt to make it big. Along the way, she learns more about herself than she’d ever know. This was a fun spin on mid-2000s culture and an enjoyable, lighthearted read.

This is a cute, fun, lighthearted novel that is a great look back at the optimism of the '90s and what it's like to be young and just starting out in your career. Charity Trickett is a Canadian assistant on a film in Vancouver where she is hired by the film's director to be his assistant in LA. She packs up her life and moves to Hollywood where initially her star is rising and then she quickly finds out how cutthroat and brutal the film industry is- handled humorously though!

While Charity encounters many difficult and awkward situations- including incredibly mean and unfair bosses and studio executives- this book is very lighthearted and doesn't dwell on the negative. Charity is very matter of fact and resourceful and despite the nature of Hollywood, she does have kind people and genuine friends in her circle. Some of it was a little too "twee" and Charity a little bit of an irritating "quirky girl" at times with a lot of suspicious good luck that can only happen to a fictional character, but that didn't detract too much from the story.

The author is an actual former MGM assistant who experienced similar circumstances to Charity. I like that this book offers an actual behind the scenes look of what working in the film industry is actually like even if a lot of Charity's luck and plot armor seems unrealistic. I wish that some of the characters were developed more and were not just props in Charity's life. Her best friend "Pup" is essentially ditched in the book which may be realistic, but also wasn't really addressed.

I would definitely recommend this for someone looking for a fun, lighthearted read, without much serious conflict.

Many thanks to SparkPress and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

I really wanted to love this as the storyline sounded like a fun beach read and I live in Los Angeles and really enjoy stories that take place in Hollywood. However, I just could not get into it. The writing felt a bit unorganized and it was difficult for me to identify Charity as a character. The story also started off very.. horny? And I don't think that was the best tone to kick things off with.

I received a free copy vi NetGalley for an honest review.

I want to start with saying I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun easy read and I flew through it. The characters are great. And a minor thing but I loved the chapter titles being a nod to 90's pop culture elements. I am embarrassed to admit that it took me almost 10 chapters to catch on. I think it was Cruel Intentions followed by Poetic Justice that did it for me.
With all of that being said I didn't feel satisfied at the end of the story. It felt like some of the major plot points were full realized or maybe just anticlimactic. I think this could have been a five star read but it didn't quite get there. I hope based on the ending that there is a sequel and we can see more about where Charity Trickett's life has taken her.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.