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ladiebuggle's review
1.0
I couldn't get into it, and didn't finish it. Not very interesting, and full of superficial details about Monroe and JFK.
_myliteraryobsession's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Gun violence
rachelellyn's review
3.0
MM as a Russian spy? Imaginative reinvention of her life. I won't spoil it, but it made me go hmmmmm.
Really love the narrator, Erin Mallon.
Really love the narrator, Erin Mallon.
beastreader's review
1.0
I wanted to really like this book as it sounded different from the Marilyn Monroe stories that are out that. I have not read a lot of stories on Marilyn but still everyone is familiar with her story. However not the fictionalized one about her being a spy. However I found the storyline moving extremely slow. It seemed to take me forever to read a page or two. Like trying to run through quick sand. It just does not work out well. Marilyn did not jump off the pages for me. Thus she is the main focal point of the book and if she and I could not get a connection, then there was no sense in me attempting to finish this book.
devonadelle's review
3.0
I’ll admit that my high hopes for this book were not met. Was it an entertaining read? Oh yes. But there are so many details that lack in believability for me that I felt this ARC reads more like a second draft and not a nearly final version. One thing that I really like is the character of Marilyn. But really, even she is underdeveloped for me as I didn’t learn too much about her life before stardom. Even though she’s a historical figure, this is still a fictionalized version and I’m don’t think I got to know her well enough. Though what I did learn I found likable, yes.
There’s one major event that occurs near the middle of the book, and this especially I had a believability issue with. It has to do with Marilyn disappearing for a huge chunk of time… But because she’s a movie star and a public figure, wouldn’t people realize she’s missing? I read that entire part with a raised brow.
The ending, however, redeems the book a little. Just a little. I enjoyed seeing Marilyn’s strength. But I would’ve loved to see the development of that strength more throughout the book.
Overall…I’m very wishy-washy. I love the idea of this book more than I like the execution. I had so wished for more! 5.5/10
There’s one major event that occurs near the middle of the book, and this especially I had a believability issue with. It has to do with Marilyn disappearing for a huge chunk of time… But because she’s a movie star and a public figure, wouldn’t people realize she’s missing? I read that entire part with a raised brow.
The ending, however, redeems the book a little. Just a little. I enjoyed seeing Marilyn’s strength. But I would’ve loved to see the development of that strength more throughout the book.
Overall…I’m very wishy-washy. I love the idea of this book more than I like the execution. I had so wished for more! 5.5/10
jakewritesbooks's review
4.0
The fun thing about this book is that few of the individual subplots work and yet, Anna Godbersen creates such a vivid re-imagination of Marilyn Monroe as a person that I really didn’t care.
Monroe is often depicted—mostly by but not limited to men (looking at you, Joyce Carol Oates)—as a wide-eyed naifish mentally damaged sex doll. I have to imagine there is more to her life than going around speaking in innuendo and substance-induced rage but rarely have I seen this depicted. Blonde is the latest in turning the starlet into a caricature for the male gaze and writing said portrayal off as “nuanced.”
I also know Monroe is nothing like the sly, cunning super-spy depicted in this book but it’s fun to imagine how she saw through the whole act to get hers, even if it’s with the Soviet Union.
The thing that holds this book back is the story Godbersen decides to tell. She has a great premise but wastes it on a romance tale featuring JFK, who gets a nuanced portrait that he probably doesn’t deserve given how he treated women in real life. Their romance was boring but, to her credit, Godbersen imbues those scenes with life and that keeps the tale moving. The scenes with her handler are interesting enough, though I would’ve preferred more background to how the Soviets cultivated her as an asset. And the less said about the scenes with the only other POV character—a dour FBI agent—the better.
So yeah, this doesn’t go the directions I wanted it to but the writing is excellent. Let Marilyn live.
Monroe is often depicted—mostly by but not limited to men (looking at you, Joyce Carol Oates)—as a wide-eyed naifish mentally damaged sex doll. I have to imagine there is more to her life than going around speaking in innuendo and substance-induced rage but rarely have I seen this depicted. Blonde is the latest in turning the starlet into a caricature for the male gaze and writing said portrayal off as “nuanced.”
I also know Monroe is nothing like the sly, cunning super-spy depicted in this book but it’s fun to imagine how she saw through the whole act to get hers, even if it’s with the Soviet Union.
The thing that holds this book back is the story Godbersen decides to tell. She has a great premise but wastes it on a romance tale featuring JFK, who gets a nuanced portrait that he probably doesn’t deserve given how he treated women in real life. Their romance was boring but, to her credit, Godbersen imbues those scenes with life and that keeps the tale moving. The scenes with her handler are interesting enough, though I would’ve preferred more background to how the Soviets cultivated her as an asset. And the less said about the scenes with the only other POV character—a dour FBI agent—the better.
So yeah, this doesn’t go the directions I wanted it to but the writing is excellent. Let Marilyn live.
joyousreads132's review
4.0
I’ve always held a fascination with Marilyn Monroe’s bright and short-lived life. When I saw this book at the bookstore, I just know that I had to get it. I must admit that I was equal parts skeptical and thrilled. Skeptical on how convincing of a spy she’d be, and thrilled with the prospect of whatever conspiracy theories I would be taking away from this novel.
Little Girl Lost.
When she was a girl on the cusp of adulthood, her father, a travelling salesman, left one morning and didn’t come back. She’d been looking for him ever since. With every men that comes into her life, she creates a perception of what her father might be like.
A Woman Made-up.
When she was a struggling actress trying to make it in Hollywood, a Soviet agent decided she’d make the perfect spy: with her blond tresses, a voice of childlike innocence, and the hourglass figure, no one would know the better. They created this sexual persona that very few men could dare resist. Norma Jean shed her skin, and Marilyn Monroe was born.
A Man on the Scope.
John F. Kennedy was a senator whose star was on the rise. When the KGB set their sights on him, Marilyn was tasked to infiltrate the life of a notoriously known womanizer with a brilliant political future. Jack,because of despite his staunch Catholic upbringing, was unable to resist the sensational actress. An affair ensued.
This is not Marilyn Monroe.
We only know of Marilyn’s legendary life through what we’ve been told, heard, seen, and read in the years following her death. We know of the failed marriages, the alleged affairs, and her apparent suicide. Among the number of males linked with her name is one John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A man whose family name is synanymous to royalty in America. This is a fictional account of a different Marilyn Monroe, her illicit love affair with the president, and her role – directly and indirectly – in his assassination.
It is everything you’ve come to expect from a novel whose main character exudes her legendary sexual allure: erotic, exciting, and a visceral depiction of a life lived in the grasp of a powerful organization.
Godbersen perfectly captured the voice of a vulnerable woman in desperate search of a familial love. She was an easy prey to a man who knew her weakness, and knew how to manipulate it to work in his advantage. However, he grievously miscalculated the passion and loyalty of a person in love.
We see an intelligent, cunning, and a strong woman who hid behind the quivering lips, the cloud of silken white hair, and the soft voice meant to enrapture the male audience. Marilyn Monroe behind the public eye, was a different creature altogether. It was difficult to see the demarkation line between fact and the myth; the fiction and the legend; the truth and the imagined.
We also see a different JFK. He is portrayed as a man weak with desire, but whose drive is powered by his political aspirations. I’ve always been curious about the iconic, Happy Birthday song, so I was ecstatic to read the bathroom romp that followed thereafter.
This book perfectly exemplifies Marilyn’s relevance after all these years. Our never-ending curiosity about her fabled life will always spark someone’s creativity to satiate an itch more than seven years in the making. Anna Godbersen allowed her readers to see Marilyn in a different light, while remaining true to the icon that we’ve all come to know.
Little Girl Lost.
When she was a girl on the cusp of adulthood, her father, a travelling salesman, left one morning and didn’t come back. She’d been looking for him ever since. With every men that comes into her life, she creates a perception of what her father might be like.
A Woman Made-up.
When she was a struggling actress trying to make it in Hollywood, a Soviet agent decided she’d make the perfect spy: with her blond tresses, a voice of childlike innocence, and the hourglass figure, no one would know the better. They created this sexual persona that very few men could dare resist. Norma Jean shed her skin, and Marilyn Monroe was born.
A Man on the Scope.
John F. Kennedy was a senator whose star was on the rise. When the KGB set their sights on him, Marilyn was tasked to infiltrate the life of a notoriously known womanizer with a brilliant political future. Jack,
This is not Marilyn Monroe.
We only know of Marilyn’s legendary life through what we’ve been told, heard, seen, and read in the years following her death. We know of the failed marriages, the alleged affairs, and her apparent suicide. Among the number of males linked with her name is one John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A man whose family name is synanymous to royalty in America. This is a fictional account of a different Marilyn Monroe, her illicit love affair with the president, and her role – directly and indirectly – in his assassination.
It is everything you’ve come to expect from a novel whose main character exudes her legendary sexual allure: erotic, exciting, and a visceral depiction of a life lived in the grasp of a powerful organization.
Godbersen perfectly captured the voice of a vulnerable woman in desperate search of a familial love. She was an easy prey to a man who knew her weakness, and knew how to manipulate it to work in his advantage. However, he grievously miscalculated the passion and loyalty of a person in love.
We see an intelligent, cunning, and a strong woman who hid behind the quivering lips, the cloud of silken white hair, and the soft voice meant to enrapture the male audience. Marilyn Monroe behind the public eye, was a different creature altogether. It was difficult to see the demarkation line between fact and the myth; the fiction and the legend; the truth and the imagined.
We also see a different JFK. He is portrayed as a man weak with desire, but whose drive is powered by his political aspirations. I’ve always been curious about the iconic, Happy Birthday song, so I was ecstatic to read the bathroom romp that followed thereafter.
This book perfectly exemplifies Marilyn’s relevance after all these years. Our never-ending curiosity about her fabled life will always spark someone’s creativity to satiate an itch more than seven years in the making. Anna Godbersen allowed her readers to see Marilyn in a different light, while remaining true to the icon that we’ve all come to know.
hippiechick56's review
3.0
It has a plot that defies belief but an interesting enough what if that keeps you reading.
eliseofsoleana's review
2.0
This book did not deserve that ending. Absolutely freaking not.
The Blonde's premise is basically that of a history buff's fanfiction; Marilyn Monroe is actually working for the KGB in the early 1960s and her assignment is to get close to JFK and learn a secret and report back. Naturally this does not happen and instead Ms. Monroe proceeds to fall in love with JFK and attempts to escape her handler in the hopes of having a happy ending with her new Presidential loverboy.
I should say this book was written very well but it just...it honestly just wasn't interesting for me. And I'm pretty sure the only way I got through this book was by disassociating Marilyn Monroe and JFK from themselves, and I think that sums up this book's problem for me. I would have liked it more if this book was pure fiction; if the story had been about a beautiful actress who was being run by the KGB but fell in love with her target then yeah this would have been great. But it was held down by the fact that it was trying to characterize these two impactful historical figures. I hated Marilyn for at least 3/4 of this book and JFK is about as despicable as he was in real life (probably) so I didn't start rooting for these characters until after I convinced my brain to stop picturing Marilyn Monroe and JFK themselves and instead as fictional people called Marilyn and Jack. And the other issue was that it was so painfully slow. It wasn't until maybe the 3rd quarter that I became invested, and that is just way too far along for me to give this book a good rating.
Also can someone please explain to me why Walls was even a character to begin with? Like...what was his purpose again? There was absolutely no point to his character (nor his perspective chapters) except to be there at the end of the book and be a foil to Marilyn (?) and this would have worked out so much better if he hadn't been there at all. This was Marilyn's story to tell, and he was awkwardly trying to get some of the spotlight.
The Blonde's premise is basically that of a history buff's fanfiction; Marilyn Monroe is actually working for the KGB in the early 1960s and her assignment is to get close to JFK and learn a secret and report back. Naturally this does not happen and instead Ms. Monroe proceeds to fall in love with JFK and attempts to escape her handler in the hopes of having a happy ending with her new Presidential loverboy.
I should say this book was written very well but it just...it honestly just wasn't interesting for me. And I'm pretty sure the only way I got through this book was by disassociating Marilyn Monroe and JFK from themselves, and I think that sums up this book's problem for me. I would have liked it more if this book was pure fiction; if the story had been about a beautiful actress who was being run by the KGB but fell in love with her target then yeah this would have been great. But it was held down by the fact that it was trying to characterize these two impactful historical figures. I hated Marilyn for at least 3/4 of this book and JFK is about as despicable as he was in real life (probably) so I didn't start rooting for these characters until after I convinced my brain to stop picturing Marilyn Monroe and JFK themselves and instead as fictional people called Marilyn and Jack. And the other issue was that it was so painfully slow. It wasn't until maybe the 3rd quarter that I became invested, and that is just way too far along for me to give this book a good rating.
Also can someone please explain to me why Walls was even a character to begin with? Like...what was his purpose again? There was absolutely no point to his character (nor his perspective chapters) except to be there at the end of the book and be a foil to Marilyn (?) and this would have worked out so much better if he hadn't been there at all. This was Marilyn's story to tell, and he was awkwardly trying to get some of the spotlight.
kkaste's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0