Advika and the Hollywood Wives (Book Review)

Grand Central (2023)

Before I get into this, I want to say that this is NOT a bad book. The writing is solid and the premise is interesting. This story had a lot of potential, but the execution didn't quite work (for me). I have the feeling it suffers from Pressing Publishing Schedule, as Ramisetti's debut came out November 2021 and Advika published April 2023.

***SPOILERS TO FOLLOW***

Advika Srinivasan, twenty-six year old aspiring screenwriter, has no idea what life has in store for her when Julian Zelding, famous director and five-time Oscar winner, cozies up to her bar at the Governor's Ball following the 2015 Oscars ceremony. In fact, she doesn't even know who Julian is, but she knows he's important because he has an Oscar, and he has a certain je ne sais quoi. After a whirlwind romance, Advika finds herself married to Julian and living the kind of life in his Palisades mansion she never dared dream of. Unfortunately, not long after tying the knot with Julian, his first wife dies and stipulates in her will that she will bequeath $1.5 million and a secret video tape to Julian's "child bride" IF she divorces him. This announcement sets off a chain of events that leads Advika to situations one only expects to find in the movies.

***Seriously, there are SPOILERS below***

Advika has had a tough few years. Her twin sister died suddenly in a freak accident, her parents abandoned her and moved back to India, lost in their own grief, and her career as a screenwriter has stalled. Her agent even dropped her without ceremony after a year. As far as Advika is concerned, she's stuck in a super big rut. All of this made me want to like her. And I tried. I promise, I did. Unfortunately, she's not a very likeable character.

I understand why Advika allows herself to be swept up by this man. She's in mourning. She lost her sister Anu almost three years before and she hasn't dealt with those emotions. When she meets Julian, he focuses solely on her and makes her feel seen, like she has someone there for her. She hasn't felt that way in a long time, especially not since her parents abandoned her in L.A. and moved back to India. It's understandable she would be swept away by him, just as it's understandable she would ignore the red flags he's throwing out with his love bombing.

The irks:

1) An Oscar-winner chats Advika up at an after party where she's working as a bartender. They spend the entire night talking and she doesn't even Google him when she gets home. It's 2015, there is no excuse for staying in the dark about this man. I know she holds everyone at arm's length and doesn't commit to relationships easily since losing Anu, but she should be a little curious about this man she's drawn to. Especially since he's someone she can tell is pretty powerful.

2) On their "second" date, Julian asks her to never Google him. That, Advika, is when you absolutely Google him.

3) She is all-in with this guy. She's turned on just by him brushing against her. He gives her the opportunity to walk away twice but she doesn't. Why? Because Julian is her way in (and he's loaded). I'm not saying she's a gold digger, but I AM saying she didn't mind hanging out with a rich guy, especially one with connections in the industry she wants to be a part of.

4) She uses EVERYONE! She's using Julian to fill her time, to be her way in (even if she's doing this subconsciously), she uses her roommate Olive after her childhood friends hurt her feelings and she blocks them. Then, when she lets her friends back in, she uses THEM! She takes, takes, takes, and never asks what's going on with anyone else. Hell, if she'd asked Julian what was going on with him she may not have been so "blindsided" by what she found out about him. I can't even feel sorry for her or root for her later in the book when she realizes she's been using everyone because even when she realizes she's used everyone who likes or loves her, she's still almost fully focused on herself.

5) As mentioned before, she's all-in with Julian. Lusting for him, unable to keep her hands off him, almost totally fine with her life in the mansion, UNTIL the details of his first wife's will are announced. I know we're supposed to get caught up in the mystery of who Julian is, and we're supposed to uncover his dastardly deeds as Advika does, and we're supposed to begin to hate him like she does, but neither Advika or the particulars of the plot are fleshed out enough for me to be compelled to feel anything.

6) Julian is throwing out red flags almost from the minute they meet but Advika is so detached she doesn't even clock them. Maybe if she'd been a little more bothered by Julian not wanting her to Google him at first, or if she'd found it suspicious that he was ready to totally shut her out both when he said "I love you" and she didn't reciprocate the way he wanted, and when he proposed and she didn't immediately say yes, she wouldn't have ended up in a sham of a marriage. His reaction in both those instances would've been enough for me to pump the brakes.

7) SHE LEAVES EVERYONE ON READ! This is a personal irk of mine. It seriously annoyed me that she didn't bother to text anyone back unless she needed something. This particular irk didn't factor into my review. It just annoyed the hell out of me.

I think what bugs me most about Advika is that she was never invested in any of her relationships. Not with Julian, not with Olive, not with her childhood "Oakies", not even with her parents. She became an island when Anu died and she never really allowed anyone on it. Which could have been a great element in the story, but it was too under developed. Instead, she comes across as aloof and self-centered.

And don't think Julian is a good guy. He's a user. He used his first wife for her connections to Hollywood, he all but erased his second wife from the public eye after her death (after he helped ruin her love for her career), and he tried to make his third wife give up her aspirations at stardom to be his stay at home wifey. Julian spies on Advika, tries to derail her career as a scriptwriter, and even puts in their pre-nup that he'll get 50% of the royalties on any work she sells during their marriage. He even goes so far as to include the script she wrote after her sister's death. To put it nicely, Julian is a jerk. He wants to be the important person in the marriage (and in public) while his wife dotes on him and gives him children.

Both Julian and Advika are very unlikeable characters.

That being said, I can't forgive Advika for what she did in the end. Not long after they parted, Advika found out she was pregnant, but she didn't tell Julian. All he ever wanted was a child, and she allowed him to die never knowing he was a father. I know why she did it, and I know telling him would've been super complicated. Still. Julian was an underhanded jerk who spied on her and made his ex wives incredibly unhappy, but it didn't feel right for him to die without knowing he had a child.