Starring in the Movie of My Life by Laurel Osterkamp
Welcome fellow readers to this final stop on the book tour hosted by SupaGurl Books! I have a review and giveaway to share with you, and hope you’ll enjoy learning more about Starring in the Movie of My Life and the author Laurel Osterkamp.
I’ll admit it: occasionally I like to pretend that my life is a movie, and that I’m the star …
Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she’s willing to fight for those she loves, but she’s never learned to fight for herself. Eighteen-year-old Melody is cold and calculating, and she’s driven by the desire to better herself. As these compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of 25-year-old Nathan, he becomes increasingly confused and torn between them.
Nathan is Melody’s English teacher, and after he saves her from being raped, she becomes attached. Melody longs for the affection she’s never felt, so she involves people in her self-invented drama, making sure she is at once the star and the director. Meanwhile, Samantha is newly married to Nathan. But Samantha has hang-ups about motherhood and lingering feelings for her ex. To make sense of the world, Sam relates her life to the themes of her favorite movies, while she independently makes a documentary to jump-start her non-existent film career.
Stylistically influenced by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner, Starring in the Movie of my Life is told alternately from both Samantha’s and Melody’s points-of-view and relates two complete yet combined stories about love, acceptance, and redemption. It speaks to our universal desire to be saved by the ones we love, and the monumental effort required to save ourselves.
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Keep reading for my review and giveaway! Be sure to look through all the tabs for more details.
A thoroughly enjoyable read — I found it refreshing and thoughtful! This contemporary story is well-written with characters that are easy to relate to. They could all be people you might know.
The alternating chapters weren’t confusing, but surprisingly fun to read. I especially enjoyed reading about 30-something Samantha. Melody, who’s a senior in high school, reminded me of several manipulative girls I knew at that stage in my life and even since then. The things we do for love and attention! However, it was nice to follow her story and see her grow into a better person who does the right thing.
Starring in the Movie of My Life spans generations — Melody, her high school friends, and her mother. Samantha, her peers, and her parents. I found that you can feel unaccomplished, unfulfilled, and unloved at any age. Turning that around is also ageless.
It was meaningful for me that both main characters have dysfunctional relationships with their mothers because I often did too. I won’t spoil the story by saying anything more than I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too 
Lots of things influence my writing. My misadventures in my twenties were the starting point for Following My Toes, although I spiced things up A LOT in order to make it an interesting story. Getting married, having kids, teaching high school, and figuring out the sort of adult I wanted to be influenced Starring in the Movie of My Life. Whatever I write, I try not to shy away from characters making tough choices. I believe in finding truth in fiction!
Laurel Osterkamp’s first novel, Following My Toes, (PMI Books) won the 2008 National Indie Book Award for Excellence (Chick Lit category). She drew on her experiences as a high school creative writing teacher as she wrote Starring in the Movie of My Life. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, son, and daughter, and is working on her third novel.
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| Goodreads Author | http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/970925.Laurel_Osterkamp |
| Goodreads Book | http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10401655-starring-in-the-movie-of-my-life |
| Website | http://laurel.pmibooks.com/ |
Enter to win your own copy of Starring in the Movie of My Life by Laurel Osterkamp! The eBook is available in your choice of format. The giveaway is open to all readers worldwide and ends next Monday, July 16th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. All entries are optional — earn as many or few as you like.
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This sounds like a great read!
It was! I hope you’ll have a chance to see for yourself sometime