I needed a break from the bratty antics of Ramona Quimby, so I picked this book next. Read until 3 am this morning, then picked it back up as I was cooking breakfast. Could not put it down.

I admit to being a big fan of the reality tv show The Girls Next Door and Holly's World, which followed the lives of Holly, Bridget, and Kendra and Holly's move to Las Vegas after leaving the mansion. Holly was my favorite, with Bridget a very close second (Kendra was too damn annoying for my taste - that laugh alone is like nails on a chalkboard to me). So I jumped at the chance to read Holly's story about her time in and after living in the Playboy cult.

And cult is the best way I can describe her experience as part of the Playboy image/marketing scheme circa 1999-2010. There were rules and politics, all enshrined to feed the bloated ego of a fading icon. I always got the impression that Holly was a lot smarter about the situation and the relationships that surrounded her than the tv show or Playboy PR machine would portray her as. I didn't buy her "love and devotion" to the old man, especially when she had more emotion and connection with Bridget or Mary (Hefner's long time secretary) in a brief scene than in all the PR stunts. And I was right; she is smart, business savvy, and has quite the work ethic. She had enough good sense to avoid the hard drugs and prostitution ring, yet emotionally and mentally broken enough to stay for nine years (seven of which she was a main girlfriend) in a cycle of abuse. She owns up to her decisions to move into the mansion and every decision afterwards. However, she also has no problem naming names and burning bridges.  I was pleasantly surprised to know that Bridget and Holly remain close friends to this day. The fact that Holly and Kendra are on the outs with each other is a healthy decision on Holly's part.

If you are a devoted HH/Playboy fan, you may see Holly as bitter, since Hef does not come out of this book looking good at all (and neither does Criss Angel). For me, it just validated that the good PR he gets is a complete control and fabrication of any and all situations. The financial mess that Playboy and HH is in now was pretty known to Holly and Bridget back when they lived in the mansion.

As far as the use of Alice in Wonderland theme to tie the book together, I think it was well done. Alice is a dark story dressed up as a children's fantasy story; likewise, Holly's time with Playboy was a dark story dressed up in sex and glamour. 4 stars and here's hoping Bridget writes a tell-all too.

Took the kids on a library crawl - the town library and both bases' libraries, with a quick ice cream break to help power us through. My April reading list just got a little longer.

I also took a couple of days for a reading break since I finished (mostly) my March reading list. My brain needed the break. Tomorrow is a new day and the start of a new month, so I am ready to get back into reading.

Books bought for my personal library:

1. Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles novella) by Marissa Meyer. Adding to the TLC in my personal TBR. Just need the last two books.

2. Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David Von Drehle.

Library Haul:

3. Londonistan by Melanie Phillips. Non-fiction about terrorism and extremism in London in the wake of the July 7th bombings (2005). I was stationed here in the UK the first time when the attacks happened (just one day after it was announced London won the bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics). The entire base went into real world lock down for 24 hours afterwards. This happened just two months after I returned from my first deployment to Iraq. Needless to say, I was a young(ish), single, scared Airmen so I passed on this book when it first came out.

4. Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison. I admit to being a fan of the show The Girls Next Door and the spinoff Holly's World. Madison was my favorite.

5. Yes, My Accent is Real: And Some Other Things I Haven't Told You by Kunal Nayyar. I love Nayyar and his performance as Dr. Raj Koothrappali on the show The Big Bang Theory.

6. Beezus and Ramona, Ramona the Pest, and Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary. For my new reading project.

Happy Reading.

*bookish meme created by Moonlight Reader

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. If you ever wondered what life as a Playboy Bunny was like, then this is definitely a must read. 

Sure, at first I thought - Hell, yes! I'll take the $1000 a week clothing allowance (um can you say shop the clearance section and stash the rest of the cash? LOL), free room and board, brand new leased car (apparently Hef was too smart to actually buy his girls a car. He didn't want them to run off. Damn! :( ) but according to Holly Madison, this arrangement is pure hell and torture!

Holly recounts the "horrors" she endured: a partner who belittled her and her appearance, constantly cheated on her, and brace yourselves - actually made her have sex with him!!!

Oh the humanity!!! What has the world come to?? How terrible when faced with the reality that there is no such thing as free money. That you ACTUALLY have to do something in return when you get a Sugar Daddy. *sobs* 

But put aside all the amazing world trips, luxury accommodations, LOUIS VUITTON luggage!!! *faints* Yes, all that is nothing compared to the horrors of wait for it--- a forced 9PM curfew!

I mean sure everything sounds so glamorous, but a curfew at 9pm? That's just the last straw. I mean the night is barely starting and I don't go to bed until easily 11pm. Damn! I just couldn't live life like that. No wonder Holly is so understandably scarred from such a harrowing experience. 

Still, all the perks? *thinks about it* Could I fake being asleep by 9? You know be in bed but still be on my Kindle? If so, -thanks for the warning, Holly, but I'll think I'll take my chances. Open up a room for me at the mansion, Hef! LOL

P.S. There's also lots of shade thrown about her relationship with Criss Angel. AND even more shade at Kendra Wilkenson and almost every other person Holly's ever interacted with. The only one who gets off scott free is Bridget. It was a bit much - though I enjoyed every salacious moment of it. 

The only thing I was disappointed with was that she married someone (after she got pregnant) who was totally off the radar. Some promoter or something. I was all What???

Not a CEO or a business owner, prince - something that I can print on a t-shirt and say, I survived a 9pm curfew but now I'm married to a prince, Bitch! Or something??! Ugh :(

Down the Rabbit Hole features: 

• erotica
• anal sex
• menage
• f/m/f
• f/f
• autobiography
• suspense

Julie just started reading...