Ms. Graham! You are not a bad writer! Hey, look, it's better than saying "don't give up your day job", right?
Because she's way better than that. I love her (downright adore) her as an actress, which is why I read her autobiography, and then re-watched all of Gilmore Girls, added Parenthood to the list of "must watch someday", and then put this book on my to-read shelf. I wouldn't have done all that if I didn't think she was a decent writer as well as actress.
But she's a newbie to novel writing. It wasn't that the story didn't have delightful plot mechanisms or strong characterizations. It's that her characters weren't consistent. For example, how Franny acts in front of casting agents vs. how she acts on the red carpet seemed inconsistent. She was alternately very sure and completely unsure of herself - and both are actually the act of acting! Perhaps that is what it is like before you land your first solid gig, but it felt very odd to me (Penelope made way more sense). Also, when she does the extended acting scene with James Franklin (as one of my favorite Goodreads reviewers put it, that "douchnozzle"), the progress of that scene didn't mesh at ALL with his personality.
Also it felt a little like she was providing newbie actors some tips. Here's what it's going to be like doing a commercial. They may binder clip your shirt in the back! They'll act like you're a star which you won't be used to! They may ask you to be naked (ok, not in commercials)! Figure out whether you want to be or not! Franny is always musing on giving master classes when she's famous, and it feels sometimes like this novel was Graham's master class.
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