Hilarious ... A shrewd, sardonic look at Hollywood movie making and how its mythmaking hacks can systematically cheapen and even destroy important stories in their quest to make money.
Filled with wit and more than few laugh-out-loud moments, Langbein’s tale alternates between Penelope’s own adventures and chapters from her novel, making for a downright delightful debut novel.
Langbein... wrings some predictable laughs from the co-writers’ cringingly awful suggestions, but this is familiar stuff; Penny’s wistful recollections of how much she loved teaching are fresher and ring truer. It takes too long for the pace, and readers’ interest, to pick up as some mysterious edits to the master script convince Penny that Sylvia has swum out of her novel to wreak revenge on her enemies. The ambiguous two-part ending teasingly hints that this is possible, and Langbein gives the appealing Penny a shot at happiness on her own terms to wrap up this sharply well-written, but only fitfully engaging tale.
Amusing if overstuffed ... Though Sylvia’s story mirrors that of Penny, who also holds a grudge against her wealthy father, the links between Hollywood satire and earnest sci-fi tale are generally weak. Still, the voice-driven narration makes Penelope a companionable protagonist. Though it doesn’t all hang together, it has its charms.
