Advika and the Hollywood Wives

By: Kirthana Ramisetti

Narrated by: Rukhmani K Desai

Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of Dava Shastri's Last Day comes a gripping tale of marriage, scandal, fame, and identity as a woman grapples with life as the new wife of a renowned Hollywood film producer—perfect for listeners of Taylor Jenkins Reid.

At age 26, Advika Srinivasan considers herself a failed screenwriter. To pay the bills and keep her mind off of the recent death of her twin sister, she’s taken to bartending A-list events, including the 2015 Governors Ball, the official afterparty of the Oscars. There, in a cinematic dream come true, she meets the legendary Julian Zelding—a film producer as handsome as Paul Newman and ten times as powerful—fresh off his fifth best picture win. Despite their 41-year age difference, Advika falls helplessly under his spell, and their evening flirtation ignites into a whirlwind courtship and elopement. Advika is enthralled by Julian’s charm and luxurious lifestyle, but while Julian loves to talk about his famous friends and achievements, he smoothly changes the subject whenever his previous relationships come up. Then, a month into their marriage, Julian’s first wife—the famous actress Evie Lockhart—dies, and a tabloid reports a shocking stipulation in her will. A single film reel and $1,000,000 will be bequeathed to “Julian’s latest child bride” on one condition: Advika must divorce him first.

Shaken out of her love fog and still-simmering grief over the loss of her sister—and uneasy about Julian’s sudden, inexplicable urge to start a family—Advika decides to investigate him through the eyes and experiences of his exes. From reading his first wife’s biography, to listening to his second wife’s confessional albums, to watching his third wife’s Real Housewives-esque reality show, Advika starts to realize how little she knows about her husband. Realizing she rushed into the marriage for all the wrong reasons, Advika uses the info gleaned from the lives of her husband’s exes to concoct a plan to extricate herself from Julian once and for all.

©2023 Kirthana Ramisetti (P)2023 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"Kirthana Ramisetti is a gifted storyteller, and Advika and the Hollywood Wives is such a gift. The glitz and underlying darkness of Hollywood make for a setting as complex and compelling as Ramisetti's characters, and every page of this smart, sharply-observed novel rings with insight—and with heart."—Meena Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"I could not put this book down. Advika is the kind of heroine we've all been waiting for: readers will laugh with her and cheer her on as she opens our eyes to the truths of grief and sisterhood, of friendship and love, of ambition and fame. Kirthana Ramisetti has a rare gift for penning page-turners full of wisdom, nuance, and depth, and I know I am not alone in saying that I will read any book she writes."—Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country

"A Cinderella tale with a dark twist. Beneath the glamorous exterior of this page-turner is a thoughtful story about female empowerment and what happens when promises of happily ever after don't quite meet fairy tale expectations."—Margarita Montimore, USA Today bestselling author

Endless

Could have been half as long and would have been twice as good. Redundant is an understatement.

Exasperating

I really wanted to like this book, but it was overly predictable and the primary character was portrayed in such a way that I found myself annoyed. Very little character development relative to her friends. Just not for me.

It was just okay

I had high hopes because this has a good premise. Just kinda fell flat, all the characters other than FMC and MMC were 1 dimensional. I was not terrible and it wasn’t memorable either.

Did not like this book

Many parts of the story were dragged out when they did not need to be. The only character I really liked was Olive. Not many big twists of shocking moments was slow overall. If I didn’t listen to it on audio there’s no way I would have finished it.

Terrible protagonist

This book was insufferable. Terrible main character who makes very poor decisions and plays victim. I could not finish.

Protagonist- insufferable

Finished the audiobook cause I paid for it. Wish in hadn’t. Really disliked the narcissistic personality under the guise of self awareness.