How to Be a Movie Star

How to Be Series, Book 2

By: TJ Klune

Narrated by: Michael Lesley

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Josiah Erickson wants to be a movie star. The problem with that is so does half of Los Angeles. But he's on his way, what with memorable roles as a TV show background cadaver and a guy in a commercial for herpes medication. All he needs is his big break. And that break may come in the form of a novelist who goes by the enigmatic name of Q-Bert.  

Q-Bert, who is ready to make his directorial debut in a film Josy would be perfect for. Q-Bert, who Josy may or may not have a friend-crush on, and potentially something more. Being demisexual can be confusing.  

From the City of Angels to the small mountain town of Abby, Oregon, Josy will give his all to make sure his dreams come true - even the ones he never thought possible.  

Contains mature themes.

©2019 TJ Klune (P)2019 Tantor

BUY THIS SERIES. PERIOD.

There was nothing I didn't love about this book. There's not a single thing I would change. I have literally listened to this on almost repeat for five days. I've listened to it 3 whole times.

Michael Lesley is absolutely fantastic.

I love these characters. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK! It was like bathing my brain in sunshine. 💓

How to Be a Movie Star is a happy, fun, no angst story told in Josy's single POV, and is almost impossibly sweet, with a fantastic (little wink to the fans) ending. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Combination of Klune and Lesley Never Fails

TJ Klune is already my favorite author of books with LGBT+ characters. When you add the wonderful narration of Michael Lesley, it makes for an incredible experience. Of course this story will make you laugh and give you all the feels. That goes without saying with a book by TJ Klune. The story and characters alone are magical. This is how you do a consent-based romance. Michael Lesley's amazing talents bring these wonderful characters to life. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Q-Bert & Josaih, a match made in Abby

4.5 - 5 stars for book and narration.
Josiah Erickson is another amazing character from the mind of TJ Klune. He ranks so close to Gustavo Tiberius in epicness.
I am not a stoner and so some of this is not in my understanding, but it is still that zany Abby in Oregon and all the wonderful people that make this another winner in my mind. Sometimes it almost seems as if Klune uses the old Mad Libs from my childhood to create the fantastical places, situations, characters, etc that make up the stories from Abby. At times I thought I recognized Dr. Scott from Rocky Horror Picture Show and several other potential homages to past surreal characters.
The actual romance is so sweet, as is the continuation of Casey and Gustavo's relationship as well.
As the subtitle is called (How to Be, #2) and with such a large cast of unique characters that have not fully resolved, I am hoping that inspiration will occur for TJ and we will again be inextricable drawn to Abby again. Of course that will be a re listen to #1 and #2 again.

How to be awesome

Take TJ beautifully written story +Michale Lesley narration = hours of grins,giggles and guffaws. The combo is awesome. Well worth your time

Hilarious story but confusing voices distracted me

So first off let me say that How to be a Normal Person by TJ Klune might be my favorite story of all time. I loved it in audio and listen to it repeatedly. I also love and adore the story Tell Me it's Real by TJ Klune and it's another go-to fave for both reading and audio. This is why I struggled with the audio version of this story. The narrator who did Tell Me it's Real is the one for this book (Michael Lesley) and when he does the voices for the characters they sound JUST LIKE the ones from Tell Me it's Real. So when Gustavo speaks he sounds like Vince Taylor from TMIR. Serge sounds just like the waiter Santiago from TMIR, and the regular reading narration voice sounds an awful lot like Sandy from TMIR. My brain did not like that at all. I think it's a shame that the narrator for How to Be a Normal Person did not do this audiobook--it would have been quite a bit better.

Michael Lesley is a good narrator but he doesn't do a great job of making the character voices distinctive enough in this reading. There were multiple times I was confused about who was speaking as the voices did not have enough distinction. For example, when Xander and Josiah had conversations the two voices were too close to be distinguished from one another. That made me stop listening to the story and start thinking to myself, "who just said that?" In my opinion that's not good narration. I also thought that the voices that were unique sounded like other characters I have heard him do in other stories and that was also distracting.

So overall, loved the story. Loved getting a chance to catch up with beloved characters from other stories. Did not like the choice of narrators for this one.

Audiobook was amazing

I might actually lose sleep over the ending. Looking forward to the next installment in the series.

a feel good story with amazing narration

Michael Lesley is my favorite narrator and he gives a wonderful performance putting his own special spin on the Abby, Oregon gang.

Simply the best!

First, I adore everything TJ Klune writes, and everything Michael Lesley narrates. And even with a different narrator on the 1st book in this duology, I still adored it too. But there’s just something extra special about this 2nd book. At least for me. It just feels more personally meaningful to me, probably because of the Quincy/Q-Bert character and his struggles with depression and anxiety. Klune was truly authentic in his writing about it, and it will most likely speak to anyone else who’s ever struggled with mental health issues. And yes, while this book deals with these sometimes-dark themes, it also has so much levity and sunshine and humor from all the other characters and situations. This one is definitely a gem and so worthy of your credit or cash!

Loved this one

Amazing stories with happy feel good vibes! Make you laugh out loud funny and just the best characters one could imagine! Love this author so much !!!

One of the best audiobooks I've listened to.

Is it possible to love a sequel more than the first? Yes, this book is everything my heart needed.

Another Masterpiece!

I fell in love with the main character Josiah from the get go, and was thrilled when Gustavo Tiberius and Casey - both from the previous book -were included too.
The story, as always with TJ Klune, was not only fun and quirky, but it also had an underlying message, to raise awareness of the daily struggle that many people with mental health issues face. This really hit home for me, and helped me realise that I am not alone, and that it is ok to just be me.
If you are looking for a book that will make you laugh, cry and generally leave you feeling good, then this book is for you.

Charming but hard to follow

As with How to be a Normal Person, I felt this was not great literature but presented charming, loveable characters and a fresh and utopian representation of asexuality. The narrator was very hard to follow. At first I thought I'd have to stop listening. Luckily, the way he voiced the characters became endearing, but the rest of the narration was appalling. He spoke incredibly fast and paused in the wrong places. I actually checked to see if I was listening at double speed.

Absolutely, definitely marvellous

I listened to ‘How to be a normal person’ & loved every minute of it. I was so pleased to find that there was a sequel. ‘How to be a movie star’ is the equal of its predecessor. The characters are just delightful. Funny, touching, sad, grumpy, all makes for a really heartwarming tale. I wholly encourage anyone to listen to this audiobook, but only after listening to the previous book. You’ll not be disappointed.

Eventually the good stuff

A follow on to 'How to be a Normal Person'. The writing is quick comic and at times emotional and I had a great time following the characters grow and evolve. A good untypical romance that complements the former story.

A disappointing follow-up

The second book in this series came as a bit of a disappointment after How To Be A Normal Person. The story is full of TJ Klune's trademark cooky humour but the characters and plot are a little thin and the jokes start to feel forced. And whatever charm the story has is butchered by the narrator, who kills the flow with odd, breathless pauses and melodramatic sighs. His voice work is particularly terrible, making it impossible to tell who is speaking during dialogue exchanges and rendering all characters virtually unlikeable. I have no idea why they chose to use him after the narrator of the first book did such an excellent job.

Amazing

If this was a song it would be our anthem. I cannot convey how much this book touched me.

just as good as the first book

this will be another book that I will put on repeat. I absolutely love the storyline and the characters. been laughing so many times that I keep getting annoyed looks from my husband. tiny issue with the narration, he portrayed the characters perfectly, but it was sometimes a bit difficult to follow who's talking. I already listened to it twice though, second time round it was not that bad. I'm hoping there will be more books in this series.

Josy!

Not a long review as most people have said it all. But Josy, never have I loved a character more. He needs a series all to himself. Actually Gus and Josy, call “The internet mis-adventures of Gus and Josy”. Oh and Mitzy, it is within your wheel house girl! This book is just full of happy’s and fantastic narration. Thank you TJ Kline and Michael Lesley.