Life in High Def

Griffin’s contemporary romance suffers from an abundance of purple prose, obvious villains, and an unlikable heroine. Reilly Ransome, a closeted lesbian actress who’s just been nominated for her second Oscar at the tender age of 23, is the typical paparazzi-stalked celebrity. She fills her days with scripts and fittings and her nights with cocaine and alcohol as she flits from party to party using her gay costar as a beard and meeting her steady girlfriend on the side. Her life falls apart when she awakens at the Santa Monica Pier with no recollection of the night before and learns she has killed a man while driving drunk. She’s sentenced to two years in prison. Reilly becomes somewhat more self-aware and charitable following her incarceration, but the narrative is too easy on her: her career booms and she reconnects with an attractive, lithe yoga instructor while making peace with family and friends, even those who would harm her. Griffin insistently ties loose ends into pretty bows, and this story feels as unrealistic as a movie set. [em](BookLife) [/em]