Published: Feb. 03, 2011
Words: 101,795 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781933826615

Short description

Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she fights for those she loves, but she's never learned to fight for herself. Melody is cold, calculating, and driven by the desire to better herself. These compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of the same man in this story about love, acceptance, and redemption.

Extended description

Thirty-five-year-old Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she's willing to fight for those she loves, but she's never learned to fight for herself. Eighteen-year-old Melody is cold and calculating, and she's driven by the desire to better herself. As these compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of 25-year-old Nathan, he becomes increasingly confused and torn between them.

Nathan is Melody's English teacher, and after he saves her from being raped, she becomes attached. Melody longs for the affection she's never felt, so she involves people in her self-invented drama, making sure she is at once the star and the director. Meanwhile, Samantha is newly married to Nathan. But Samantha has hang-ups about motherhood and lingering feelings for her ex. To make sense of the world, Sam relates her life to the themes of her favorite movies, while she independently makes a documentary to jump-start her non-existent film care.. (Read more) Thirty-five-year-old Samantha acts without thinking. Her heart is huge while her sense of purpose is small; she's willing to fight for those she loves, but she's never learned to fight for herself. Eighteen-year-old Melody is cold and calculating, and she's driven by the desire to better herself. As these compelling yet deeply flawed women battle for the affections of 25-year-old Nathan, he becomes increasingly confused and torn between them.

Nathan is Melody's English teacher, and after he saves her from being raped, she becomes attached. Melody longs for the affection she's never felt, so she involves people in her self-invented drama, making sure she is at once the star and the director. Meanwhile, Samantha is newly married to Nathan. But Samantha has hang-ups about motherhood and lingering feelings for her ex. To make sense of the world, Sam relates her life to the themes of her favorite movies, while she independently makes a documentary to jump-start her non-existent film career.

Stylistically influenced by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner, Starring in the Movie of my Life is told alternately from both Samantha's and Melody's points-of-view and relates two complete yet combined stories about love, acceptance, and redemption. It speaks to our universal desire to be saved by the ones we love, and the monumental effort required to save ourselves.
(Less)

Tags

romance, love, marriage, redemption, movies, acceptance, romance and love, motherhood, love and friendship, highschool romance, love and relationships, love and forgiveness, highschool teaching, love addiction

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Videos

Starring in the Movie of My Life Book Trailer
A book trailer for a new novel about relationships and redemption.

Reviews

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Review by: Bonnie on Jan. 03, 2012 :
Starring in the Movie of My Life was one of those books that I didn’t want to stop reading once I picked it up. Osterkamp is a beautiful writer and wonderfully captures the essence of the two female leads. Everything from their thought process to word choice feels authentic and accurate for their ages. I was amazed how well she was able to transition between each narrator as well as past and present events; not once did I find myself confused or lost. The pace of this novel was perfect and I quickly became engrossed in the novel and tied up in the complications of these character’s lives.

In my opinion one sign of a great novel, or a great author, is the ability to create characters that not only force me to care about them, but make me forget that this is a work of fiction. They need to feel real and authentic for me to completely lose myself and the fact that Osterkamp was able to do this so well puts her at the top of my list of favorite authors from 2011. Melody was a villain; a manipulative, immature and selfish villain who was also raised by a manipulative, immature and selfish mother who provided her with no moral compass. As the novel went on I went from hating Melody to feeling sad for her and the path that her life taken. Sam was also one of those characters who I started off disliking. She seemed so lost and aimless, two qualities that I do not usually appreciate in a main character. As the novel moved on and I got to know her and her past a little better I actually started to appreciate her more. My favorite parts of the novel involving Sam were the flashbacks into her past – it made the person she was in the present make so much more sense.

The way that Osterkamp tied the two storylines together was brilliant and I truly was not expecting to find so much depth and emotion based on the book description. This book is about so much more than a high school girl trying to get her young teacher to fall in love with her. Not only does she write about Melody’s obsession with her teacher, but readers are also given a glimpse into the past that caused Melody to behave the way she did. I loved how Melody grew as a person towards the end of the novel and was really happy with the direction that she was headed in. I wasn’t as thrilled with Sam’s ending, it felt a little obvious and I think I would have preferred to see Sam standing on her own two feet for once. It started to look as though she was moving in the direction of becoming a stronger, more confidant woman and I felt like the ending diminished that a little bit.

Starring in the Movie of my Life is a truly engaging read that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys dramas with well fleshed out characters and storylines. The narration from multiple points of view was done extremely well and really allowed the readers to get inside the heads of these two very different women. It was impossible to not become engrossed in their stories and root for a happy ending for each of them.

I received a review copy of Starring in the Movie of my Life from the author (thank you!!!) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars, originally posted on www.handsandhome.ca
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Judy Cox on July 20, 2011 :
A story of two different women and their lives. I enjoyed it. I am sure alot of women will bond with one or the other women and their lives. I know I did. I would recommend it.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: John Poindexter on June 30, 2011 :
A great story about two women and their lives. You will enjoy reading it and learning how they turn out.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: C Demore on June 27, 2011 :
"She's simply been starring in her own life-movie, and it was in conflict with mine" (298).

Laurel Osterkamp's novel, Starring in the Movie of My Life tells the story of two seemingly different women who have one thing in common, Nate. At 35, Samantha is ten years Nate's senior but the newly weds' love seems fresh and easy. Samantha has about 15 years of baggage that she is still working through; but too many years with an immature, drug using and dealing boyfriend, who still lives in the same apartment building, will do that. Meanwhile, Melody is a high school senior who has given up on being popular and is investing her energy in snagging her Knight in Shinning Armour and teacher, Mr. Linden (Nate).

I greatly enjoyed this novel. I connected with Samantha's character immediately. Being a woman who is staring down 30 and arguably have accomplished little, while many of my peers have gone on ahead, I understood Samantha's feelings of being stuck, left behind, or wasting time. However, Melody took a little more time for me to understand. Her scheme to 'steal' Nate made me want to smack her. Melody's lack of empathy or compassion even made me hate her at times. I had to keep reminding myself that she was a product of an abusive mother and this helped explain her actions. Yet, even though Melody's background may explain her behaviour, it doesn't give her licence to be a terrible person. And that thought brought me to the realization of how much this book affected me. Melody was deep enough that I wanted to help her. She wasn't just some bratty, evil, manipulative teenager. She had a complexity to her that over-road any definitive desire to write her off.

The third person is this love triangle, Nate, was the most frustrating for me. At first I was really rooting for him, but it became difficult because as the story progressed I never knew what he was thinking. I knew how both women felt about him and what they thought about him and even what they thought he thought about them. But the reader never knows for sure what is going through his mind. Ultimately, I was disappointed in him and the course he takes in the story.

Starring in the Movie of My Life is about second chances at any age. It's also about discovering how to fulfil your needs without expecting an outside source, especially a relationship, to magically fix everything. I can understand why Nate's character was ultimately silent because in a way, his personality or motivation was not important. He was a symbol for Samantha and Melody, only meaning one thing, escape. They both thought he was their salvation from circumstances they wanted out of. It may be easier to let someone else save you but then you are without the tools to save yourself the next time around.

As a random aside I just wanted to mention how I chuckled at every description of Melody's part-time job at Subway. Having worked for several years at Subway I can say the description was spot on! The contempt for the abusive, overly entitled customer makes me think that author has had her own Sandwich Artist experience!

Starring in the Movie of My Life is a duel narrative that creates a multifaceted understanding of the characters and circumstances that rejects any concept of wholly good or wholly evil. The novel has a quick flow making this an intriguing read. The story is constantly moving from one present day issue or crisis to then uncovering a past, back-story element. I really enjoyed reading this novel and look forward to more of Laurel's work.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Angi on June 21, 2011 :
Overall this was a good book and a worth-while read. The characters and their stories brink a lot of nitty-gritty that you don't often see in books.

However, I did feel like the book drug a bit - or rather moved along kind of slowly. I really liked part of the ending, seeing Melody find something that really mattered; but what happened with the rest of the characters left me quite disappointed. There was nothing redeeming or happy about the train wreck that was Samantha/Nate/Colin.

Overall it was a good and worthwhile read.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Jennifer McDonald on June 13, 2011 :
What I liked:
The author gives us relatable characters. Each character has flaws and that is what makes them real. The two female leads, Samantha and Melody, tell the story. Each chapter alternates between the two points of view. The story works well because of the back and forth. The reader learns things about Samantha and then learns things about Melody. All the while Mr. Linden is somewhere in the middle. The story is about Samantha who is ten years older than her husband. Her husband is a high school teacher who being a nice guy saves Melody from being attacked. That one event sets the story in motion. While each character is living their role in life they are also moving the story along through their thoughts and emotions. Samantha is married but still has an attachment to her ex, Collin. Melody is a senior with a not so good home life. The reader understands the characters motivations and information is given to the reader at just the right time. Just when I would start to question something the answer was there. The author tied everything up quite nicely to give the reader a satisfying ending. I liked that there were references to movies but they did not take away from the story. Sometimes a movie was part of a past memory that was being told. For example, Samantha recalls the first time she met Collin. It was at a showing of When Harry Met Sally. Sometimes in the story Samantha makes comparisons to what is happening in her life to what happens in the same situations in movies. The story made me think about how we all are starring in the role of a lifetime. Our lives are our roles. We can make the story of our lives anything we want by the choices that are made and that is just what each character learns throughout the book.
What I didn’t like:
I was secondhand embarrassed while reading some of the book. It’s when someone is doing something they should be embarrassed about but they aren’t but you feel embarrassed for them. That is how I felt about Melody a lot of the time. Even though Melody is a teenager I felt that what she was doing was over the top. I understand that her actions were what made the story work but I just wanted to knock some sense into the girl. I didn’t like the character of Nate Linden. He seemed to me to be a push over. It was like he had no control over his life and just let things happen to him. I actually started rooting for Samantha’s ex Collin. Even with his flaws he was more endearing to me than Nate Linden.
This book was one of my first summer reads and I was not disappointed. It had a great story line with great characters. I actually left the book thinking about my life and where I am at. That’s what the characters in the book did at the end. After the fall out they stepped back, looked at life and made the necessary changes to get where they wanted.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Susie Kline on June 01, 2011 : (no rating)
When Laurel Osterkamp approached me about reviewing her book, Starring in the Movie of My Life, for the Blog Tour de Troops this weekend, she told me it didn't fit my preferred genres of mystery or thriller. I am so glad she decided to ask me any way because this is an excellent book.

Chapters alternate between the stories of Melody, a high school senior, and Samantha, a 35 year old newly wed. At first it's difficult to determine why these two stories are being told, but it soon becomes clear. It is also clear that there's no way these stories are going to end pleasantly.

This book has it all: problems with mothers, problems with the opposite sex, marital problems, crushes, surrogate pregnancy, to name some. But this doesn't mean this book is all over the place. It's tight and concise and you find yourself cheering for both women.

I don't like to cry, but this book made me sob like a baby. And I didn't mind. There were some button-pushing themes here. I wonder how much of these Laurel has experienced herself because she captured the angst and difficulty with such clarity.

Do yourself a favor and pick up Starring in the Movie of My Life. It's a fast read because you want to keep going to find out what happens. Actually, because you need to find out what's happening!

Laurel is making it super easy for you to read this book. Anyone who comments below will be sent a code to receive the book for free from Smashwords and will earn a book for the troops!

This review originally appeared on www.motherhoot.com
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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