House of Transformation by Astrea Taylor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


"House of Transformation" was a look about a fictionalized pop-star, Ananda Dawn, and all the ups and downs of her fame as she prepares to recollect herself before she is set to perform at The Grammys. Constantly hounded by the paparazzi for her gossip-worthy antics, Ananda suddenly reemerges in the life of struggling psychologist and former best friend, Mag Woods, who has written something of a tell-all book about her prior relationship with the troubled starlet. What ensues next is a detailed look at the history between these two women--from their turbulent friendship over the years as they attempted to make a living as young artists, to the drugs and addiction that would ultimately ruin so many lives and relationships between them.

Author Astrea Taylor expertly navigates between the past and present throughout this novel, and even includes a couple intriguing excerpts of Mag's tell-all book, "Analyzing Ananda." With excellent writing, this novel reads like literary fiction that focuses on very contemporary issues, which is something I personally haven't read much of. Society has a preoccupation with watching the biggest stars fall from grace. With "House of Transformation", Taylor gives us a peek at what such a downfall looks like from behind the eyes of the star going through it. Although I felt this book occasionally had a meandering plot, and the story lost steam in the end for me--becoming a bit cliché in moments--I still appreciated the story Taylor set out to tell, and character-driven nature of it.

Furthermore, not only did Taylor set out to create a dialogue on how society treats troubled celebrities, but the profits of this book are being used to support a shelter for homeless youth and runaways called Daybreak. So kudos to Astrea Taylor!



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