Audible Wednesdays: Down the Rabbit Hole, By Holly Madison

So, I'm not a fan of tell-all books and I'm not really even a fan of autobiographies or even biographies. I'm not sure why, but I never got into them.

However, categorized in "weird things Jordan likes," I am a huge Girls Next Door Fan. When the show aired on E! in 2005, it was predicted that women wouldn't like the show, because it was related to Playboy. However, as my best friend Eliza and I discovered, we really enjoyed the show, following the lives of the blond bombshells of Holly, Bridget and Kendra, who were girlfriends of 80-something Hugh Hefner. It's strange, because it shouldn't work. The show was about 3 women, who look like what we were all pressured to be (or some form of it) in a polygamous relationship with a much, much older man with a reputation as a womanizer, living in a mansion in California without pretty much a care in the world. The show documented their first ever playboy pictorial along with befriending other beautiful women flown in to either test shoot or shoot their pictorials.

But I think why women liked the show so much was because inadvertently, the show actually documented the women's friendships with each other, and how noncompetitive they were with the 1 man that they were dating. I know Eliza and I liked the show for many reasons, but along with the fact that it seemed like all the women, for the most part, got along on the show, it capitalized on their personalities.

I have the first season, and sometimes actually put it on to watch it. After reading this book, I may get the other seasons (minus season 6) and possibly even Holly's World.

When the book came out, I put it on a few wish lists and went on my way. I always have a stack of books to read, and so it wasn't high on my list. However, when Audible did one of their sales, it popped up, and instantly I bought it. $6.00? Of course!

After I was badly burned by Magnus Chase, I was worried that Holly reading her own book was also going to suck. However, she did a great job reading her work. It felt like she was over for a gossip fest, drinking wine and going on about her crazy life. I was always fascinated with Girls' Next Door, and I wondered if their life was as peachy as they showed it to be. I'm not sure what I was expecting, only to hear that he was a monster and the girls were miserable for most of their time with Hef. It was a bit satisfying that Holly called Hef on all of his shit.

We know realities shows, for the most part, are scripted now, but back then, we were none the wiser. It was well orchestrated how Hef looked, but what we should have seen was a senile, old man who loved to keep his ladies controlled and docile.

I found, for the most part, Holly to be fair on her rendition of everyone, including her. The only person that she didn't say anything terrible about was Bridget, who I bet is a sweetheart and a good friend. I really related to Holly, especially during her time trying to figure herself out, and having such low self esteem being with a guy who controlled her.

I was surprised by Kendra and Holly feud that festered between them. Holly seemed to be fair, casting her in both positive and negative lights during the course of their friendship. It was sad that it ended that way, but Holly didn't seem too upset over it.

Overall, it was a great book and I was glad that Holly climbed her way out of those situations to find her dream man and now have a kid. I thought it was a bit cheesy at the end, but her happiness seeps through, and she deserves it.