The Vegas Diaries

"The #1 New York Times bestselling author returns with this candid, humorous, and captivating memoir chronicling her journey toward reinvention and self-acceptance."

When I first heard that Holly Madison released her memoir Down the Rabbit Hole last year, I immediate put it on hold at the library and patiently waited for my turn since I was number 50 in line. I could not wait to read it. I loved watching Girls Next Door and by far Holly was my favorite. The first book was rather shocking, to find out all of the crazy things that went on while she was at the Mansion, but it ended with her happy ending of finding her Prince Charming and starting a family with him.

Last month I was scrolling through my Goodreads for books that were set to come out from authors that I have marked books read by them. Holly Madison happened to be one that popped up. She had a second memoir coming out - The Vegas Diaries. I was a bit confused at first, quite honestly, because it seemed like Holly had covered most of the highlights of her life in her first memoir, but I figured I'd give this book a go since there wasn't a wait to get ahold of it at the library. 

The Vegas Diaries covers a lot of things that Down the Rabbit Hole never touched on, so overall it was a decent read. She went more in to depth about her time spent in Vegas, failed relationships, and her time heading in the hit show Peepshow. I'll be honest though, it took me about 100 pages before I was able to really start getting in to the book, but after that I flew through the book.

The theme that really resonates with you in this book is overcoming not only barriers that have been put in place by others, but overcoming barriers that you have put in your own way. Holly left the Mansion with not a clue as to what she wanted to do, and felt that there was a huge stigma against her because of her lifestyle choices. She rose above all of this by becoming a successful headliner of a very popular Vegas show Peepshow plus starred in her own reality series Hollysworld. 

There were a lot of ups and downs throughout this book, I think my most favorite parts to read were when she talked about her time at Peepshow and her relationship with a much younger guy who was really the most supportive partner she'd ever had.

Overall I'd recommend this book if you're a fan of Holly. If you're not, this book may not be for you. I've been a fan of Holly since first watching her back in I believe 2005 when I saw Girls Next Door for the very first time.