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American Star

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Jackie Collins' American Star is a love story for the nineties. At its heart are two extraordinary lovers, separated by tragic circumstances, yearning for each other, yet seemingly never able to be together again. Nick and Lauren can never forget each other. Teenage small-town lovers -- he from the wrong side of the tracks, she the prettiest girl in town -- their love was the town scandal, forbidden, sizzling and unforgettable, ending abruptly in a tragedy that sent them into separate orbits. Nick pursues his dream of acting, and after a series of wild adventures begins the slow rise that will make him one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Lauren goes to New York and enters the modeling world, surprising everyone with a career that takes off in a direction she never expected. American Star follows them both on their trips to fame, as Nick and Lauren, haunted by the secret they share, try to live without each other -- only to find they can't. American Star is a compelling story of love, sex and murder, set against the glamorous backgrounds of New York and Hollywood, as only Jackie Collins can tell it.

624 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

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1947 people want to read

About the author

Jackie Collins

227 books2,690 followers
There have been many imitators, but only Jackie Collins can tell you what really goes on in the fastest lane of all. From Beverly Hills bedrooms to a raunchy prowl along the streets of Hollywood; from glittering rock parties and concerts to stretch limos and the mansions of power brokers-Jackie Collins chronicles the real truth from the inside looking out.

Jackie Collins has been called a "raunchy moralist" by the late director Louis Malle and "Hollywood's own Marcel Proust" by Vanity Fair magazine. With over 500 million copies of her books sold in more than forty countries, and with some 30 New York Times bestsellers to her credit, Jackie Collins is one of the world's top-selling novelists. She is known for giving her readers an unrivalled insider's knowledge of Hollywood and the glamorous lives and loves of the rich, famous, and infamous. "I write about real people in disguise," she says. "If anything, my characters are toned down-the truth is much more bizarre."

Jackie Collins died of breast cancer Saturday, September 19, 2015. Jackie Collins, who had kept her illness secret, said recently that she believed in an afterlife, that she had no regrets and that she had emulated Frank Sinatra in that “I did it my way.”

Visit Jackie's website: www.jackiecollins.com
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/JackieJCollins
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/jackiecollins and Pinterest:
www.pinterest.com/jackiejcollins

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5 stars
1,517 (38%)
4 stars
1,222 (30%)
3 stars
918 (23%)
2 stars
245 (6%)
1 star
56 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
Profile Image for Precious Williams.
Author 34 books159 followers
December 4, 2009
I read this book a few weeks ago when I had grown enormously tired of 'literary' fiction and craved something sleazy, cheap and to-the-point. The sort of book I'd be almost afraid to be spotted reading in public.

One of my gripes with quite a bit of literary fiction is it seems to lack a plot. I find it hard to stay interested in rambling self-reflective tales about middle-class relationships. I like action, suspense, a healthy dose of crime is good too. For some reason I'd imagined that genre fiction and sleaze-tastic commercial fiction might be more focused on plot and less into navel-gazing. As it happens the plot in AMERICAN STAR was flimsy and utterly silly. But I liked the fact that most of the characters - protagonists and antagonists alike (in fact it was difficult to distinguish between the two!) were amoral, dirty, crazed and murderous. This novel was like ordering an enormous greasy pizza when you typically eat an organic vegan diet. Jackie Collins has a great imagination but you always get the impression she's just churning this stuff out so she can make even more cash. She's certainly not putting any soul into it, but in its way this sort of fiction can hit the spot. You might not want to indulge in it very often. You might not want anyone to even know you are reading it.

It was fun while it lasted!
Profile Image for April Wendall.
2 reviews3 followers
January 6, 2013
This book was an 'I-just-can't-put-it-down" kind of a read, a first in a long time for me! The story is gritty, evenly paced, and transitions nicely between the characters while neatly tying up most of the loose ends between the stories. The characters are strong and easily imaginable. Collins writing style is fluid and enchanting. I really loved this book, would recommend it to anyone. I placed it on my drama shelf, but it's so much more than a drama... It has some of everything: adventure, romance, chaos, excitement, sadness, rebellion, teen angst, growth... too much to list, and far too much that could be said but would be a spoiler. This book is a definite must read! I just finished it and I am re-reading it!!
Profile Image for Ruby.
587 reviews11 followers
September 14, 2020
Magnifique roman ! On a du mal à le lâcher tellement on est dedans. A lire !

Edit : Relecture, 13 ans après ! J'adore !
Profile Image for Dimitar Jovanovski.
301 reviews24 followers
January 3, 2020
Jackie Collins has this power to trap me while reading her books. This one, as most of her books, is a good dramatic novel - definitely not one of the best of Mrs. Collins, but sure a distraction from everyday life. I know that these are crappy trashy novels but that is what makes them fun and such brain candy. Too much drama, it became a little bit boring somewhere in the middle, but the beginning was interesting, small-town American life and how the two main characters fell in love. In my opinion The Santangelo Series is far far better then her standalone novels.
Profile Image for Ines Jlaiel.
115 reviews18 followers
July 18, 2022
I don’t usually like romance novels for many reasons, one of them is the lack of depth in the characters.

Usually love stories involves 2 people who love eachother and witness some challenges in their relationship, however, this novel is different.
The story takes place in the 70s
It follows the story of lauren, a high school sweetheart engaged to a popular guy who is kind of an asshole, she meets Nick who’s a rebel and was raised by an abusive father. An immediate spark happens between them but no matter how much they tried to be together they couldn’t, due to the social status.

Lauren and nick drifted apart,Nick moved to the city chasing the American dream, he wants to be an actor and he is determined to achieve his goal,years later he became one of the top hollywood actors, and lauren became a successful model.

But they were not happy with their lives, their pzths crosses a few times but due to some harsh circumstances they can’t be together.

The determination to success, to climb the social ladder, and to achieve the american dream is what I loved most about this novel, and it is definitely a heavy theme in the story.

Its almost a 700 pages long, but its fast paced and full of twists and turns.
36 reviews
October 28, 2012
Having sold more than 400 million copies of her novels, Jackie Collins needs no approval from me, but for what it's worth I think she is a really awful writer. Nevertheless, I did manage to finish this and I'll concede there is a lot of comfort in indulging in the fantasy lives of rich and famous people, hence the 3 stars for mindless entertainment. Having said that, this book could have been vastly improved by an editor. Some of the sentences are so bad you'd swear they were ghost-written by a teenage fan. Also, could she possibly squeeze any more random, fortunate accidents into her plot? Perfectly-timed tornadoes, accidental killings, car accidents - it wouldn't surprise me at all if she decided to use the second coming of Jesus Christ as a way to get one of her protagonists out of a jam.
Profile Image for Serena.
200 reviews
November 11, 2010
My neighbor lent this one to me. We'll see where it goes.

I am about 11 chapters in and this book has had sooooo many sexual references and scenes its crazy!!! Maybe I'm just so used to YA books now and those are all so vague with sex stuff. I'm in a grown up land now... lol~

This book was okay. It took forever to read it and then the ending wasn't even that great. I mean yes they ended up together but WTF Nick's little girl died.... I dunno. There was too much ridiculousness throughout the middle and then it just tapered down into nothingness. I think I would have to say I'm not a fan.
Profile Image for Chris.
474 reviews7 followers
July 26, 2014
I love Jackie Collins, and this book was yet another that I just oculdn't put down, until it was finished. It's sort of a Romeo/Juliet story with Nick and Lauren--you have to keep reading to see if they are ever able to get back together. Along the way the characters break out of their small town lives, and find their way to fame and fortune. I always love reading just how they get there. And then the author always puts in little ties to her other books. In this one, there is a mention of Panther Studios, and a character or two from previous novels, which is always fun to see.
Profile Image for Tracy Walters.
290 reviews8 followers
July 10, 2011
This book is a typical Jackie Collins book.....tragedy.....romance....amazing lifestyles....and lots of wild sex! I enjoyed the story and the way it was set up into 4 different parts. The characters are fun to get to know and the storylines are very entertaining........I was disappointed with the ending because it felt like Jackie was tired of writing the story and just wanted it to end so she just threw a stupid ending out there and left it at that.....otherwise it was a fun....easy read.
20 reviews
July 6, 2014
Suspense & romance, this book has it all! Couldn't put it down! Jackie Collins' controvercial novel in it's time due to the language not to mention the smut - a must have in this steamy novel!

The characters are based on actual celebrities, can you guess who?
Profile Image for Jessamyn Carter.
2 reviews
August 3, 2009
This was an amazing book; I could hardly put it down, and when I did, it was usually after reading it til 4 in the morning.
Profile Image for Joyci.
43 reviews7 followers
March 4, 2025
Trashy with twists and turns at every possible angle and lots of deaths to speed the plot along. Happier than most Jackie Collins novels in the sense of the ending, but still very much with the rape, doom, gloom and tragedy. But what would a Jackie Collins novel be without that? I was still wanting to know more about Pia, Nature Joey and other side characters who didn’t get the chance to fully realize their characters. Lots of sex
Profile Image for Heather in FL.
2,063 reviews
September 10, 2018
I'm pretty sure a read a Jackie Collins way back when, but I didn't really remember anything about it, and this one was free, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I mean, Jackie Collins has written a lot of books, so how could I go wrong? Well... I don't know if I just picked the wrong book or what, but this wasn't great for me. (I'm hearing Randy Jackson in my head as I typed that, lol.)

I wasn't a fan of her writing style... head-hopping all over the place. I'm surprised I didn't pull an eye muscle with how often I rolled my eyes. I realize that this was written a long time ago and was set in the 70s to the 90s, but I just can't believe that every single man in that book was a misogynistic asshole who had no problem taking advantage of women. Even forcing them when they've made it clear they're not interested. Even Nick, who was supposed to be likable. He was likable, to a point, but every time he was screwing other women to "get over Lauren," I was thinking he's just a pitiful little boy. And it seemed like most of the women were victims. Lauren ended up taking some control of her life, but she made some pretty shitty decisions along the way. And she was loyal to a fault... to Jimmy, to Nature, to Oliver... and she'd put her own happiness aside for everyone else. And then there were several other side stories... Joey and Cyndra. Annie. The Brownings. Sometimes it was hard keeping up with who was who and which story we'd hopped back into. I dunno. This just wasn't the story for me. I was glad everything worked out, but once it worked out, BAM it was done.
Profile Image for Nivi Engineer.
Author 3 books2 followers
July 13, 2017
The book is by no means fine literature. The plot is at once outlandish and predictable, most characters one-dimensional caricatures until the plot requires a little complexity. And then they're conveniently thinking just what the plot needs. The omniscient narrative jumps from character to character at will, although somehow managing to keep relatively obvious whose mind the narrative is digging into. Things just happen, then time jumps to another section and something else is happening and the reader is to just accept the change in state with a quick explanation. And at those explanations Collins "excels," insofar as the writing can excel at anything. The short sentences kept the story moving along, which was good, because honestly it didn't do to linger in any particular passage.

And yet. I kept reading. I had to know what would happen next. Call it a guilty pleasure, call it summer vacation, call it figuratively bludgeoning my brain to stop from rolling my eyes at the absurdity. But so help me, I read it, and I enjoyed it. I knew how it would end, I just didn't know exactly how. And that question, apparently, was enough to keep me turning pages. There's a lesson in there, I'm sure.
Profile Image for Harley.
19 reviews3 followers
June 16, 2011
American Star is a true love story, and quite different for a Jackie Collins novel. In all of her novel's the characters, male and female are all very independent and always lead their own lives. Her stereotypical genres are romantic and action and they also have a lot of passion and sex with in them... However American Star is different to the others. It still has the passion and lust, but it also produces moments that could make any girl go weak at the knees.

Nick, the hero, and Lauren, the heroine, are both fantastic characters that truly aodre and love each other. They are prevented through out their lives from being with one another for various issues, the usual that they are from different scoail backgrounds and so on, but they never stop loving each other. I have been a huge fan of Jackie Collins since I was fifteen and my mama handed me Chances. From then on I haven't been able to put her books down and I wait in anxiety at the thought of her new releases!!! Her characters are what many people would aspire to be and live like. Thankyou Jackie for this incredible read. I love it...READ IT PEOPLE =)
Profile Image for Amel  Armeliana.
509 reviews30 followers
January 28, 2018
Tidak sebagus buku2 Jackie Collins yg lain tapi lumayan untuk mengobati rasa kangen terhadap buku2 Jackie yang dulu dibaca sewaktu masih ABG.

Seperti biasa, cerita di buku2 Jackie kebanyakan tentang aktor, aktris, model dan Hollywood, lengkap dengan alkohol, drugs dan seks. Sang tokoh utama biasanya memulai dari nol lalu menjadi bintang terkenal, seperti Nick Angelo, tokoh utama dibuku ini. Dan biasanya ada wanita yang tokoh utama cintai setengah mati, yg dalam buku ini adalah Lauren Roberts. Mereka jatuh cinta dalam usia sangat muda, terpisah, lalu bertemu kembali ketika mereka berdua sudah terkenal dan masing2 sudah mempunyai pasangan.
Buku setebal 700 halaman lebih ini harus diakui tidak membosankan, cerita berjalan cukup cepat walaupun inti cerita, yaitu saat Nick dan Lauren memperoleh ketenaran dan kemudian bertemu kembali terlalu jauh ke belakang. Tapi secara keseluruhan ok lah dan saya cukup menikmati membaca buku ini.
Profile Image for *Ebony I*.
1,402 reviews158 followers
September 3, 2018
Trials and tribulations breed stars

This story was a reminder that stars are humans. That they experience pain just like we do. Stardom doesn't happen overnight and we never know what has shaped a person. Lauren to be so smart and strong was so passive to me. Just willing to accept relationships she didn't really want to be in. Rather than fighting for the one she craved. Cyndra was also passive just accepting what Reece gave her and being shallow when it became to Marik. However She was a fighter...and she took her power back from the Brownings. She also made amends with her mother and brother which I think was important for her to move forward. Nick was a go getter and made a way out of nothing. He was a protector and stayed in a lifeless relationship to ensure that both him and his sister could pursue their dreams. He kept fighting for Lauren and never gave up even when hope was lost. I had hoped for a stronger ending after all they had been through.
Profile Image for Dinese E..
285 reviews3 followers
August 1, 2017
This book had such turmoil in it. I love Jackie Collins. I have read her books from the cradle. It shows how lovers can meet and be swept apart. But if it's meant to be nothing can dissuade it. This story was almost like Peyton Place. Everything was going on at one time with these characters, but it wasn't muddled where you got confused. It flowed nicely. I could not stop reading it.

Nick and Lauren, the hero and heroine, had to fight their way back to each other. And it took a while. Along the way they had to fight for their dreams as well.

The supporting characters were so good. As it went toward the ending it seemed a bit rushed in places, but still great.
Profile Image for Michelle.
430 reviews
June 20, 2017
The story is about a couple who meet in high school. Lauren is dating the football hero. Nick is from the trailer park in town. They meet, fall in love, then Nick has to leave town suddenly. He leaves behind a note for Lauren telling her that he will be back for her, but a tragedy strikes the town and she never gets the note.
The rest of the story follows their separate lives. They do run into each other occassionally but it isn't the very end that they end up together.
The story was just okay for me. I would have like to see them get together before the end.
Profile Image for Bewaji.
1,591 reviews5 followers
May 30, 2019
Out There...

This is not a story about two people, this is a story about a whole bunch of people, like a lot. The H and h, were not together until the last two pages of the book. This is about them with a whole lot of other people, for almost two decades. We also get to read stories of other people I don’t really care about. The debauchery life Nick was living will make a manwhore blush. There are also triggers in this book. Sexual assault, rape etc. It should come with a triggerwarning. Am a fan of Jackie Collins but this didn’t do it for me.
Profile Image for Louise.
Author 3 books36 followers
January 5, 2018
I read this back in the day when it was first published, and read it again recently on kindle. I have in the past read several Jackie Collins novels but this was always my favourite . Having not read her books for many years, I was surprised at the simplicity of the language she uses and sometimes it seems she's doing nothing more than make points to move the plot along without going deeper.
That said, I'll always have a soft spot for Nick and Lauren...
Profile Image for Coral.
1,665 reviews58 followers
October 20, 2018
Whoooeee that was a wild ride. I've never read Jackie Collins before, but it certainly lived up to her reputation. She pulls no punches.
It concentrates more on the teenage and "up and coming" years of the main characters, and manages to build an extensive supporting cast. It's a long book, but never feels long.
The one thing that didn't always work for me was the neutral, almost aloof, third person narration.
9 reviews1 follower
June 12, 2017
Boring

I kept hoping that this book was going to get better, but it was ridiculous. It was over the top with how lucky the characters were when something went wrong. Song side of the track wins everything. It lacked romance, and the characters were unbelievable. I couldn't get into the story.
43 reviews
June 13, 2017
The best ever!!!!!

Wow!!! Loved this story!!! I would recommend this book to any one who love the ultimate love story. I couldn't put this book down. I didn't know what was going to happen. I knew what I wanted to happen. Then it happened perfectly. I felt like I was there. I wanted to be in the story!!!!!
Profile Image for Terri Turley.
3 reviews
October 9, 2017
This is the worst book I have ever read! And I read a lot! 160 just this year!
Very disappointed! This is the first book I have read by this author, I expected a hot read..... definitely not enough description in the sex scenes, not good at all! And way too much tragedy for one book! Sorry, I will never read a book by this author again!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews

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