If you’re looking for an good quick read, then this book is for you. I knocked this out during a 5 hour flight.

Interesting enough to finish.

It was amusing to see Bloom had perfect recall of every single compliment and come-on she ever received. The person who really did her harm was the mysterious Reardon who broke down her already fragile sense of self and then got her addicted to fast living (can you say grooming?) but she saves all her ire for Tobey Maguire.

For someone who just obviously really liked a life of play and easy money, it was irritating to hear her repeatedly call her work her job and career and business. She had many opportunities to leave this shady world and sounds like she had the skillsets to become a legitimate, straight world event planner or publicity person, but she refuses every time. Her appalling naivete when the mob comes calling seemed to stem in part from her denial of the illegitimate nature of what she calls her business.

I don't know what she does now and don't really care but I expect it's more charlatanism. Her self soothing mantra that she's learned sooo much made me sad. She could've learned all these things at any other job and just getting to 30, without the risk of being terrorized by the mob, becoming infamous for a dishonorable thing and going to prison.

Molly has such an approachable way of writing, easy to read and not flowery at all, and it doesn’t need to be either because this book is a whirlwind of events. Her experience in the highest circles with stakes of millions of dollars in her poker games as well as encounters with powerful, well known names were fascinating to read.

Despite working in a morally grey zone, there’s something so admirable about her ambition and fight to stay in this cut-throat world, and she is honest about how carried away she got with the life of luxury it brought her, though it’s easy to say so with hindsight.

I wanted to read Molly’s account after seeing the great movie adaptation, and there were enough differences to warrant doing so, like the daddy issues that are played almost to an extreme in the film but (thankfully) don’t exist in the book. The only thing that felt jarring is how rushed the end was despite it being about the fall of her poker empire - perhaps because she was still awaiting sentencing.

I watched the movie first and loved it so I wanted to read the book, I got the Audible version and it was amazing, even better than the movie; of course the movie misses some parts and makes some parts up but the essence was there.
I absolutely recommend this one, it just has it all, gambling, sex, drugs, jail, lawyers, pretty and smart girl, "the bad guys", what else can you ask for?