Victoria Loustalot's new lifestyle guide for Audrey Hepburn fans is a pleasant compilation of photos, quotes, biography and insights into the life of the beloved actress. While there is not much new here for fans of the Oscar-winning actress, there is some interesting analysis and appreciation of her most admirable traits.

It's a lovely turquoise-hued volume, and while the book has an appealing look, I found it difficult to navigate. Every few pages the text is broken up by block quotes and multiple pages of images. While these are enjoyable and will likely draw many fans, it turns reading the text into a sort of dance, where you get to the unfinished sentence at the bottom of the page and have to decide whether to flip forward a few pages to finish the thought or hope you can remember where you left off after admiring a photo or two and reading a quote. Ending pages before photos and quotes with completed sentences would have done much to improve the design.

Photos are presented full page at a minimum, with some spilling partly over to the adjacent page. I recognized many from movie stills and magazines in this attractive collection. The quotes about Hepburn are also familiar; I recognized many from the 1997 A&E Biography special Audrey Hepburn: The Fairest Lady (I am pretty sure I have that program memorized. I actually heard the voice of Richard Dreyfuss in my head praising Audrey exactly as he did in his interview). In this respect, the book was in many ways a pleasant repackaging of familiar material.

What I found most interesting about Living Like Audrey was Loustalot's thorough examination of Hepburn's greatest qualities. While classic movie fans are familiar with the kind, gentle and giving aspects of the actresses' personality, she is not as often celebrated for her wit and wisdom. Here I found a satisfying tribute to her sense of humor, and the dark wit behind it.

Hepburn is also given credit for the profound way she spoke about humanity. When she told an interviewer speaking to her about her work with UNICEF that she didn't "believe in collective guilt, but I do believe in collective responsibility," in one non-judgmental, but emphatic statement she demonstrated strength, intelligence and a firm call to action. This is the best of Audrey. Instead of letting the starvation and fear she suffered in occupied Belgium during World War II make her cynical, she became a steely fighter for the vulnerable. Loustalot nicely emphasizes this side of the actress and her activism.

Living Like Audrey isn't required reading for Audrey fans, but it offers many delights and interesting insights.

Sweet little book about Audrey Hepburn. Not a biography, but full of inspiring quotes and beautiful pictures. Reading about this lovely woman truly makes you want to "Live like Audrey."

As someone who's always wanted to live their life more like Audrey Hepburn, I found this book interesting. I especially enjoyed the quotes from those who were close to Audrey and the quotes from Audrey herself. They gave the best picture of who the real Audrey Hepburn was.

The chapters of the book are separated by specific topics ("humor", "fashion", etc.) but within the chapters, things felt very scattered. The author jumped from one point to the next without much transition. It often felt like more of a book of random tidbits than a book with a specific purpose.

Overall, the book was entertaining enough, but only if you are a fan of Audrey Hepburn.

I've long had a curiosity about the gamine star Audrey Hepburn who was just before my time so I never got to really see any of her movies growing up. After reading this book and getting a better understanding of her, now I feel I "get her" some and want to watch some of her best movies. I think any real fan would like the book just for the pictures alone, and the quotes sprinkled throughout from people and stars who knew her are the icing on the cake. My thanks to NetGalley, Globe Pequot, and the author for providing me with an ARC for review.

Living Like Audrey is not your typical biography and it offers a fresh look on how the actress lived. I enjoyed this immensely for the most part and found it well-researched. However, there were times where the author seemed to be putting down other girls/women in favour of raising Audrey higher, which didn't sit too well with me. But overall, it was a nice, light (not quite) biographic book with an adorable design.

This was a love letter from one author to Audrey. I don't think I ever admired anyone or anything as much as Ms. Loustalot admires Audrey. This was a pleasant read, quick and short, but it left me feeling content. Still, I wouldn't call this work a book, it is more of a guide to being happy and elegant.

I liked how positive the lessons are. From what I gathered, everyone who knew Audrey was in awe of her and she could light up every room. So, it is nice to read about someone who was like that, but it made me think, how real can that be and can anyone be so over-the-top perfect all the time? I believe there are great personalities who people remember and strive to be, but this gave no clue about downsides of being Audrey Hepburn and in the end, it seemed unrealistic. I am sure that there were some life lessons that could have been included here about her flaws, as well.

This was more-less a collection of commentaries and interviews that others gave over the period of time about Audrey, so I am not sure how much this author tried to write something original that we haven't read before. However, my overall experience is positive, I feel like watching My fair lady one more time.

Such a sweet insider look at my favorite star, Audrey Hepburn. Full of wonderful quotes from those who knew her best.

A lovely book!

Living Like Audrey would make a great coffee table/side table type book for any lover of film. The book has the most gorgeous pictures of Audrey and her costars as well as quotes from friends and family about her personality, nature and life.

The book is divided into different sections that explain key aspects of her personality and being like grace, humility and style.

I highly recommend getting the book as a hard copy instead of an ebook so that the full pictures can be enjoyed.

My review is based on the edition I read, I was given the chance to read an early book edition on NetGalley. I mention that in part because I think this is the kind of book you want to purchase in all of its hardback glory. I think it would make for a nice gift for someone who is a fan of Audrey Hepburn, or fashion, classic movies or just likes a life style guide.
I'd rather have it out on a coffee table than on my IPad.
That being said, I always appreciate the chance to read a galley.

I found this to be a very interesting story about Audrey Hepburn, it also included good advice, beautiful quotes and gorgeous images from movies.

My favorite genre is fiction, so this will likely be a higher review for someone more into this style of book. I do think it's interesting and beautifully done.

Audrey has always been my favorite Old Hollywood leading lady because she was beautiful on the inside and out. They don't make em like her anymore!

In this book, the author has given us a lot of simple yet profound ways we can be more like Audrey, i.e. a better person in general. I highlighted large chunks of this book, as it's good advice. There are also a lot of great quotes and pictures. This would make a great coffee table book.

Highly recommended!

A perfect read to fans of Audrey. A good read, very enjoyable

Apart from the problem listed above I enjoyed this book I love Audrey, and books about her, I love books about style, never stars, and if it's combined with a self help/spiritual elements even better. I was able to adapt this book review to the theme of my blog Simple Life Mum., and felt moved after some time off not reviewing (for personal reasons) to review this book. I'll try to add an affiliate's Amazon link that would press wouldn't allow me otherwise good luck with the sales of this book

Very interesting and enjoyable book. Perfect for Audrey Hepburn fans.

Thank you Netgalley for this book

Living Like Audrey was a very informative and entertaining book about the legendary Audrey Hepburn. I was quite impressed by how she helped the Dutch resistance during WWII.
The photos of Ms. Hepburn and many of her famous costars like Gregory Peck and Cary Grant were an added bonus to this delightful book. There were many first person accounts of what the real Audrey was like…which was basically what you saw was what you got. She was never the typical Hollywood diva like so many of her contemporaries. Audrey stood apart then and will always be remembered even now as a class act and a true legend of all time. This was a great read, not on for Ms. Hepburn fans, but for anyone interested in reading about a remarkable and selfless person.

Audrey Hepburn was so elegant, humble, and all around relatable, and she is understandably still so adored to this day. I was very excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint. This is a must have for fans. Victoria Loustalot breaks down everything that makes Audrey so great, and it’s clear just how much some of us could benefit from following her example and living a little more like Audrey. This is full of lovely pictures and quotes from her, and those closest to her. It isn’t some monotonous biography spanning every minor detail of her life from birth to passing. While reading, you can feel the authors love for her subject as she conveys all of the iconic actress’s best and most admirable qualities in a conversational manner, making this a truly enjoyable, yet informative read.