Helpful Score: 1
Very fast read, interesting story. Although it seems a tired plot (a la big bad boss), what got me was how similar this was to a real life story I vaguely remembered from the past. I had not read any reviews or excerpts on the book (or, I must admit, even the back cover). I snagged it off the clearance shelf because it looked like a chick lit novel, and I love chick lit. The more I read about this "fictional" world of magazine publishing, the more interested I became. I began to realize that "Jill Magazine" was actually a name-changed "Jane Magazine." I was a fan of Jane Magazine from its inception, and I had a subscription for its entire run. This book directly parallels the "real" editor's life, with bits and pieces I recalled from her editor's letters. In fact, it seems just about everything was the same "with names changed to protect the innocent" or whatever. It was kind of fun to read the descriptions and go "Aha! That was Pamela Anderson!" I highly recommend this book to fans of the old Jane Magazine. Written by the real Jane's assistant, I can't help but feel this was probably the truest story about the demise of the magazine. Either way, it's a light read, and I recommend it if you like working woman's chick lit.
Cute enough, but others have done the same topic better. Borrow from library rather than use a credit.
If you read "Jane" or "Sassy" magazines, you may find this book an interesting fictionalized story of the life of Jane Pratt, their creator/editor. It's written by her old assistant, through from Jane's point of view (in the book, called Jill). I didn't expect that, and I had liked those magazines a lot. The book was a really quick read, it grabs you in and makes you root for Jane (unlike in "The Devil Wears Prada" where you hate the big lady). Real-big readers of those magazines will recognize name-drops for Courtney Cox, Pam Anderson and a few others (it can be a game where you try to figure out who she's talking about by twisting the initials). This was a step up from the chick lit I thought it'd be!
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was typical chick lit, and it is vaguely, extremely vaguely similar to Devil Wears Prada. It is similar because in both books, you have an extremely menacing boss. However, in this book, you have two women who are making our heroine's life difficult. A company buys out the publisher of her magazine that she created, and her new bosses don't quite agree with the way things are done. They make it their mission to destroy the magazine and the woman. It held my interest from the get go. It wasn't a favorite, but it's a pretty good read for those who like chick lit.
