Helpful Score: 4
I enjoyed the peek into the bitchy me-me-me garment industry (at least as portrayed) even if the heroine Katie Castle started off as a world-class b*tch and worse. As the tale goes on, I cheered as she got her come-up-ance then enjoyed the way the rest of the tale evolved. Not the best chick-lit I've ever read, but certainly not a waste of time, either.
Helpful Score: 4
I enjoyed this book. It was different from typical chick lit, I would describe it as a bit less "light", a little more serious. It is comic at times, with the typical female lead character who overcomes obstacles, etc.
Helpful Score: 3
This book was a fast read. I liked the main character, Katie Castle, as she is pretty straight forward and let you know, as she tells you her story, that she isn't perfect. Katie works for a small fashion designer and makes a move on her bosses' son so she can move up in the company. She tells you that! And she does move up. Eventually she makes a mistake which costs her the job, the bosses's son, her "friend's", and her home! But Katie manages to triumph over all.
Helpful Score: 3
In the vein of 'The Devil Wears Prada' and 'Bridget Jones' comes Katie Castle, a fashion nobody that works as a production assistant to a fashion somebody with aspirations to become a fashion know-it-all. Katie is willing to do whatever it takes to get her shot at the top, and she doesn't care who she claws, bites or backstabs to get there. Shes perfectly selfish. Worse yet, shes aware shes that selfish and she doesnt care at all.
The most unfortunate thing about Katie as a protagonist is that we usually seek to see ourselves in the characters in books and theres very little to see in Katie thats likeable. Shes mean, catty and self-centered. The more you read, searching for that redeeming characteristic thats going to let you like her, the more you discover it just doesnt exist. Thats okay though since there isnt anything particularly likeable in the other characters either so you dont really take up their side.
Halfway through the book Katie's circumstances change and she has to start her climb all over again only this time she's nicer. Not through any internal contemplation or revelations. Not because she recognizes she's done any wrong to them all, but merely because her environment changes does Katie become the least bit circumspect. Even then you don't get the impression it is the result of anything as deep as self-discovery or newfound friendships, just a liberal dose of these-people-might-be-useful-to-me-better-not-tick-them-off. Its sad really.
All in all I dont know why I finished reading it. Except that somehow Katie was still an absorbing character. The characters are well drawn if not sympathetic and writing style is fine. The author has a consistent flow to her style (it never dragged on or felt rushed) which is something many more accomplished authors continue to struggle with. For a first book Im pretty impressed. Now if shed just write about someone I could care about
The most unfortunate thing about Katie as a protagonist is that we usually seek to see ourselves in the characters in books and theres very little to see in Katie thats likeable. Shes mean, catty and self-centered. The more you read, searching for that redeeming characteristic thats going to let you like her, the more you discover it just doesnt exist. Thats okay though since there isnt anything particularly likeable in the other characters either so you dont really take up their side.
Halfway through the book Katie's circumstances change and she has to start her climb all over again only this time she's nicer. Not through any internal contemplation or revelations. Not because she recognizes she's done any wrong to them all, but merely because her environment changes does Katie become the least bit circumspect. Even then you don't get the impression it is the result of anything as deep as self-discovery or newfound friendships, just a liberal dose of these-people-might-be-useful-to-me-better-not-tick-them-off. Its sad really.
All in all I dont know why I finished reading it. Except that somehow Katie was still an absorbing character. The characters are well drawn if not sympathetic and writing style is fine. The author has a consistent flow to her style (it never dragged on or felt rushed) which is something many more accomplished authors continue to struggle with. For a first book Im pretty impressed. Now if shed just write about someone I could care about
Helpful Score: 1
I just couldn't get in to this book, I found myself getting bored a lot and didn't finish it.
Excellent beach reading material! Very light hearted and humorous.
A funny book. It moves along quickly and gives some insight about fashion.
Great chic lit light funny story I enjoyed it .
This is a cute story of a young lady that learns a lot of life lessons in a hurry!
At first the protagonist was very unlikeable but you could see how she progressed throughout the book.
Just as life seems to be perfect for Katie Castle, one little mistake turns it all around for her, ultimately for the better.
Superfun chick lit! Loved it!
From Publishers Weekly
Smarter and darker than your average Bridget Jones knockoff, Campbell's first novel is also more mean-spirited, though it adheres closely to the conventions of the Bright English Working Girl Looking for Love formula. Antiheroine Katie Castle suffers a cataclysmic fall from grace followed by scrappy attempts to get back on her feet, and miraculously redeems her professional and romantic life by novel's end. She works for successful designer Penny Moss, whose son, Ludo, she is set to marry. But when word of her fling with a handsome driver reaches Penny, Katie loses everything her job, her flat and her fiance. Katie's snobbishly mordant wit is what distinguishes this book from its many, many sisters, even though her wisecracks are often gratuitously cruel: "the news would spread faster than Ebola in a Congo village." She is, in fact, so utterly awful to everyone that it's difficult to enjoy her eventual victories. There are clever touches Katie taking a job in a sweatshop, a gangster who quotes Nietzsche and Campbell, who runs a clothing design firm with her mother, is most incisive about the bitchy evanescence of the fashion world.
Smarter and darker than your average Bridget Jones knockoff, Campbell's first novel is also more mean-spirited, though it adheres closely to the conventions of the Bright English Working Girl Looking for Love formula. Antiheroine Katie Castle suffers a cataclysmic fall from grace followed by scrappy attempts to get back on her feet, and miraculously redeems her professional and romantic life by novel's end. She works for successful designer Penny Moss, whose son, Ludo, she is set to marry. But when word of her fling with a handsome driver reaches Penny, Katie loses everything her job, her flat and her fiance. Katie's snobbishly mordant wit is what distinguishes this book from its many, many sisters, even though her wisecracks are often gratuitously cruel: "the news would spread faster than Ebola in a Congo village." She is, in fact, so utterly awful to everyone that it's difficult to enjoy her eventual victories. There are clever touches Katie taking a job in a sweatshop, a gangster who quotes Nietzsche and Campbell, who runs a clothing design firm with her mother, is most incisive about the bitchy evanescence of the fashion world.
loved this book. was a cute read for a rainy day!
Fashion maven makes good -- a funny look at maturing.
I read "The Devil Wears Prada" before I tried this book. I was looking for something with the same sarcastic, witty look into this fashion world I know little about. I picked up this book thinking I might find more of the same. This book seems petty by comparison. Vapid and lacking depth.
A fun read. I didn't find it bitter or nasty -- but then again, I'm a snarky Anglophile and wannabe fashionista. Read an excerpt at RandomHouse.com.
From Publisher's Weekly:
Smarter and darker than your average Bridget Jones knockoff, Campbell's first novel is also more mean-spirited, though it adheres closely to the conventions of the Bright English Working Girl Looking for Love formula. Antiheroine Katie Castle suffers a cataclysmic fall from grace followed by scrappy attempts to get back on her feet, and miraculously redeems her professional and romantic life by novel's end. She works for successful designer Penny Moss, whose son, Ludo, she is set to marry. But when word of her fling with a handsome driver reaches Penny, Katie loses everything her job, her flat and her fiance. Katie's snobbishly mordant wit is what distinguishes this book from its many, many sisters, even though her wisecracks are often gratuitously cruel: "the news would spread faster than Ebola in a Congo village." She is, in fact, so utterly awful to everyone that it's difficult to enjoy her eventual victories. There are clever touches--Katie taking a job in a sweatshop, a gangster who quotes Nietzsche--and Campbell, who runs a clothing design firm with her mother, is most incisive about the bitchy evanescence of the fashion world. This is positioned as a lighthearted romp, but it may be too bitter and nasty to work with the Bridget crowd; still, fashionistas and trendy Anglophiles will love it.
From Publisher's Weekly:
Smarter and darker than your average Bridget Jones knockoff, Campbell's first novel is also more mean-spirited, though it adheres closely to the conventions of the Bright English Working Girl Looking for Love formula. Antiheroine Katie Castle suffers a cataclysmic fall from grace followed by scrappy attempts to get back on her feet, and miraculously redeems her professional and romantic life by novel's end. She works for successful designer Penny Moss, whose son, Ludo, she is set to marry. But when word of her fling with a handsome driver reaches Penny, Katie loses everything her job, her flat and her fiance. Katie's snobbishly mordant wit is what distinguishes this book from its many, many sisters, even though her wisecracks are often gratuitously cruel: "the news would spread faster than Ebola in a Congo village." She is, in fact, so utterly awful to everyone that it's difficult to enjoy her eventual victories. There are clever touches--Katie taking a job in a sweatshop, a gangster who quotes Nietzsche--and Campbell, who runs a clothing design firm with her mother, is most incisive about the bitchy evanescence of the fashion world. This is positioned as a lighthearted romp, but it may be too bitter and nasty to work with the Bridget crowd; still, fashionistas and trendy Anglophiles will love it.
I didn't read it, but someone else might enjoy this one.
