BLURB
"When Clementine Liu arrives in New York City to study at the Parsons School of Design, she knows that she’s found her place. It isn’t long before she meets her fashionista soulmate, the loud and charismatic Jake, and Jonathan, a dreamy fashion photographer who turns her world upside down.
Between schoolwork and glitzy fashion shows, Clementine launches a blog, Bonjour Girl, and her wit, originality, and flair quickly catapult the site to cult status. Unfortunately, this comes with a price: Clementine is faced with online abuse and public humiliation. In the midst of all the drama, she finds out that a classmate is not what she seems, and Clementine has to find a way to save both her reputation and Jake’s fashion collection."
AMAZON * GOODREADS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from her!): Isabelle La Fleche"In addition to being a writer, I'm a tarot reader, yogi, and fashion lover. All of my books talk about fashion because it's been one of my passions since childhood.
Previously, I worked for over ten years as a lawyer before giving up my career to write. In 2005, I was responsible for the business affairs of a fashion designer where I developed a penchant for couture.
My first novel, J'adore New York, became an international bestseller. The sequel, J'ADORE PARIS, was published in 2013. I am currently working on the next J'Adore novel. Stay tuned for details!"
DISCLAIMER: A copy of the book was given to me in return for a fair and honest review, which follows!
REVIEW
Take a girl fascinated, enthralled, totally enraptured by fashion and put her in New York at one of the most prestigious fashion school around...and add social media.
LONG STORY SHORT
Clementine is a promising young woman in the world of fashion. After all, as the grand daughter of a famous fashionista of her own time, it runs in her blood. Following some disaster in her personal life back home in France, young Clementine sees her enrollment and attendance at Parsons as a fresh start, one that comes with the launch of her fashion career. Throwing herself into her studies and meeting people, Clementine soon discovers that social media bites, allies are not always who they seem, and there is more to the fashion industry than linen and lace.
On an ascending scale of 1 to 5, I give this work a 3.
The Good
Ah, young energy! As already mentioned, Clementine is a young lady who has been just given the opportunity of a lifetime - attendance at the prestigious Parsons fashion school in New York! Add on a scholarship, new best friend, and new boyfriend, and things are looking up for the diva who faced some personal turmoil back home in France (oh c'mon - you didn't think I'd tell ya, didja? Gotta read :)). That is, until her phone buzzes with the latest from a rival student who seems hell bent on undermining Clementine. Twitter. A nasty one. What to do?
Isabelle has here created an interesting story that incorporates many aspects of modern life and attempts to view those aspects from the lens of a teenage girl. The characters are unique and have their own voice (especially her friend Jake...think Damian from "Mean Girls"). The scenes are charming and lilty. The plot moves along at a pretty quick pace and offers a very direct lens into Clementine's thoughts, as the entire work is written in first-person with Clementine directing the action.
There is mystery, PUH-lenty of drama, and a moral lesson all wrapped up in a fashionable little bow here. It is a cute read. Not a huge "omgmakethiscanonrightnow", but a cute read. :)
The Bugly (bad/ugly).
Yep, I found a typo. :P Yeah yeah....I'm picky, but still - editors should weed those things out before a book like this hits print.
My biggest complaint with this book is akin to that of a non-teenager anymore trying to act like a teenager so much that it feels forced. Such is the case here. For example: yeah, social media is a big freaking deal and people bully one another on various platforms all of the freaking time. But I found it a little unbelievable how characters would respond in this book to a single Twitter post. Sure, the post was a bit nasty...but seriously? Lose your minds over a few characters in a line? Nah. I don't buy it. But maybe the part of my mind that doesn't buy it is the same part that hears teenagers going on about trivial things and thinks "really, are you kidding me?"
Though the plot clips right along, it is very predictable and pretty thin. I saw where the story was headed pretty quickly (fairly used trope), and was mildly bored partly through the story. I wanted *MORE*. More plot, more action, more character depth (their development was also very thin), more interesting things to happen. I left this feeling like I just ate a snack's worth when I was ready for a buffet.
It was a very okay book, but just that - okay.
