Be Careful What You Wish For (Gemma Crisp, A&U)

Brought to you by the editor of Cleo, Be Careful What You Wish For is standard chick-lit with pretty much everything you’d expect between a magazine’s glossy pages reassembled in novel form: a girl-next-door, romance, sex, career and fashion, plus a couple of social issues thrown in to lend it a little gravity (mental illness, alcoholism, bullying). Nina is described by her best friend as a ‘small, fluffy blonde’—we also learn she feels the need to wear four different types of mascara!—but she’s a nice enough heroine. After leaving behind her hospitality hotel job, Nina manages, through luck and networking smarts, to enter Planet Fashion, or rather, the world of women’s magazines. Once Nina reaches the pinnacle of her career and becomes editor of one of these glossies, she realises that it’s not all champagne, schmoozing and designer clothes. It comes as little surprise to the reader to learn that those responsible for airbrushed images and breathless prose about cleansers and celebrities are completely neurotic. Author Gemma Crisp’s day job obviously informs her book and those who enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada will find similarities here. This is an easy, breezy read.

Thuy On is a Melbourne-based critic, editor and manuscript assessor

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Category: Reviews