by Candace Bushnell
It's a fun reading, at least. The protagonist is a little bit more complicated than a superficial social climber, and thus makes you wonder how the author gonna lead her to avoid all the cliche. Well, she achieves that, partially.
The rhythm of the story gets off beat with Janey's past memories. It picks up again toward the ending and makes her final coming to LA a bit too hasty and too easy. If only the author could slow down a few pages to explain the cultural difference between NYC and LA, or upper class and celebrities, and therefore to ease in the possibility of her rise.
The author seems to struggle between whether Janey should become who she is or was born as that. The Paris-Arab experience is first introduced as a path she was pushed onto, but then, the episode with Ian seems suggesting that she was a black widow from the beginning.
Like the prada story, this one is full of fashion and upper class life detail showcases. Yet, it's not clear whether the author is merely telling a fairy tale or delivering certain messages. The writing is decorated heavily with witty remarks on relationship and gender differences, but they fail to form a larger picture.
