Book Review: Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

Sh*t My Dad Says - Justin Halpern

Synopsis:
Comedy writer, Justin Halpern, was 28-years-old when his girlfriend of three years broke up with him, forcing him to move back home to live with his parents.
While most young people would be frustrated to be living once more in constant contact with their parents after an extended period of independence, Justin took this as an opportunity to start recording all of his father’s outrageously funny comments and ponderings on life.
What originally started out as a Twitter page called ‘Shit My Dad Says’, soon became the catalyst for this book, as well as the source of many newspaper articles and television interviews. Halpern’s Twitter page also attracted a fan-base of over one million people, demonstrating just how popular Halpern’s witticisms are.
This book- Halpern’s tribute to his 73-year-old father, showcasing the profound, witty and hilarious things that Halpern Senior has said over the years- is filled with touching and amusing anecdotes and quotes straight from the mouth of Mr Sam Halpern, and covers some of the monumental moments in Justin’s life. From coaching Justin’s Little League baseball team, and trying to ensure he had the best science competition project, to confronting burglars with a shotgun while naked, Justin doesn’t hold back in showing the world just how unique his father is.
While some of these scenarios may sound slightly condescending, Justin is clearly a man who cares deeply for his father, and tells these stories with the utmost respect and loyalty (and a lot of humour!).

What I gained from reading this book:
Most people, at some point in their life, have looked at their dad with embarrassment. Maybe he said something totally inappropriate in front of your friends, or did something that you would only ever see on a really bad-taste television program.
The great thing about this book is that no matter how embarrassed you felt then, there’s a strong chance that Justin Halpern’s dad has said or done something equally embarrassing- only his social faux pas has been documented by his son so that the whole world can read it! Not only does this book help to ease some of the awkwardness you once felt about your father (because he could obviously be a lot worse), but it is also a sweet -albeit humorous- tribute that one man has written to his father.

Positives:
Even though most of the scenarios that feature in this book could be considered really embarrassing- to both Halpern and his father- it is clear that Halpern has a strong admiration and respect for the man whose funny quotes he is retelling.
I was also impressed with the set-out of the book- there is a developed story at the start of each chapter, and then several quotes at the end of the chapter that only accentuate just how witty (or wacky, depending on what you think) Halpern Senior is. Hilarious stuff.

Negatives:
If you don’t appreciate swearing or any type of coarse language, you should probably steer clear of this book- Halpern Senior has a way with words that would, in all likelihood, make a sailor blush. He doesn’t discriminate in who he uses this language to, either, choosing to say the f-bomb numerous times in front of his kids when they’re only young. But although Halpern swears a lot, this doesn’t diminish the humour of the book, so if you don’t have a problem with cursing, you shouldn’t have a problem reading this.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Genre: Non-Fiction Humour

Recommended for: People who want to read an extremely funny tribute that one guy wrote for his father to celebrate their relationship. This would actually make a great Father’s Day present.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Friendly Fire by Wil Anderson

Friendly Fire - Wil Anderson

Synopsis:
In this book, Australian comedian Wil Anderson explores a diverse range of topics- from childhood obesity to Valentine’s Day, trackie pants to terrorism, aging to four-wheel-drive etiquette, and exercise regimes to VB beer ads- putting his own unique spin on it all. Nothing is sacred as Anderson shifts from topic to topic, stating his views on each and raising some intriguing questions (for example, why is it that you can always come up with the perfect comeback for an insult about thirty seconds too late?). But he also looks at some more serious issues, like the pitiful amount of money that pensioners receive every fortnight and Australia’s binge drinking culture.
Many fascinating points are covered in this funny and often satirical novel.

What I gained from reading this book:
Anderson raises some interesting points in his second novel- although it’s debatable whether anyone would have even thought of the topics he mentions, if they hadn’t read about them in his book. He discusses the term ‘un-Australian’, and talks about how it is used to describe people who do not meet the standards of Australian society, querying why other nations don’t use a similar label for their ‘unpatriotic citizens’. He talks about the perils of weddings, and how gift buying is almost becoming a competitive sport. He complains about unfair ATM fees, where ‘you know the fees are getting too high when you go down to the local RSL and end up losing more on the teller machine than on the pokies’.
Basically, this book is an avenue for Anderson to complain about all aspects of life- but in a witty and entertaining way. This book also reminds readers that everyone has to deal with the same little problems in everyday life, and no one is immune from wanting to have a good whinge once in a while.

Positives:
The way that this book is set out reminds me of a stand-up comedy act. Anderson’s narrative flows from topic to topic, using language that wouldn’t be out of place on stage, in front of an audience. It could be because he is a popular entertainer, in the media and at comedy festivals, but you can almost imagine him standing in front of you and performing his gags (which feature in the book). In other words, this book brings the stand-up comedian into the room with you, and what’s not to love about that?

Negatives:
Unless you have grown up in Australia (or live overseas and have an excellent knowledge of Australian people/places/pop culture references), a lot of the witticism of this book could be lost on you. You kind of need to have an understanding of these things to be able to appreciate Anderson’s humour, so this novel is probably better suited to Australian readers, rather than international readers.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Non-Fiction Humour

Recommended for: Anyone who is a fan of Wil Anderson.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: How To Kill Your Husband (And Other Handy Household Hints) by Kathy Lette

How To Kill Your Husband (And Other Handy Household Hints) - Kathy Lette

Synopsis:
Cassie O’Carroll and her best friends, Jasmine Jardine and Hannah Wolfe, couldn’t be further apart in terms of looks and lifestyles, but their differences do nothing to hinder their strong friendship.
Cassie is a harried mother of two who juggles two full-time occupations- working as a primary school teacher, and looking after a household filled with the injured animals her vet husband takes in.
Hannah lives with her ‘artist’ partner Pascal, runs her own art gallery, and sees her career as the perfect substitute for having a childless relationship.
Jazz, on the other hand, gave up a promising career as a chef to become a stay-at-home mum to her beloved son Josh, and a domestic goddess for Studz- her incredibly rich husband who is renowned for his humanitarian efforts in the medical field, and his flawless work as a cosmetic surgeon.
When Jazz is thrown into prison, accused of murdering her husband on their ‘make-or-break’ trip to Australia, her friends are unable to believe that she is capable of such criminal activities.
But as Cassie recalls the months before the unexpected arrest, she realises that her friend’s sanity may not be completely trustworthy. This is especially the case when she considers all of the betrayals, adultery, toy boys, marriage counselling, work issues and acts of revenge that the women have experienced within that time, and which have impacted immensely on their relationships with their husbands and partners.
It would be enough to drive any self-respecting, modern housewife mad. But could Jazz really have put an end to her marital woes and bumped off her husband?

What I gained from reading this book:
The main thing readers ‘learn’ from perusing this novel is that marriage is a one-way ticket to hell! But there is also a less overt message of love nestled deep within the often-caustic marriage storylines. Cassie habitually complains about her husband Rory’s inability to do anything domestic in the household, but she still defends him when her friend Jazz brings up the issue of his lack of cleanliness. When events in the novel see her and Rory reach breaking point, she comes to realise that even though he has his faults, she still has strong feelings for him, and that a life with him and his messy ways is better than a life without him. This realisation is important for readers because it shows that every relationship has its ups and downs and sometimes the only way to solve the problem is to endure the hardships, and attempt to make things work, no matter how difficult it seems.

Positives:
Lette never fails to put down men in the most humorous, tongue-in-cheek ways possible. Of course, some of the phrases she uses are clichéd, and don’t really come up often in natural conversation, but they’re still good for a laugh.

Negatives:
There are many people who probably won’t be amused with the author’s continuous insinuations about the relevance of men in the family household. Admittedly, sometimes the consistency of her putdowns can get a little overwhelming. But this book is marketed as a comedy, so if Lette’s humour doesn’t appeal to you, then you can always put it down and find something else to read.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Black Comedy

Recommended for: People who enjoy reading Kathy Lette’s ‘man-bashing’ literature.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Size Doesn't Matter by Meg Cabot

Size Doesn’t Matter - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
Heather Wells is finally living the life she’s been dreaming about for so long. She has a steady boyfriend- who also happens to be her remedial math assistant professor- and although he isn’t Cooper Cartwright (AKA the love of her life) the relationship is going perfectly. That is, of course, except for the 5 kilometre morning runs and vegan lifestyle, which Heather feels she could do without. But for her boyfriend Tad, it may be going too perfectly, especially when Tad tells Heather that he has a question he needs to ask her.
Suddenly for Heather, the ‘rebound’ guy is starting to get a little too serious.
But all thoughts of what the question could be are dismissed when Heather discovers the dead body of her latest boss, Dr Veatch, slumped over his desk with a bullet in his head.
Despite promising numerous people that she’ll stay out of this one, Heather can’t help but investigate the mysterious reason behind her boss’ demise. Could the culprit really be one of the graduate students, who are striking for better work conditions? Or could boring, rule-abiding Dr Veatch have had ties with the mob? After all, it was a clean and professional-looking shooting, and they are in New York.
Whatever the case, Heather is determined to solve the murder, finish studying, end the graduate student strike and convince Cooper he really loves her (despite being with Tad), all while keeping on a low-calorie diet that may or may not be solely made up of junk food.

What I gained from reading this book:
In this novel, Heather finds herself putting on an act for her boyfriend. She pretends that running 5km every morning with him is not a chore, and that she is happy to eat three-bean salad for lunch over the less-healthy option of a bowl of chili covered with melted cheese.
Although she does her best to hide it from him, you can’t help but feel sorry for Heather as she covers her true feelings about different situations regarding Tad. For example, while on their run early in the morning, she pretends to be cheerful because ‘I’m very careful not to let Tad see my real morning persona. Because he’s not ready for it. Yet.’ She also dislikes the fact that Tad doesn’t own a television, yet doesn’t fully voice her opinion about it.
Even though she has been going out with him for about three months, she is still hesitant to let him see what she is really like, and this is something that I think is quite prevalent in today’s society- some people don’t allow their partners to see their true personality because they are worried about what their partner will ultimately think.
Cabot highlights this problem through Heather, showing readers that the inability to properly communicate with a partner can only cause problems further on in the relationship.

Positives:
Cabot introduces a few new characters in this novel, including outrageous Southern PR woman Muffy Fowler, who is on a quest to find a husband, and Reverend Mark Halstead, the handsome but slightly suspicious new youth minister. Most of the characters from the previous novels also make appearances in this book, which will keep fans of this miniseries amused.

Negatives:
The reason for Dr. Veatch’s death, which is revealed at the end of the novel, is a bit of a letdown. But I know that people have killed for stranger things than that in real life, so I can’t really make a comment. Also, anything more brutal would have taken the humorous edge away from the novel and its subsequent happy ending, so I suppose Cabot had fewer choices available to her when it came to removing Dr Veatch from the scene.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoy both Cabot’s writing, and the witty characters she creates.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
Heather Wells is about to embark on her first semester of classes- while simultaneously working as the assistant dorm director at Fischer Hall- and she couldn’t be more excited. Even though she will have to take remedial maths classes because her SAT scores are so low, Heather hopes that the free classes following her work probation will help her to forget the horrors that befell her the year before.
The promise of earning a BA, coupled with the fact that she has a cool new boss who isn’t hell-bent on killing her, convinces Heather that this year will be one to remember.
But unfortunately for Heather, her plans for a stress-free year don’t include finding the decapitated head of a popular cheerleader in a pot in the cafeteria.
With everybody warning her not to get involved in this particular murder mystery, Heather is more than happy to comply. But then her sense of intuition and justice comes into play and she finds herself asking questions about certain suspicious characters. Before she knows it, Heather is in over her head (no pun intended), trying to inconspicuously solve the case.
With the investigation taking up her time, her ex-fiancé Jordan getting married, her ex-con father showing up on her doorstep and her housemate still oblivious to her love for him, it seems that Heather will be doing more than just studying this semester…

What I gained from reading this book:
This book shows that sometimes there is more to some people than meet the eye. The dead cheerleader, Lindsay, is well liked and popular with her peers and the staff at New York College, but she also has a darker side that she keeps hidden. Likewise, another character in the novel is not as he appears, and it isn’t until towards the end of the story when the reader discovers exactly who he is.
These characters act as reminders that even if you think you know somebody really well, you are probably only seeing the surface of the person that they are trying to portray. People often hide secret parts of themselves from others and it isn’t until something happens that the truth comes out.

Positives:
Once again, the character of Heather is charming and utterly relatable to anyone who has ever suffered from their own insecurities. Her little conversations with the local drug dealer Reggie, as well as student Gavin and the staff at the dorm are also very entertaining, written with classic Cabot wit.

Negatives:
As much as I enjoyed this story, I just didn’t think I could give it any more or fewer stars, considering some of the other novels I have read and reviewed over the last year or so.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoyed reading Size 12 Is Not Fat.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
The life of Heather Wells has been far from ordinary. Once the darling of the teen pop world, and engaged to famous singer Jordan Cartwright, Heather was at the top of the entertainment game. That was, of course, until she rebelled against singing the sugary pop songs that were written for her, witnessed Jordan in a compromising situation with fellow singer Tania Trace, was abandoned and robbed by her mother and saw her dad end up in jail.
Now she works at a New York College dorm as the assistant resident hall director- a job that will guarantee her free university tuition if she passes probation- and boards with sexy private investigator, and Jordan’s older brother, Cooper, in his nearby brownstone apartment.
But Heather’s life is about to change a whole lot more, and not for the better.
When some of the female residents of the dorm fall to their deaths from the building elevators, Heather suspects that foul play is involved. She doesn’t believe the university administrations’ views that the girls were involved in elevator surfing, a predominantly male ‘sport’.
Enlisting Cooper’s help, and relying on a whole lot of junk-food to get her through, Heather’s on a mission to track down the killer of Fischer Hall and put an end to the student deaths…

What I gained from reading this book:
The opening chapter of this novel touches on the sensitive issue of weight, clothing sizes, and what is considered the norm for women’s body shapes. Heather is in a change room trying on pairs of jeans when she overhears the woman in the next stall complaining that the jeans she’s trying on are too big, despite the label saying that they are her size. This prompts the salesman at the store to mention that their clothes use the ‘vanity-sizing’ system, designed to make larger women feel better about wearing a ‘smaller’ size even though they’re still wearing exactly the same size, with only the number on the label reduced.
As a size 12- the size of the average American woman- Heather is outraged by the insinuation that size 12 is fat, and so the title of the novel is born.
Vanity sizing, although common with some clothing companies, is luckily starting to get phased out as more and more women become comfortable with their bodies and the image they want to project. For some readers, Heather’s sizing experiences may be a comfort, especially since she is portraying the image of a normal-sized girl, rather than a stick-thin heroine.

Positives:
Heather, while she has her quirks, is a somewhat relatable character. She is a fairly normal girl who loves to eat junk food, lusts after her housemate Cooper with an almost obsessive tenacity, and would rather have a bath than a shower because she’s too lazy to wash while standing. Although these aren’t behaviours that most people indulge in, readers are still able to relate with her character and see parts of their personality within her.

Negatives:
The character of Heather can be a little irritating, especially in the first few chapters where she continually calls her workplace a dorm, only to correct herself and call it a residence hall- every single time! But luckily this annoying affliction does ease up as you get further into the story.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Crime

Recommended for: People who enjoy reading stories about former pop stars who’ve reconstructed their lives.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Vamped by David Sosnowski

Vamped - David Sosnowski

Synopsis:
It’s been years since humans lived freely in a world now run and owned by vampires.
The act of hunting and killing humans is long since extinct, and blood production has become a commercial exercise, produced from stem-cells and packaged in juice boxes. In a world full of vampires, the only place one can find a real human is on black market farms that officially ‘don’t exist’, where vampires, for a large sum, can hunt humans au naturale.
So when suicidal vampire Martin Kowalski comes across a six-year-old girl- who presumably escaped from a human hunting reserve- he decides to take the recently orphaned and blood-spattered child home. While he initially plans on making her into a midnight snack, he finds himself charmed by the young girl, who goes by the bizarre name of Isuzu Trooper Cassidy- and allocates himself the role of unofficial guardian. Through the tumultuous years that follow, Marty embraces ‘fatherhood’ and strives to protect Isuzu from the rest of the world, who would tear her apart for a taste if they knew she existed.

What I gained from reading this book:
Despite the fact that most of the characters in this novel are vampires, the author is strangely able to make readers relate to them. This could be because he describes a world very similar to our own, only the characters function at nighttime rather than during the day. Marty holds a job writing memos for the Bureau of Blood Quality (BBQ), and before Isuzu came along, used to frequent bars where he’d watch topless dancers. His mundane life is what led him to almost crash his car and put an end to the boredom of living an eternal life. Isuzu’s appearance in his life brings a glimmer of hope to Marty, initially for the thrill of fresh blood and then for the challenges of parenthood. This novel shows that there is always something to live for, and to use the cliché, that sometimes the best things come in small packages.

Positives:
This novel is extremely entertaining and there are several reasons for this.
The author has managed to create humour in his portrayal of the eternally angry and emotional Screamers (vampires who may be hundreds of years old but are trapped in the young children’s bodies that they were vamped in- never able to look older than they are, and therefore never taken seriously).
As well as this, the character of Marty has a lot on his plate when it comes to dealing with Isuzu, and this helps readers to relate to his character. Marty’s role as a parent is varied, but in short, he has to protect her from other vampires, deal with her hormonal mood swings as she grows up, make sure he has enough human food (AKA pet food) for her while avoiding suspicion about the amount he buys (since he doesn’t own a pet), and generally adjust to having a female living with him who sleeps most of the night and has regular bodily functions that vampires no longer have. This is a story about co-habitation at its most extreme and most amusing.

Negatives:
The humour in this book may not appeal to everyone, but I think most people will appreciate the author’s rampant imagination.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Genre: Black Comedy

Recommended for: Anyone who has ever wondered what life would be like if everybody in the world was undead.

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: Queen Of Babble by Meg Cabot

Queen Of Babble - Meg Cabot

Synopsis:
When Lizzie Nichols’ long-distance boyfriend Andrew invites her to stay with him and his family in England, she jumps at the chance to travel overseas and visit him. But their three-month-long relationship is not as loved-up and romantic as she remembers it to be, and before long, Lizzie finds herself regretting her trip to London.
Things become especially worse when she discovers that Andrew is accepting welfare money from the government while also working at a restaurant, and despite her good intentions, Andrew gets into big trouble with the authorities when she innocently lets slip that he is not as destitute as he lets on. Finding that she cannot deal with a boyfriend who is cheating the government, and alone in an unfamiliar country, Lizzie fears she might have to return home to her family sooner than expected.
But then she remembers that her best friend Shari is in a sixteenth-century chateau in southern France, catering a wedding with her boyfriend Chaz, and decides to travel across the country alone- with only basic school French- to find her.
Once at Chateau Mirac, Lizzie finds herself in love with the old-fashioned elegance of the place, and smitten with Luke de Villiers, the handsome son of the chateau’s owner. It’s not long, however, before Lizzie’s big mouth strikes again, and she finds herself struggling to make amends for her latest leaked secret.
With a wedding dress to save, a handsome man to woo, an ex-boyfriend to deter and an angry best friend, Lizzie has a lot to deal with.
The question is, can she beat the odds and save the day? Or will this wedding be one to remember for all the wrong reasons?

What I gained from reading this book:
Lizzie has a very strong sense of what she considers to be right and wrong in the world, and she’s not afraid to take a stand against what she believes to be unfair.
Readers first get an inkling of her do-good nature after she discovers that her boyfriend Andrew is cheating his government’s welfare system. Although she inadvertently lets slip that he’s not genuine, she doesn’t stick around to continue her relationship with him. She also disagrees with the ideas of Luke’s girlfriend Dominique, to turn Chateau Mirac into a plastic surgery recovery centre, believing it would destroy the ambience of the place, and she encourages Luke to follow his dreams of becoming a doctor, despite his hesitations.
Just from observing Lizzie’s beliefs, readers can learn that not everything has to succumb to commercialism, and that missed opportunities are always the ones that you’ll regret in the future.

Positives:
Cabot’s novel brings forth a funny portrayal of how a small group of Americans view things in an unfamiliar country. It’s humorous following Lizzie’s attempts to find Diet Coke (a.k.a. those terrible chemicals) in London and France, and it’s just as entertaining to read about her shock when she discovers that Europeans really do have a more relaxed attitude regarding nudity when sunbathing.

Negatives:
Lizzie’s naivety is truly unbelievable at times. Although it is obvious to everyone that Andrew is a conniving and selfish guy who is only looking for easy money, Lizzie still builds him up in her mind to be something that he is not, and is then horrified when he reveals his true colours to her. This can be slightly annoying for readers, however it does add to her character’s small-town American innocence.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Genre: Romance/ Comedy

Recommended for: People who can sympathise with Lizzie’s inability to keep a secret.

Australians can buy this book by clicking the picture below:

Book Review: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

Synopsis:
Balram “White Tiger” Halwai is destined to work in a small Indian teashop after he leaves school, in order to earn money to support his grandmother, brother and extended family, and keep the corrupt landlords of his village happy. But he has higher aspirations and longs to move to the city and become more than just a rickshaw-puller’s son.
The story of Balram’s journey to success is told over seven nights in letters to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who will be visiting the city of Bangalore the following week. The Premier, who is interested in meeting Indian entrepreneurs so he can bring some of their ideas back to his country, will be touring India, and Balram is incensed that he will only be shown the happy and successful parts of the country, rather than the real India he was raised in, which is full of poverty and corruption.
In his letters, Balram recounts his life journey from the village of Laxmangarh, where he grew up with his family, to his position as a driver and servant in Mumbai, to his current entrepreneurial role in Bangalore.
His honest views about religion, poverty, wealth, corruption and social injustice are mingled with dark humour as he attempts to enlighten the Chinese Premier about the parts of India that are often hidden from foreign government officials

What I gained from reading this book:
This book gives readers an insight into an India that is rarely seen in Bollywood films and tourism brochures. The poor, the needy, the homeless, and the persecuted are all highlighted within the dark humour of the novel, and are contrasted strongly with the wealthy, often corrupt, citizens of India. While India isn’t the only country in the world that has a defining gap between those that are wealthy and those that are poor, it is the author’s ability to distinguish the reasons for this wealth, or lack of, that make this book such an interesting and entertaining read. Despite the serious overtones of the social situation in India, the author is able to use humour to help readers relate to Balram and his plight.

Positives:
This is a true underdog tale, and what makes it even more special is the dark humour that Balram often reverts to in his efforts to highlight his struggles to get out of his tiny village and into the city. The author’s attempts to lighten the story with comedy are often very successful and even help to emphasise Balram’s sometimes amoral attempts to reach a higher place in the world.
Although this is a fictional story, readers also can’t help but believe the events that occur in the novel. This is especially the case since the release of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, which also showed a darker side to India, and drew attention to the poverty and corruption that so many people live in.

Negatives:
Although the novel is brilliantly written and highly entertaining, it still paints a very bleak picture of India and its people, and some people may not appreciate the references made to the darker, more sinister side, of the country.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Genre: Black Comedy

Recommended for: Anyone interested in reading about India’s darker side.



Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:

Book review: Apocalipstick by Sue Margolis

Apocalipstick - Sue Margolis

Synopsis:
Rebecca Fine has dreams of becoming a hot investigative journalist and settling down with the man of her dreams. Instead, as a reluctant beauty columnist, she has to write menial articles about makeup woes, and endure dates that her grandmother has set up for her with boring men that still live with their mothers. To make matters worse, her widowed father announces that he is getting married - to Rebecca’s old high school nemesis Lipstick- and Rebecca immediately suspects that she’s up to no good.
But things begin to change when Rebecca meets Max Stoddart, her new workmate who closely resembles Hugh Grant, and who seems to have an extreme interest in her.
And when Rebecca discovers a scandalous secret about a new miracle anti-wrinkle cream that is about to be launched, it seems that her chance to prove herself as a journalist is about to arrive.
But will her revelations ruin the beauty industry forever? Is Max really interested in her? And is Lipstick really reformed, or back to her old tricks?


What I gained from reading this book:
While reading this novel, one theme came up quite a lot- the issue of trust. Rebecca’s relationship with Max, while wonderful, is also extremely rocky due to moments when she feels that she is unable to trust him. The same is evident in her tentative friendship with her father’s new fiancé who Rebecca already holds a strong aversion to, especially after being bullied by Lipstick while in high school.
This book teaches that honesty needs to be valued, and that sometimes it takes a long time to be able to earn the trust of someone, especially after wrongs have been done.


Positives:
Margolis combines her well thought-out storylines with points of interest and topical humour. She makes brilliant observations about the fickleness of the beauty industry and the importance of advertising in the media, but also adds wit by detailing Rebecca’s grandmother’s quest to find her granddaughter a suitable husband. The end result is an interesting but effective mix.


Negatives:
Although this novel is meant to be funny, some of the jokes fall flat- although that may depend on your sense of humour or your interpretation of the joke.


Rating: 6 out of 10

Genre: Comedy/ Romance

Recommended for: People who are looking for romance and laughs

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below: