Nah

Even as a free book, I simply couldn’t finish it. Some of the voices are irritating and the main character started annoying me. Free book, but not worth the effort.

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1 person found this helpful

Loved it!

Loved this book from Zoe. A great little story that's fun to listen to whilst doing tasks.

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Not a fan

Usual love ZFB’s books. Couldn’t relate to the storyline this time, I guess that stuff a part of my world. Didn’t like the accents for other characters & ending took too long to get too even though you knew it was coming and then it just ended. Other books have been great though. Not liking it read in the first person.

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Lighthearted

I always enjoy a lighthearted book after listening to some heavy thought provoking books and this fit the bill.

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3 people found this helpful

Fun light hearted story

Interesting insight into the world of Beauty Editors. Great execution of balancing all the live interests and the lead character was very relatable.

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2 people found this helpful

Easy listen.

This is an easy listen - pretty much like a holiday read. Not much need to concentrate - although I did sometimes go back 30 seconds if I missed a beauty tip😊

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fun easy read but ending disappointing

great story but the ending really annoyed me, as the end was what you had been waiting for the whole story and then it didn't even go into much detail at all about, left you hanging sadly.

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Inconsequential Drivel

Sorry but a total waste of time. Could not finish and found the topics boring and trivial. lfmeant to be a comedy, l found it stupid and not funny

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Internalised misogyny galore

I thought this book would be exactly what I wanted. a light fluffy romance, written by an Australian author. Instead what I found was a poorly written, underdeveloped book which has aged extremely poorly.

Slut-shaming and other sexist ideas abound in this novel which should, ostensibly, be a celebration of women and women's interests which have typically been dismissed as vain and vapid.

Additionally, there was a horrifyingly racist scene which was not dealt with at all. There are also many instances where people of other races are 'exoticised' in the book - which seems to be a common occurrence in texts by this author.

Fat-shaming also abounds - because how could this be a novel from the mid 2000s without making women feel terrible about their bodies?

The characters are unlikeable and two-dimensional. Nobody has their own interests or desires, they all just oscillate around Hannah, our main character, and her overflowing purse of free lipsticks.

I am about halfway through the novel the main romance plotline hasn't even been established - which seems like an oversight in a romance novel?The book is also rife with tensions that go unexplored in favour of another repetitive scene at a party or PR event.

Additionally, time is really poorly communicated in the book. The main character gets dumped on the weekend, comes into work on the Monday, and somehow, suddenly it's Friday?

Also, also this book definitely glamourises hustle culture and the act of being busy. We're constantly told how many hours the main character is working and how nobody else in the office does as much as her, which, frankly, in 2022 is tiresome and not something I'm interested in reading.

The long and short of it is - the book desperately shows its age and probably shouldn't have been released as an audiobook. It reflects poorly on all parties involved and certainly seems at odds with Zoe Foster-Blake's current public persona. However, I wouldn't discount Zoe's later works as they may reflect her education and growth over the past decade+.

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Couldn't finish

Shallow plot and characters. Gaspy girly voices. After several chapters I had to give up.

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