My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Barbara Bourland
HARDCOVER BOOK - 1455595217 / 9781455595211
ELECTRONIC BOOK - 1455595225 / 9781455595228
Available everywhere May 02
DESCRIPTION
Every weekday morning, as the sun rose above Sixth Avenue, a peerless crop of women-frames poised, behavior polished, networks connected, and bodies generally buffed to a high sheen-were herded by the cattle prod of their own ambition to one particular building. They're smart, stylish, and sophisticated, even the one found dead in her office.
When stylish Hillary Whitney dies alone in a locked, windowless conference room at the offices of RAGE Fashion Book, her death is initially ruled an unfortunate side effect of the unrelenting pressure to be thin. But Hillary's best friend and fellow RAGE editor Catherine Ono knows her friend's dieting wasn't a capital P problem. If beauty could kill, it'd take more than that.
When two months later, a cryptic note in Hillary's handwriting ends up in the office of the NYPD and the case is reopened, Det. Mark Hutton is led straight into the glamorous world of RAGE and into the life of hot-headed and fiercely fabulous Cat, who insists on joining the investigation. Surrounded by a supporting cast of party girls, Type A narcissists and half- dead socialites, Cat and her colleague Bess Bonner are determined to solve the case and achieve sartorial perfection. But their amateur detective work has disastrous results, and the two ingénues are caught in a web of drugs, sex, lies and moisturizer that changes their lives forever.
Viciously funny, this sharp and satirical take on the politics of women's bodies and women's work is an addictive debut novel that dazzles with style and savoire faire.
BOOK REVIEW
Catherine "Cat" Ono and her friend and colleague Bess Bonner are shocked when Hillary Whitney is found dead, but this is only the start. Going through a bag Hillary left behind do they find a strange bottle. What is in the bottle? What they don't foresee is how their lives will change dramatically thanks to the small and insignificant bottle...
I'll Eat When I'm Dead is a book that I think will appeal to readers of fashion magazines or just like fashion. Personally did the book work on some level for me, but since I'm more likely to spend money on books than clothes were there moments in the book when my interested dwindled. I liked Cat and Bess enough to find their trials and tribulations interesting and I can understand how daunting it must be for them to be thrust into the limelight. But, when a little over half the book was done did I feel like the story started to slow down and I was thinking is this it? What happened to "the criminal" part of the story? Is the rest just about Cat and Bess suddenly famous? However, the story did pick up towards the end of the book and the turn into did make so much sense that I was astonished that I didn't see it coming earlier. But, I guess I was blindsided by all the fashion things going on.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara Bourland lives in Baltimore, MD. Formerly, she was a web producer for O, The Oprah Magazine, and OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network. I'll Eat When I'm Dead is her first novel. She is currently at work on a sequel, entitled Maniacs. Her third novel, Pine City, is also forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing.
WEBSITE: http://www.barbarabourland.com
TWITTER: @babsbourland
EARLY PRAISE
"Sex. Drugs. Dries van Noten. I'll Eat When I'm Dead skewers Tribe Fashion with wit and wicked intelligence. From Finnish toast-only restaurants to kobe-beef hide bikinis and grandiose faux feminism, Barbara Bourland makes you laugh out loud, and keep turning the page. A deft, smart, and hilarious debut.” —Wednesday Martin, PhD, New York Timesbestselling author of Primates of Park Avenue
"One part deliciously satirical send-up, one part murder mystery, I'll Eat When I'm Dead had me laughing out loud. This bold and wildly entertaining, in-your-face novel signals the arrival of Barbara Bourland as an exciting and savvy new voice.” —Sara Blaedel, #1 international bestselling author of The Forgotten Girls
"I can't put I'll Eat When I'm Dead down, I LOVE it. Biting, funny, and brilliantly subversive; Bourland's debut is like The Devil Wears Pradameets American Psycho.” —Louise O'Neill, author of Only Ever Yours and Asking For It
Bourland's delightfully snarky debut leans heavily on satire, poking razor-sharp fun at the beauty industry and the cut-throat world that Bess and Cat inhabit, and some scenes are laugh-out-loud funny. However, for all the outrageous (and eye-opening) focus on makeup, beauty, fashion, and of course, the desire to be thin, there are tantalizing glimpses of the vulnerability and insecurities beneath the surface. Death by beauty was never so much fun. —Kirkus
"Delightfully, playfully skewering the fashion and beauty industries, this is like The Devil Wears Prada with more feminism, plus murder.” —Booklist
"A reckless adventure in the world of starry-eyed models, dubiously sourced drugs, anorexia, and Instagram. But don't let the frills and flashbulbs fool you. Barbara Bourland is here to show you that fashion is a deadly serious business.” —Mikita Brottman, author of The Maximum Security Book Club
“A smart feminist fashion manifesto packed with pulpy, sexy, murderous intrigue. Highly entertaining!” —Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed
"A compulsively readable, satirical romp with a sharp and vicious twist, I'll Eat When I'm Deadis a timely, smart, and perceptive mystery,” —K.J Howe, author of The Freedom Broker
"Funny, fierce, feminist.” —Sarra Manning, Red (UK)
"Readers will devour this mystery by Bourland. What at first seems a death by natural causes turns into a murder that will have you guessing at whodunit up until the very end. . . A fun, witty, edge-of-your-seat ride through the demanding and sometimes dangerous world of fashion." — RT Book Reviews
"Thoroughly modern... stylish. Bourland narrates at a quick New York City tempo, detailing perks, personal connections, and property values, both satirizing and celebrating fashion and feminism.” —Publishers Weekly
I nearly picked this up recently, but like you I'm not that interested in fashion and was put off. I think there's probably more than enough other books that appeal to me more but can see this working well for some people I know!
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