Author: Charlotte Bennardo And Natalie Zaman
Publisher: Macmillan
Rating: WORTHY!
Charlotte Bennardo And Natalie Zaman are fellow blog-spotters although I don't know either of them, but do pay them a visit (if you're on my blog, then the links are at the top of the review). I have to confess right up front that I had some real reservations about this one. It really intrigued me, but it was so reminiscent of the Ally Carter spy novels (which I began by liking, and then quickly ended up despising) that it made me seriously hesitate. The fact that it had two strikes against it (it was first person PoV and it was about fashion!), yet still won me over is, I guess, testimony to the joint authoring skills of these two writers.
The premise for this novel is that Rebecca "Bec" is a sixteen year old problem student, who's been summarily tossed out of several schools, who ends-up in Roma working an internship for a fashion magazine, which is expecting a visit from the first lady (a fictional one evidently modeled on Michelle Obama). Fortunately (for Bec), she's spoiled-rotten in that her parents are wealthy beyond your average child's most rabid imaginings, so they're able to keep bribing new schools to take her.
Bec is a complete ingrate, having no idea how privileged she is. She's totally unappreciative of what her parents have tried to do for her (nor does she grow appreciative, which is sad). Normally this would turn me off her, but Bec does have some saving graces. OTOH, perhaps "grace" isn't the appropriate word for her. She's the YA novel equivalent of Jar-Jar Binks, but infinitely smarter. Hell, a dead guinea pig is smarter than Jar-Jar, but I digress.
Bec has a good heart. She's hard-working (when motivated!) and she's honest. Plus, her parents are jerks - pretty much abandoning her while they live their own lives. This, of course, begs the question as to why they even had a child in the first place, when they couldn't be bothered to spend time with her, so all-in-all, it's understandable where Bec is coming from.
As we join the novel, she's just been expelled from her most recent academy and is now, for once, being taken in hand (however briefly) by her absentee mother. She thinks she's going to Belize in Central America, but she actually ends up in Rome, as an intern to a friend of her mother, who is the editor of a fashion magazine named 'Edge'. Edge, though, is a CIA cover.
Bec slowly grows to realize what's going on (hint it's tied to the first lady's visit, but there is no way whatsoever to get an unwilling person down a manhole so quickly!), and eventually, she saves the day. Despite some plot holes and highly improbable if not ridiculous events, and the really dumb chase at the end, I found myself liking this character and the light level of the story. It's perfect for a fluff read when you're not in the mood to get into anything deeper or more involved. It's easy and fast reading, and I was pleasantly surprised that the fashion was not thoroughly obnoxious as depicted here. I have no time whatsoever for the multi-billion dollar congenitally head-in-its-ass absurdly pretentious fashion industry. Also, it was pretty obvious who the villains were - even to me, who usually gets it wrong!
So, don't go into this expecting anything (as I did) and you won't be disappointed (as I wasn't!).
