Confessions of a Beauty Addict: A Chic Romantic Comedy About a Fashionista's Fall and Fabulous Rise

by Nadine Haobsh, Nadine Jolie

From Nadine Haobsh, aka Jolie in NYC ("The poster child for the blogger generation...you can't help but love her."— New York Post ), comes a delectable novel that only a true beauty industry insider could have written! Bella Hunter may be down but she's not out yet—and she's ready to take on the world of beauty...one bad makeover at a time. Pity the poor twenty-eight-year-old beauty expert and columnist for ultra-chic Enchanté magazine, knocked right out of her Jimmy Choos—and out of a job—when her off-the-cuff comment to a reporter is blown way out of proportion. Once the authority on style, Bella's reduced to taking a position at Womanly World , a publishing dinosaur of no interest whatsoever to any woman under fifty. Suddenly she's got to take orders from a dreary and dowdy beauty director—and is soon at war with her male publisher, who might actually be appealing if he wasn't so totally frosty. Bella's supermodel boyfriend, a hometown wedding, and a Paris junket are fine distractions, to be sure. But how can she face her friends and ex-coworkers now that she's stuck in an office where khaki—not Cavalli—is the way of life? And if beauty's not what it's all about...then what is?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 2009

Reviews

[Shannon S.]

So. Many. Errors. Seriously, in order to calculate the sheer number of spelling and grammatical errors in the text I would need an advanced degree in higher mathematics. I lost count after 15 in the first chapter. The author supposedly went to some highfalutin’ school. Perhaps if she went to them with a copy of this book they could rescind her degree and she could get her money back.

There are so many problems with this book, but the main issue I had is that the main character makes the Kardashians look complex and well-adjusted. She is such an awful human being that I was actually rooting for her nemesis, a clichéd, trampy type named Delilah [insert retching noise]. I was praying that there might be a snappy surprise ending in which the bitchy Delilah cold-cocked our protagonist with the September issue of Vogue* and put me out of my misery, but no such luck.

The main premise of the book seems to be an exposé of the smarmy payola and corruption of the beauty industry combined with a tired tale of a protagonist who loses everything and has to fight her way back. Oh, and she might learn some stuff along the way. The novel recounts the story of an up-and-coming beauty editor at a hip, flourishing magazine. Suffice it to say, the author named her Bella. [retch noise again] Really? How subtle. That would be like having a protagonist who sells barrels and naming him Cooper. I won’t attempt more of a plot summary as there isn’t a plot of any substance or plausibility. I seriously considered sticking this one in the “did not finish” pile. I deserve a damn medal for competing it—it was that painful. But you know--that's me. I'm a giver.

The shame of this is that the author’s blog is charming, funny, and insightful. None of those characteristics were evident in this mess of a book. Please stick to non-fiction, Ms. Haobsh—or I will chase you down with the September issue of Vogue.



*For those of you not cognizant of fashion magazines, the September issue of Vogue is roughly the thickness and weight of a text in astrophysics set atop the Gutenberg bible.

[Brenda]

I bought this book for $0.25 because it sounded interesting, funny and light. I read a few reviews before starting it and almost didn’t even start reading because some of the reviews were so bad. I’m very happy that I gave it a try! Yes, the main character seemed quite one-dimensional (all about her beauty) in the beginning. But come on, with the title, it seemed reasonable. I won’t give any spoilers, I’ll just say Bella has some great qualities and is not an idiot.

[Kourtney]

This book had all of the elements that would fall in with all of my favorites - glamour, romance, and just a touch of klutz to keep the story from being cliche. Instead it fell short in so many ways. For one, I found the story hard to keep up with - one minute characters are talking in a living room, and in the next sentence Bella is at a party with none of the people she was just speaking to. Where was the segway? Second, I put the book down one day and never found the urge to pick it back up again. But my parents always taught me to finish what I started, so here it is. And to complete the trifecta of why this book just didn't do it for me - I felt like I couldn't connect to the characters at all. All of the supporting cast were never fleshed out. They were just there. Conversations left me with a feeling of "who talks like that?!" The author then hints at a storyline with the supporting cast, but then it never went anywhere. Questions were left unanswered and I was left with a feeling that I wasted my time.

[Lindsey]

I was in need of a light, easy read and since the bookstore was closed, this was all I could find at the drug store. I wasn't super excited about reading it, but it turned out to be much more enjoyable than I expected.
Although the writing was somewhat amateurish with some unnecessary dialogue/description, it was still quite east to speed through and gave me exactly what I needed.
I found it most interesting that the story was based on the author's own experience with her rise, fall and re-rise in the beauty-journalism industry.

[Missy Fleming]

I've had this book on my bookshelf at home for over a year and the other day I finally took it down. I have no clue why I waited so long to read it because I loved it. Sure, the main character is a little full of herself, but she has to be so the reader can see her journey. I loved all the behind the scenes looks into beauty editing and magazines. I found it really interesting. There were times the romance between her and James felt forced, but in the end it won me over. I'd recommend this as a fun read, the kind you just turn your brain off to enjoy!

[Amy]

I had this on my TBR for a very long time. I read it ultimately now to fill a box on Beach Blanket Bingo for an author born the same year as me. I am glad I did finally read it. It was light-hearted and fun, while at the same time drew me into a world I've never been a part of. It isn't quite 4 starts, but can't do 3.5 so I decided to round up.

[Emmy]

my lovely friend Nadine wrote this book.
If you like chick-lit this is a quick read with cute characters. It's fun to see what the beauty magazine world is like.
I highly recommend it as a beach read.

[Mary BookHounds]

Actually a 3.5 for me. I almost quit this one after the first 25 pages but stuck through the main character's sob fest and was glad I did. Decent fiction debut with witty conversations, but could use a little paring down.

[Andreina]

The book was boring in every single way. I've probably read just 30% and that was it for me. I tried to give it a chance, that's why I got as far as 30% and then I told myself "Why are you torturing yourself?" Not worth it!

[Diana]

Quick and easy read. It was fun to breeze through but it felt too similar to "Shopaholic" and "Devil Wears Prada." The writing style and the heroine herself definitely reminded me too much of Rebecca Bloomwood from Shopaholic series. Different story, similar plot.

[Kinsey Underbrink]

fun, quick read! I'm giving it 4 stars because I found Bella to be such a self-centered, spoiled brat at the beginning that I almost stopped reading. But, the writing is good and the book was funny, so I decided to keep going. I'm glad I did because this ends up being a great feel-good book.

[Marianne]

Fun light read, interesting tid bits into the beauty world.

[Sandra]

Okay as fas a chick lit but a little scattered and all over the place. The story could have wrapped up a bit sooner.

[Elizabeth]

A little to Devil Wears Prada rip off for me - but a quick read.

[Chelsea Spresser]

Very easy-to-read chick-lit about the life of a beauty editor. Not rocket science but a good option for a Sunday afternoon on the couch or for a summer holiday.

[T.]

I loved it! I could read this book over and over and not get tired. I like how it gives you a peek into being a beauty editor. It doesn't hurt that I loove makeup.

[Lia]

Enjoyable.

[Jill Tallman]

Not the best book ever but an easy weekend read. Comparable to the devil wears leads but not as good.

[Marcia Ditter]

Just couldn't hold my interest.

[Maureen]

As an alum of the beauty industry, there were lots of fun scenes here, in my opinion. The love story subplot, however, was far more interesting than the main story. And actually, the first two chapters were predictable and cliche. And maybe, just maybe, Bella was a caricature, not a character. Lots of tropes, but a fun read in the end.

The real grabber is the what’s-in-store hijinx between Bella and James.

There were some witty pages and some fun dialogue. It’s a fast, entertaining, escapist read.

[Janelle Hammonds]

This was a fairly easy read, I could pick it up and put it down while waiting for appointments. The last fourth almost seemed like a different book compared to the first three fourths all because of the main characters attitude adjustment. The ending tied everything together in a neat little bow which is exactly as I expected.

[Heather Chang]

This was an awesome book. Junky but I could not stop reading it! A satisfying love story!

[Lu]

Cute; beauty editor in NYC

[Lauren]

A funny and honest view of the inner workings of the beauty industry.

[Linda]

Very cute little beach read