This novel has the closest proximity of being SATC's predecessor. You can pick up Miranda, Samantha, Charlotte, and Carrie's persona all milked in one book with a slight alteration to a more upper-east-sider setting plus the blings and flings.

Super FUN to read.

It is hard to communicate the depths of the sadness that I felt after reading Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell. I'm saying that as a loyal Sex and The City fan, including the movie where they went to Dubai and Samantha was arrested for public lewdness.

No one has told any of these characters that money and status can not buy you happiness. Or rather, they did hear that but none of them are going to be told what to do! I just felt infinite sadness about each of them and their sad lives.

How I Came To Read This Book: I spotted it at Superstore and snagged it.

The Plot: Instead of four single sirens in NYC, Bushnell writes about three power players who are learning the 'glass ceiling' of yesteryear still has an impact on their lives. Victory is a fashion designer plagued by financial woes - that could be easily solved by compromising her own values. Wendy is trying to balance her intense work pressure with her intense home pressure care of her stay-at-home husband. Nico is stuck in two games (love and work respectively) where she is trying to kill without being killed.

The Good & The Bad: This was definitely Bushnell's best book to date that I've read. The characters were a helluva lot more likable and well-defined, the world of NYC wasn't *just* a cycle of disposable relationship stories (although love is a factor here), and the plot overall was just a lot more dynamic. Things happened! Characters grew! Although this may sound like basic novel accomplishments, they are big ones for Bushnell. I'm not sure the book transfers over to a series so far - I have a hunch the show is more about clothes/men a la SATC, but the book was a good job on Bushnell's part.

The Bottom Line: Bushnell's Best.

Anything Memorable?: Nope.

50-Book Challenge?: Book #7 in 2007

Not great but much better than Sex and the City.

I came away on holiday with three books to read: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan and Burning Bright by Helen Dunmore. Of course, this did not stop my from buying a book at the airport (I am a serious bookshop junkie) and since I was going on holiday, I thought I would get something fairly trashy and easy. I opted for Candace Bushnell´s Lipstick Jungle seeing as I am enjoying the TV show. I have just finished it and I have to say I am pretty disappointed. Whilst I am all for reading about powerful women, succeeding and battling it out in a supposed man´s world, I was bitterly disappointed with the characterisation of these women who came across as entitled, whinging and unlikeable. The bleat of ´men get away with it, why can´t we´always sits uneasy with me - just because men do ´get away with it´(although there is an argument to say that these men are just as unlikable), does not mean that women should try too. And I don´t mean try to succeed, I mean try to screw people over or try to have affairs or try to blame others for their shortcomings etc. etc.

The main point of contention for me, though, was Bushnell´s rather heavy-handed prose. The art of leaving things to the reader´s imagination appears lost on her. She will explain every metaphor and ram every viewpoint down your throat so many times that it becomes tiresome. Whilst I really enjoyed the TV shows Sex and the City and Lipstick Jungle, which were both inspired by her writing, I think the credit for their respective (and, admittedly, varying) success belongs to people other than Bushnell herself.

Approaching middle age, Nico, Wendy, and Victory are soul sisters navigating high profile jobs in Manhattan. They work hard in the world of men, striving for fame, glory, fortune, and happiness. One has an affair with a young underwear model; one overcomes letdown when her fashion line flops. Challenges abound. Yet their love for each other and New York never wavers. This writer is outstanding.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one. Well written, not full of male bashing, and fascinating characters. Would love a sequel to this to see where the three protagonists are in 5 years time.

Chic Lit. Plain and simple. A wildly improbable women-on-top-of-the-world fantasy. But like sneaking a sweet treat when no one is looking, it’s strangely enjoyable. Now I need to make myself a cosmo and go hang out with the Sex in the City ladies...

Lipstick Jungle weaves the stories of Nico O'Neilly, Wendy Healy, and Victory Ford, numbers 8, 12, and 17 on The New York Post's list of "New York's 50 Most Powerful Women."

Love reading books about women in power. Sure, some parts annoyed me but it's a nice refreshment to see women with money, power, and choices. Plus, it was also a nice refreshment to read about older women, women in their late 30s who can do it all and have it all. This was like Sex and the City, but smarter.

I hate star ratings just FYI.
Lipstick Jungle is the stories of 3 women in New York. Each one in different industries typically dominated by men & their (sometimes ruthless) climb to be the best. I think the underlying story was good. If women acted just as men would, would they be judged the same. Why is a woman judged so harshly when she works (to the point of one husband calling it abandonment of the children) but a man should be allowed to work & the woman be thankful for all his efforts.

I didn't connect with the characters & they were all a little too similar for me. The scenarios were extreme & there wasn't a couple that had a good balance to offset the horribleness of the other relationships. I also wish there was more focus on the friendships & the women elevating women.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars. I wanted to stop reading but ended up pushing through it and I’m not sure why or what I got out of doing so. Nevertheless, this book wasn’t terrible but not amazing either.

The story line can be so realistic you can place yourself in it.