Loved this book and the New York world of Park Avenue gals it spotlighted.

The book was fun, whimsical, and knew well enough not to take itself seriously more than skin deep!

The twist at the end was a good one and the author seemed to understand the need for a beginning, middle, and end of a book. Nothing was too rushed (but again it was her first book!) but it was just sweet enough to make me smile and want to pass a good review of it on.

I don't think that Ms. Sykes has or probably will create another book that tops this one, but that is okay by me. I have been loaning out my copy since I first read it and can't wait to reread it sometime when I just need to remember that reading is fun...

Not my kind of book generally, but I had heard it was good and I bought it ages ago (like in 2004 or something) and figured I ought to read it. It was a fun little fluffy book. It read a lot like I imagine Sex and the City plays on TV. It was about rich snobby girls living in NYC hooking up with different guys, travelling around the world, spending rediculous amounts of money on clothes and getting expensive clothes for free even though they can afford them. Shorter version: anorexic-thin, rich, snobs full of woe-is-me-because-I'm-oh-so-rich-and-people-expect-me-to-look-perfect.

Short version: nothing really happens except shopping and affairs with married men and then a contrived love story at the end

this is like a cotton candy book.. totally something easy to read and engaging, and really funny in a social-commentary-on-the-rich kind of way. i flew through most of the book when i was keeping a bedridden noah company yesterday night, and then finished it off this morning when i took a coffee break at a starbucks near my office. i was totally in the mood for something fun and light, and this was the perfect meringue of a book for the occasion...

i often find it so much easier to sink into a book when i like the characters that i meet within it. like, i really liked "moi" (as the first-person protagonist referred to herself), a self described "champagne bubble of a girl about town" who was sweet and funny, smart and observant, and in general, a very likeable guide into a glamorous world so unlike my own...

not that this was a completely fluffy book though! it was actually kind of DARK in some respects, and made me think a lot about how well we really know the PHs (prospective husbands, according to the lingo of the park avenue princesses) in our lives. it's super easy to be so smitten with someone that you imagine them to be everything you've ever dreamed of, to read deep significance into their every comment/action, and to essentially *deceive* yourself like the protagonist of this novel did time and again. now at the end of the book, i really DID want to believe that charlie was different from the other guys, but while he definitely demonstrated some positive characteristics, i had to feel like we simply didn't know enough about him yet to really make a good decision! i also sensed an unstated premise (which i fundamentally disagree with) that the girls could not be happy or liberated from their socially confining state without finding true love. because i believe there is merit to being a complete and content person in and of yourself, without seeking validation or worth in the (potentially fickle) affections and attentions of another.

although, that being said, even i cannot deny the truly magical nature of being in love! how could i NOT just meeeeelt when charlie says at the end of the book, "sometimes i think you were made especially for me"? :)

[review originally written June 2004]

This is chicklit with a Capital "C" no question. Froth of no redeeming value or character development and definitely not to be taken seriously. Chicklit is a genre I've been sampling by reading from a recommendation list and finding by and large I don't like. This one though, which happened to be on the list, was actually listed by a friend as one of three chicklit books that didn't "suck" and was "fun." (For the record, her other two picks were Carol Wolper's The Cigarette Girl and Leanne Shear's The Perfect Manhattan) I wasn't sure I'd find this one fun in the first few dozen pages.

This is set in a New York City I've never known--and I'm a native. One where "all anyone...ever says is everything's fabulous" and "everyone...takes calls from their beauty experts at social occasions" and waxes the inside of their noses and where "PJ is the quick NY way" of saying private jet. Who knew that a crosstown bus to the East Side could take me into a land more foreign than any overseas? One in which I doubt I have the right passport, but that's OK, because I have Plum Sykes, described as a "contributing editor of Vogue where she writes on fashion, society, and Hollywood" to take me into the exotic country of Park Avenue Princesses and Bergdorf Blondes.

The blonde not being the unnamed first person narrator but her best friend Julie Bergdorf, an heiress who makes me think more of Paris Hilton than Grace Kelly. Indeed, our heroine is actually a brunette and someone who seems rather ditzy for a supposedly Princeton University graduate and who breezily tells of her adventures with men she dates who turn into brutes as soon as they are engaged, are secretly married, or always-soon-to-be divorced Lotharios. There are even some nice guys--but even if their manner is informal or their shirts frayed they all turn out to be heirs underneath. Ah, East Siders. Their ways are not our ways....

However, I admit it--I was widely smiling by page 30 when the topic turned to "Brazilians" (note, not referring to natives of a certain Latin American country) and the book induced in me hysterical laughter (as in hard-to-stop tears-from-my-eyes kind) over a certain book club scene. Any book that can make me smile so often and even laugh out loud I have to give at least three stars. I would have given it at least a four, if the "advil incident" wasn't so eye-rollingly stupid.

The cover and blurb had me expecting a fluffy read, so I wish I would’ve had a content warning in advance for suicide & EDs, honestly, because this took a much darker turn in the middle. It could’ve been a really interesting plot point to explore, but then the book transitioned right back into fluff; the way the whole thing was handled was kind of jarring.

I was actually enjoying the book at first, but the last third or so was really a slog to get through. The protagonist’s poor decisions stopped being cute & quirky and just got really tiresome & frustrating. The plot twist at the end, which was supposed to be a big reveal, could be seen from MILES away— literally as soon as the character mentioned his backstory, I knew where it was going.

It was cute at first, but the miscommunication trope at the end got really annoying and felt needlessly drawn out. I don’t hate the protagonist, but she needed serious psychiatric help and outright refused to get it, and then there was no lesson there. Everything worked out fine for her! I think that’s a dangerous message.

(Also, if she had mentioned “Brazil” one more time, I think I would’ve lost it)

CD/abridged/Chicklit: If you like Devil Wears Prada or the Shopaholic books, you will like this. My BFF loved it and lent it to me. Like her, I have seen the scorching reviews on this. It may be different with audio, but I loved it too.
Moi, her name never said, lives in NYC, wears designer cloths and is pretty shallow. She got it honestly. She gets into situations only a debutant could get into. Yes, there is a ton of designer and products named. But it is a fun book. Take it for what it is.

Fourth book read in my "gal about town" novels in NYC.

I'm fascinated at how people with such wealth and seemingly sophisticated lives could be, in reality, such trash. Oh sorry, when you reach a certain income level, you are "notorious" or "eccentric." The narrator, referring to herself as "moi" was as irritating as the little girl euphamisms given for such acts as "going to Brazil."

Worse yet, I saw the ending coming from a private jet across the Atlantic. Unlike "Save Karyn," where the protaganist grew up and learned something about herself, this character remained happily, hopelessly obtuse.

Ok, I'm sort of embarrassed about this, but....I actually LIKED this book. I rolled my eyes an LARGE number of times (sometimes at frightfully inconvenient times, as I listened to the entire book while I was driving around town..), and a lot of the subject matter was super-, almost surreally superficial. The fashion stuff and "New York Park Avenue Princesses" I could care less about.

It was a cute story, a very easy read (listen), and while I didn't like how some really important issues (attempted suicide, rampant materialism, ridiculous affairs with men who only had large wallets to speak for them [and no talk of VD, of course], and the idealization of ditziness) were dealt with (or not, as the case often was), I was able to tune some of that out and just enjoy the occasional laugh for which this book is good.

If you don't care about diamonds, Chanel, PJs (private jets), uber-rich girls who say 'eww' all the time, and girls who won't date men who use the subway over private limo drivers....I'd say give it a try for a breezy beach read. Otherwise, steer clear.

You might also feel your hair getting blonder and your IQ dropping if you get too involved in the plot, so caution to all you happily brown-headed brunettes out there!

This book came in the mail today and I don't know why. Did I order it from half.com? Or maybe one of Amazon.com's used book sellers? Did I win it in a Bloggy Giveaway? Is it a present? I have no idea.

However, I checked it for drugs, and it came out clean. So I figured what the hell, I'll read it.

However. I'm only a couple of pages into it, and something about rich, vapid women in "good buildings" on Park Avenue seems eerily familiar.

So I'm wondering: has Chick-lit become so generic that it's a French-manicured blur, or have I actually read this book? Only time will tell.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The main character, "Moi," details what it takes to be a high society--Bergdorf Blonde--woman in New York. It's all about Chloe jeans, facials, great restaurants, and finding the perfect fiancee. Marrying that person isn't as important as the ring and showing off your guy.

I am so torn about this novel. At times, I was swept away in the superficial world of jet-setting. Then, the romance heated up, and I felt lost. Moi (and I found it annoying that her name wasn't clearer) whined through one bad relationship after another. Sadly, the guy you wanted her with came into the picture early, but after a while I wished he'd run away because she couldn't get her act together. But I did love his character and the twist in the end of who he was.

To be fair, she was immersed in a world that only added to her insecurities. Still, I wanted to see a backbone emerge. However, every time I thought I'd quit this book, I was drawn back in. So maybe I'm somewhat like Moi in that regard. She was definitely deeper than the women surrounding her, but that doesn't say a whole lot.

Bottom line... it was entertaining at times, and I couldn't help but want to know what would happen to the main character. It's like the beautiful candy you see in the store and can't resist.

If you love diving into a well-detailed world and connecting with a character, then give Bergdorf Blondes a chance.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Shallow, spoiled characters. Tried to be funny chic lit like Sophie Kinsella, Little Lady Agency, and Queen of Babble books but missed the mark by a mile. Nothing really redeeming or interesting about any of the characters.

3.25
i thought i would hate this but it wasn’t as horrible as i expected (i love charlie)