Everyone Worth Knowing

In a nutshell, this book is about an investment banker who decides that banking is not the career for her. After quitting her job and wallowing at home for a few weeks, she works for a PR firm planning parties and living the life that every girl would die for – except her.

Plot sounding familiar? Well, the story is dead-on, similar to The Devil Wears Prada – an earlier book from the same author. It is, in essence, the same story, only the scene is changed from the fashion magazine industry to the PR industry.

The heroine Bette Robinson is a confused, whiny girl who gets a job with a PR firm solely because of her uncle’s recommendation. Instead of being grateful and eager to make her mark, she seems unsure and blasé about it. She keeps mentioning dealing with bitchy colleagues and ex-friends, but all the time, she is whining about them; she is the one who comes across as bitchy and immature. She seems unable to handle uncomfortable situations without resorting to bitchy remarks or running away from the confrontation.

Okay, by now, you can guess that I didn’t much like Bette or the book.

Well, that’s true. The 1st hundred pages of this book are a real drag. I normally don’t have a problem finishing chick-lit books, but this one was tough to plow through. The writing is clunky, the characters in the book are a bore, the heroine is whiny and self-absorbed, and the hero reads like a real himbo (male bimbo 🙂 ).

However, midway through, the book starts to hit its stride, and towards the end, it is not bad.

Still not my style though, the book seems to lack wit/irony, substance, or heavy-duty romance – but I am sure the Devil Wears Prada fans out there (and I know there are many) should like this one.