Lipstick Jungle

Victory Ford, Wendy Healy and Nico O’Neilly are at the top of their respective fields and are poised to go higher. Victory is a fashion designer whose clothing is in demand all over the world. Wendy is an extremely successful movie executive on the brink of making the movie that will make her career and Nico is in charge of one of the most influential magazines in the world. Each woman has her own story to tell and crosses to bear as she tries to navigate though New York’s Lipstick Jungle.

Having been a long time fan of the cable television series, Sex in the City, I was anxious to partake of the newest book by Candace Bushnell, Lipstick Jungle. In the beginning of the story, as the reader is introduced to each character, I found myself unable to put the book down as I became embroiled in these women’s lives. As the story progressed however, I found the situations and some of the characters to be too similar to the cable series, a fact that lessened my enjoyment of the book.

It was empowering to read a book with such strong female characters but it was disturbing at the same time. Wendy and Nico rose to power at the cost of their families and that bothered me because these are women in their 40s who should’ve known better in my opinion. I really liked Victory’s character and would have preferred that the book focus more on her than the others.

Candace Bushnell fans should read this book because they will find something to love, even if that something is this novel’s similarities with the Sex In The City cable series. Ms. Bushnell’s writing gives insight into a glamorous world I never experienced while living in New York and I would like to read more books like this one in the future.

Reviewed by: Tanya