Thursday, July 21, 2016

Book Review, Giveaway: Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies by Laura Stampler



LITTLE BLACK DRESSES, LITTLE WHITE LIES

Author: Laura Stampler
Release Date: July 19, 2016
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 352
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Description:

The Devil Wears Prada meets Sex and the City in a wickedly funny debut novel about a girl who lands a dream internship at a magazine in New York City. If only she hadn’t lied about being a dating expert on her resume . 

Harper Anderson has always thought she should have been born somewhere more glamorous than her sleepy Northern California suburb. After all, how many water polo matches and lame parties in Bobby McKittrick’s backyard can one girl take?

Already resigned to working at a Skinny B’s Juice Press for the summer, Harper is shocked when the ultra-prestigious teen magazine, Shift, calls to say they want her to be their teen dating blogger for the summer. All she needs to do is get her butt to New York in two days.

There’s just one teeny, tiny problem: Apart from some dance floor make-outs, Harper doesn’t have a whole lot of dating experience. So when Shift’s application asked for an “edgy” personal essay, Harper might have misappropriated her best friend’s experiences for her own. But she can just learn on the job...right? Will the house of lies Harper has built around her dream job collapse all around her, or will she be able to fake it until she makes it in the big city?



My Rating:



Favorite Quotes:



I won't make any friends on your level.  I'm just going to make a big bowl of cantaloupe friends... Everyone knows that cantaloupe is the ultimate filler fruit of the fruit salad.  No one asks for it, it's just there.  No one really craves hanging out with cantaloupe friends.  It's how you make do so you don't, you know, socially starve to death.

Aunt Vee has the pained look of a woman on the second day of a juice cleanse.

I just start crying.  And not cute crying.  Ugly crying.  The kind where your face gets red and your breathing gets all gasp-y and you realize you're precariously close to becoming a snot monster.

I'm not used to crying.  At all.  I go to an all boys' school and the only emotion my parents show is disapproval, so I went with my first instinct.  That wasn't creepy, right?

I know I need to up my flirting game from asking cute guys what time it is and running away.  Fear of rejection sends me into fight-or-flight mode, and I don't know how to stop myself from always picking flight.

You don't wait for an invitation to apologize.  You just do it.  As loudly as possible.



My Review:



I can no longer state, "I don't YA." I must revise one of my pat statements to, "I rarely YA." I was blissfully unaware when signing up to review Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies, that the book fell into the YA genre... oops. As I was committed to review it, I chastised myself to pay more attention, sighed heavily and then began to read one of the most delightfully humorous, clever, and insightful books I've read in ages. It was wicked funny, cleverly plotted, and smartly written. I read YA! I am stunned, and humbled, extremely pleased... but, mostly stunned... about all the above. Moreover, when I noticed that this skillfully completed tale seems to be the author's first book, my eyes telescoped from my skull like Roger Rabbit's.

But, oh, to be young and stupid again.  Or young and naive.  Or young, toned, and able to wear stilettos once more.  But mainly, I'll just like to be young and viewing the world as a shiny and exciting place.  I'm old and jaded now, but I vaguely and ever so fondly recall those bright and airy feelings of eagerness and enthusiasm.  I could see my younger self in seventeen-year-old Harper, a small town girl with big aspirations.  Harper was accepted for a summer internship with an iconic Manhattan media group, her dream job.  But, she was assigned to cover a beat she had no experience with - dating.  Harper was a klutzy wallflower, she was smart and cute, but socially and physically awkward.  She hasn't dated.  At all.  So she embellished.  Fake it to make it.  I said she was smart - she embellished well.  Her ambition and desire to fit in with her cool and chic co-workers led to a physical and social makeover, although this was not all to her betterment and ended up costing her dearly.  Life lessons are painful and hard, that aspect of youth I certainly do not miss, even for less cellulite. 

Empress DJ



About Laura Stampler


Laura Stampler is a Californian turned New Yorker. After graduating from Stanford University, she became a journalist, interning—and then worked on staff—at various newspapers and magazines. Laura has written about everything from dating to social media stars to social justice issues at Time magazine, Business Insider, Huffington Post, The Nation, The New Republic, and The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably looking at pug gifs on the Internet.


Find her: 



Giveaway


There is a tour-wide giveaway for…
  • A hardcover copy of LITTLE BLACK DRESSES, LITTLE WHITE LIES to TWO (2) winners – US only


Must be 13 or older to enter. Giveaway is US only.
 Giveaway ends July 26th at 11:59 PM Pacific. Book will be ordered from Amazon. Prizing courtesy of Rockstar Book Tours.  

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Rafflecopter link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9a07ce2b360/

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