The Knockoff, Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

Yiying Lu, Anna Wintour with a QR Code Top, 2011

(September 16) I really didn’t think much of this novel from early on, and was disappointed since it was touted by Nick Wooster and a few other fashion bloggers / experts I follow… but now I realize they probably know the two authors personally and wanted to use their powers to help their friends.

And everyone is always hoping for another The Devil Wears Prada, which made such a good movie (I haven’t read the book).

But it was kind of cheesy and predictable on the one hand, and implausible and tacky on the other. 

Here's a sample sentence: “A band, one that was fairly well known among hipster yuppies in gentrifying Brooklyn, was setting up on the stage.” (p. 314)

I have to agree with the 1- and 2-star reviews on Amazon:

The characters were over the top, but not in a fun, whimsical way like in Bergorf Blondes, which I enjoyed. A 42-year-old who has been on a brief medical sabbatical reacts to this brave new world like a caveman being unfrozen from a glacier, befuddled by the concept of internet traffic and bemoaning the demise of the floppy disk. A graduate of Harvard business school who lands a prestigious position at an important fashion magazine tweets that she is “bringin da pinky swear back. Booya!” Because that's how adult women talk in 2015. Nailed it.

More at this link.