An aspiring writer with a solid following on her NYC-based blog, Noora is currently crashing on her sister’s couch and in desperate need of a job. So when she hears that Loretta James, the Editor in Chief of Vinyl magazine, is in need of a new assistant, Noora applies hoping that this would be her foot in the door to jumpstart her writing career. Instead, she finds that Loretta is erratic and difficult to work for, and that there seems to be a feud between the Print and Digital teams at Vinyl. A feud that Noora soon finds herself caught in the middle of.
This was very much Devil Wears Prada vibes with a more diverse cast of characters, which gave it a more relatable point of view. Noora is Iranian, and experiences situations and micro aggressions that, unfortunately, many people of colour can relate to but also provides depth to the character. Even the depiction of the industry itself may seem grandiose and outlandish to some but, I can imagine, is perhaps inspired by actual experiences. I’m not even in the same industry (maybe slightly adjacent) but after 1.5 decades in my career, I have experienced and/or witnessed moments that are not that far off from some of what was depicted in this novel.
As for the writing style, I’m a bit torn about it. I generally do enjoy more colloquial language and not as much flowery narration, and this was definitely a conversational style. It almost felt like this could have been in the style of Noora’s blog posts – a lot of asides, cheeky commentary that interject her own storytelling. I found that, in a way, it did work, but also not at times. The asides sometimes took me out of the flow of the story a bit. I also found the pacing a bit inconsistent. Sometimes there were a lot of pages dedicated to something, and other times (I think) mid-chapter it would have jumped weeks or months later, fairly abruptly.
I also have mixed feelings about the sex scene that’s in this story. I didn’t feel that the connection between the characters was established well enough that there was really anything there to warrant a sudden moment of passion. And given the tone and general vibe of the book before and after that, I felt this scene was suddenly uncharacteristically spicy and just stood out that it didn’t feel like it quite fit. While I do appreciate how the author made Noora confident in expressing her wants and needs, I really was not feeling that connection (and the guy’s behaviour and personality had been so ick throughout the story so far) that the whole thing just felt off to me. (I was actually rooting for another pairing that didn’t pan out to anything!)
I do want to highlight that there is a good representation of a variety of groups in this book. People’s pronouns are acknowledged, there are a number of characters that are part of the LGBTQ community, and a diverse mix of ethnicities. Overall it is a fairly quick, entertaining read if you enjoy novels like Devil Wears Prada, shows like Younger, and stories that have to do with the fashion and/or publishing industry in NYC. It touches on themes of ambition and what people do to achieve that, ageism in a way – when the technology and the world moves too quickly for some and there’s almost a culture shock to try and keep up or else be left behind.
Review: ★ ★ ★ ☆ (3.5 /5 stars)
Available: July 26, 2022
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A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
JUST A LIL LOST 