I don't review a lot of books here on the blog, but I recently got the opportunity to check out the book Style Tribes: The Fashion Of Subcultures* and I was instantly in. I've always been fascinated with subculture for how it inevitably eventually influences popular culture and the way that people express their feeling of belonging to that subculture through their fashion choices. Admittedly, I've gone through a lot of different fashion stages in my life - with the one I'm currently in being lazy and comfortable - and many of them were influenced by how I saw myself fitting in the world and how I defined myself through my community, or tribe, if you will.

Keep reading for more!

I bought this book in a kind of perfect storm of PMS and nostalgia, I'll admit. It's actually been a long time since I've picked up a Harlequin from the grocery story - probably a decade? - but considering the subject matter I'm sure you'll understand why it was hard to resist. Earlier this week I was putting together a post about scent memory, which will be up early next week, and it got me thinking about the quick&dirty romance novels I came up on when I was a teenager, so that night when I was grabbing epsom salts and cotton rounds from Superstore I did a little meander through the monthly book section and the word "Makeup" jumped right out at me. And then I read the back of the book:

Makeup artist Chloe Masterson has a look for every occasion. Flying home for your sister's wedding and family torture? Easy. Bring out the sarcastic wit and black eyeliner. Bonus—the look catches the eye of the corporate hottie sitting beside her on the plane. Turns out Ben has the exact same last name, and everyone assumes they're married. 

Why not, right?

Anyway, I know that this type of book review won't be for everyone, but if you're interested in my take on the first book I've EVER seen with a makeup artist and beauty vlogger as the main character, keep reading! 

Why do I love some good Young Adult fiction, you ask? I think there's a few reasons. The first is that there's something nostalgic about the way things mattered when we were all coming of age. Everything was over the top, every emotion felt like a hurricane, and every relationship seemed like the most important thing in the world. There's something about going back to that headspace as an adult who knows better. Ultimately, I feel like there's been a surge of movies based on teen fiction because both the book and movie industries figured out how big the market is there, and that it's not just going to be teen girls enjoying them.

I'm going to spoil this review from the very beginning and tell you that I loved this book and absolutely hated the movie. I probably would have enjoyed the movie a touch more if I hadn't read and appreciated the book so much, but not by much. 

Anyway, keep reading to read my thoughts on the book and movie, and all of the things lost in translation that left such a bad taste in my mouth after watching the movie.

WARNING: There will be spoilers for both the book and the movie in this review. Just saying. Also, it's long because I have feelings. Skip to the VERDICT at the end if you want the Cliff's Notes version.

I didn't actually have any intention of doing book reviews on this blog... and certainly not reviews for my most favorite guilty pleasure reads - New Adult novels. I'd rather seem highbrow. Or something. The New Adult genre is pretty saturated with really, really shitty books as far as I'm concerned and I had actually somewhat given up on finding new books that I wouldn't want to hurl across the room in a fit of rage. However, these are two books that have really done it right, in my opinion. They are most certainly a pair, but I believe the author has the good sense to end at two rather than jumping the shark to try and capitalize further on these two characters. Very good sense that a lot of other authors, in my opinion, lack.

Now, here's the DISCLAIMER. I'm an unabashed long time romance fan, from back in the day when I was sneaking my mom's Harlequins and blushing over the dirty scenes, and I'll verbally fight to the death anyone who discounts the entire genre based on their preconceptions about it. I feel like I've seen it all and I think I've become a little bit of a snob at this point. Ask any romance reader and she'll have pet peeves with many a book in the genre and she'll have tropes that she absolutely loves, so I tend to look for those things in other people's reviews. Those are personal, but you'll likely find my peeves and loves in this review. 


WARNING: This review may contain spoilers, though I'll try to keep them to a minimum!

NOW. Onto these books.