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Strictly Confidential
A deliciously gossipy, fast-paced peek into the real world of publicity.
Meet Jasmine Lewis, the smart, young publicist trying to work her way up from the bottom in the city’s hottest PR
Company. She’s done the coffee runs, the dry cleaning pickups, the 5am starts, the 11pm finishes. But still, her evil
boss Diane Wildenstein is never happy. So when Jasmine finds herself being summoned to Diane’s office early one
morning, she knows something’s got to give. Luckily for Jasmine, faith lends a hand and helps her escape to launch a
fabulous new career that should be a dream come true—or maybe the start of a whole new world of nightmares.
Roxy Jacenko is the 30-year-old powerhouse behind the fashion PR firm, Sweaty Betty.
Meet Jasmine Lewis, the smart, young publicist trying to work her way up from the bottom in the city’s hottest PR
Company. She’s done the coffee runs, the dry cleaning pickups, the 5am starts, the 11pm finishes. But still, her evil
boss Diane Wildenstein is never happy. So when Jasmine finds herself being summoned to Diane’s office early one
morning, she knows something’s got to give. Luckily for Jasmine, faith lends a hand and helps her escape to launch a
fabulous new career that should be a dream come true—or maybe the start of a whole new world of nightmares.
Roxy Jacenko is the 30-year-old powerhouse behind the fashion PR firm, Sweaty Betty.
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Roxy Jacenko
7 books7 followersRoxy Jacenko is the powerhouse behind Sydney's hottest Fashion PR firm, Sweaty Betty. Not only do the products she publicises make the pages of every magazine in town, but so does Roxy herself. It's rare to see her away from the social pages. She has starred in 2013's Celebrity Apprentice, and her profile is only going up! Roxy has previously published two books, Strictly Confidential and The Rumour Mill. The Spotlight is the latest book in her series.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 11, 2016
Cliche and stereotype-ridden. Full of the most annoying dialogue: OMG, totes, amaze, LOL, incred. I haven't disliked a main character so much in quite a while.
Skip it, much better chick-lit out there than this.
Skip it, much better chick-lit out there than this.
October 16, 2012
A lot of cattiness and not enough DRAMA! Writing style is mediocre - provides insight into the fashion PR world but not on an intimate level. No clear plot line. Too many little things are happening. Sometimes less is more. An exposé would've been better.
February 20, 2022
A light hearted reading for a lazy Sunday afternoon
I enjoyed reading about the PR world and revisiting the suburbs of Sydney I love and miss
But that’s all I enjoyed out of this book
I enjoyed reading about the PR world and revisiting the suburbs of Sydney I love and miss
But that’s all I enjoyed out of this book
May 16, 2013
I read this one afternoon while procrastinating about studying for an exam. That was the only reason I finished it, because only studying for a chemistry exam was less appealing than finishing this book.
March 14, 2017
This is a 3 1/2 stars. It started off very motivating and empowering and ended with a woman obsessed with work, ignoring her health, abusing neurofen and obsessed with weight.
I get the fashion world is harsh but there is no need to glorify such things.
If you stuck with the woman empowering bits more it would be better.
I get the fashion world is harsh but there is no need to glorify such things.
If you stuck with the woman empowering bits more it would be better.
February 19, 2013
Well, at least this was a quick and easy read. You should be done with it in less than three hours, which for a recommended retail price of $24.99AUD is not very much book (of course, that's not what I paid!)
"Chick Lit" isn't the most intellectual of genres and I had the bar set very low, but my main problem is that about half the book is listing Australian and Sydney specific names or labels. "I wore a white Bassike top", "Kerri Anne Kennerley, [five other real life names] and Yumi Stynes were there". (actual quotes from the book)
I lived in Sydney for 18 years and I could place most of the references but a Melbourne, rural, or overseas reader would simply not understand half of what goes in this book. All of the characters are very thinly veiled caricatures of real life Sydney identities (Lara Bingle, Ros Reines etc).
I see very little that would be of interest to a non Sydney resident, or anyone not interested in an extended "guess who don't sue" column.
"Chick Lit" isn't the most intellectual of genres and I had the bar set very low, but my main problem is that about half the book is listing Australian and Sydney specific names or labels. "I wore a white Bassike top", "Kerri Anne Kennerley, [five other real life names] and Yumi Stynes were there". (actual quotes from the book)
I lived in Sydney for 18 years and I could place most of the references but a Melbourne, rural, or overseas reader would simply not understand half of what goes in this book. All of the characters are very thinly veiled caricatures of real life Sydney identities (Lara Bingle, Ros Reines etc).
I see very little that would be of interest to a non Sydney resident, or anyone not interested in an extended "guess who don't sue" column.
September 15, 2014
Possibly the worst book I have ever read.
January 18, 2015
this was so poorly written. And to think she is in PR?
January 18, 2015
not even worth the paper its printed on.
December 7, 2017
I picked this up at the library (thank god I didn’t buy it!!) out of curiosity as I follow Jacenko on instagram. Great at her PR job she may be, but fiction author not so much. The novel drowned under the weight of the vapid OMGs and amaze-es and brand/label-dropping. The lead character was a cardboard cutout in a book that had a barely coherent storyline. This novel basically sits as a holiday read when you have read everything else, and don’t want to tax your brain (AT ALL). I honestly would rather have read an autobiography from Jacenko about how she made it to be one of the country’s top PR people.
September 17, 2020
This book is full of Sydney stereotypes, with no real plot lines. I continued to read as I hoped it would get better, unfortunately it did not.
The main character Jazzy Lou is not at all likeable, personally I thought she sounded pretty awful, yelling at her staff and flakey with her friends/boyfriend.
Not the fun easy read I had hoped for.
The main character Jazzy Lou is not at all likeable, personally I thought she sounded pretty awful, yelling at her staff and flakey with her friends/boyfriend.
Not the fun easy read I had hoped for.
July 4, 2022
Light hearted and easy to read. The type of book you can speed through. In-depth information regarding the PR world, I learnt a lot about this area of work that I wasn’t aware of before reading this book. Dialog is a little bit cringey but I think that helps it fit into the chick-lit genre. Overall I enjoyed it and will be reading the second book in the series.
December 15, 2017
Felt more like reading a vendetta against certain people who are real but not being in this industry or caring much about the celebrity culture I had no idea who they were. Makes celebrity culture seem really important, still not buying that.
May 30, 2012
I liked this book but didn't love it. I appreciate that chick lit isn't the most intellectual of genres, but this book was so vacuous it was like reading a book written how a fifteen year old girl would speak. Everyone says "TOTES" all the time, even the guys, which made me laugh even though it wasn't intentionally funny.
Having said that, I liked the story line and all the 'gossip' and fashion references the book contained. It was kind of like the book version of a celebrity magazine like Grazia.
If you can look past the language used by the characters and the slightly clunky writing this is an easy-to-read, entertaining book.
Having said that, I liked the story line and all the 'gossip' and fashion references the book contained. It was kind of like the book version of a celebrity magazine like Grazia.
If you can look past the language used by the characters and the slightly clunky writing this is an easy-to-read, entertaining book.
February 27, 2012
As a lover of chick lit and a beauty blogger I could not wait to get my hands on this book.
I was a little worried that being Roxy's first book & her being a PR whizz rather than an author as such, that this would be a poorly written book. I* am happy to report that I was wrong!
What I loved most about this book was that it is set in Sydney & is mostly a true story based on Roxy's success. I could not put the book down and I hope that there is a sequel.
I recommend this to all that love chick lit and are fascinated by PR and celebrities
I was a little worried that being Roxy's first book & her being a PR whizz rather than an author as such, that this would be a poorly written book. I* am happy to report that I was wrong!
What I loved most about this book was that it is set in Sydney & is mostly a true story based on Roxy's success. I could not put the book down and I hope that there is a sequel.
I recommend this to all that love chick lit and are fascinated by PR and celebrities
February 22, 2012
The best part of this book was trying to match the characters with real life people, as apparently the book is based on real life events. It's nothing high brow, so don't expect anything mind blowing here. The book is very entangled with Sydney jargon which is ok , makes it feel authentic. This is a light and easy to read book, and you can forgive substance and character issues as its such a short book. Read it with no expectations and you won't be disappointed.
February 14, 2013
Like the Devil Wears Prada, but focusing more on the management of celebrities that fashion. Jasmine/ Jazzy loves her job, but hates her boss. When she gets fired she doesn't know whether to celebrate or cry. In the end she decides to follow her dreams, and get a little revenge on the way.
August 20, 2016
This was a tacky, poorly written thing. The only feeling I came away with was that I'm glad I've matured past that high school backstabbing, bullying, immature rubbish. I gave this a chance, I wasn't expecting much, and still I was heavily disappointed by it.
July 14, 2012
good general writing style but there weren't enough big catastrophes for my liking!
November 18, 2012
lightweight, fluffy read. A good summer beach read, but that is about all
June 14, 2013
Needing a light read after reading a few heavy crime books. Not a lot to think about with this one - pretty ordinary.
July 8, 2013
It was okay, very easy to read, and kind of like a 'guess which celeb this is' scenario.I think I'll stick to reading Zoe Foster.
October 22, 2013
Finished this in two days, great if you are looking for a super dooper quick read...
Entertaining but nothing really to it.
Entertaining but nothing really to it.
November 20, 2013
Had to pick this book up and read after I saw it at the library after I had seen Roxy Jacenko on Celebrity Apprentice. It wasn't great as I expected but it was an easy, short, mindless read.
April 12, 2014
enjoyable piece of fluff, loved the australian content. easy to read, intriguing.
March 13, 2016
I couldn't connect with the main character. I didn't know whether to dislike her or pity her. The dialogue got annoying at times with omg, totes, etc. I have yet to meet people who speak like that.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews