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Chinese Whispers

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A-list parties, free champagne, celebrities - it's every girl's dream. But as Fiona Lemmon's discovering, it can all be a bit of a drag. Between being caught with her best friend's boyfriend and having to scour Dublin for a new housemate, she doesn't have the time to find material for her celebrity gossip column. If only there was someone she could use to fill in the gaps...

Enter Bunny Maguire.

Before long, sweet and innocent Bunny has been remade by Fiona into the very best of It Girls - rich, pretty, and with bags of time to spend at the right parties with the right people. But somewhere along the line something goes wrong - and Fiona discovers that, far from solving her problems, she could have created a absolute monster...

Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

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Marisa Mackle

41 books26 followers

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5 stars
16 (13%)
4 stars
25 (20%)
3 stars
46 (37%)
2 stars
25 (20%)
1 star
11 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Patricia Noy.
68 reviews
July 22, 2025
5 🌟 Premièrement la page couverture est magnifique, et deuxièmement j’ai tout aimé de ce livre. Fiona travaille pour un magazine à la recherches des potins de l’heure en faisant tous les événements et lancements pas possible de toutes sorte de niaiseries. En plus de ça, elle se cherche une nouvelle coloc qui amène son lot de mésaventures. A chaque chapitre, j’avais envie de connaître la suite de leurs péripéties. C’était drôle à souhait et ce fut une agréable lecture de fefilles 🎀👛👠👗 !!!
Profile Image for T.S.C. Lawrence.
Author 1 book8 followers
February 9, 2021
Now having read a book by this author before that I really, really didn't on with, let's just say I walked into this book with little to no hope of liking it. I kept an open mind, however, but was sure I wouldn't still like the tone of the author from what i remembered of her previous title.
Now ok, I will say, this book is better. Much better, but then there wasn't much for it to compete with in the first place.
The premise of the story revolves around Chinese whispers, the world of journalism and the gossip that comes with it, and as someone who studied journalism for her degree, I agreed with most things said. The world of journalism is stressful and not all it is cracked up to be, it has ugly elements to it and I liked how the author made this blatantly shine through.
But as with my praise, comes the moment which i love the most, the trope that I love and adore the most; misunderstandings!!!
And how many misunderstandings do you say due to either A. Not hearing someone out or B. Being a dumb ass and assuming things without just bloody asking...well after the ride I've been on this year with my reviews on the matter, you can only imagine what I am about to say next.
OF COURSE THERE WAS ALOT OF THEM! And of course it led to the main character being miserable and taking it out on others and blah blah, you get the picture.
Was the book good? Eh, it was alright.
Next!
12 reviews
December 7, 2010
Chinese Whispers – Marisa Mackle
BOOK COVER: Pick up a little black dress. It’s a girl thing.
Is it true Fiona’s been playing around with best mate Ellie’s new beau?
Rumour is a terrible thing. And Fiona Lemon knows that that being caught half-naked with Connor doesn’t not look good. But Ellie’s gone before she can explain what really happened! And now Fiona’s job as a gossip columnist isn’t helping her reputation much either – it seems being ‘creative’ with the truth is par for the course in the magazine world.

Then along comes pretty, rootless Bunny Maguire, and Fiona see a way for Bunny to help her solve all her problems at once. But life, love and all the lies are just about to be taken to a whole new lever – here’s to hoping the truth will finally out…

A brilliantly funny and original tale of mixed messages, misunderstandings and making up.
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I was not wild about this. I’d say usually that Little Black Dress books are an enjoyable wee morsel to amuse on the daily commute or in-between, hauling the kids off to school, feeding the cat, and getting the groceries. Sadly this felt awkward and I took ages to settle with it, being to me a curious balance of fantasy, flossy-fluff with heart then uncomfortably sprinkled in, near the end a smattering of searing social reality.

Or maybe it was the flip, huffy, modern maiden with attitude stuff that grated. Yup, that could be the key! Certainly the ‘misunderstandings’ put me out of sorts too, as I wanted to shake Fiona on more than one occasion to say hold on there’s another vital question you just haven’t asked. Fiona Lemon, and Bunny Maguire though, brilliant names and I love this cover!

I’ll see if I can pass my copy onto a bright young thing to find another readers point of view!
Profile Image for Lapauselibrairie.
65 reviews18 followers
August 1, 2013
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La première chose qui nous intrigue en lisant ce livre c’est l’objet livre en lui-même. Le papier est de très bonne qualité et la couverture est en papier glacé. Et elle est très belle, normal puisqu’elle a été réalisée par Margaux Motin ! Le format est original : aussi grand qu’un poche mais plus large. Le plus troublant reste la taille de la police d’écriture qui est minuscule ! J’avoue que je ne pensais pas m’y habituer, mais si. Par contre, certaines phrases étaient incompréhensibles : tous les mots étaient bons sauf qu’ils sont mis dans le mauvais sens ou alors il y a des fautes de frappes.

L’histoire n’a rien d’extraordinaire, c’est de la chick-lit bas de gamme (pourtant j’aime la chick-lit). Le lecteur est emporté dans l’histoire puisque la narration est à la première personne, mais les personnages ne sont pas très attachants. Il est ici question d’amour, d’amitié et de vivre sa vie mais ces points ne sont réellement mis en avant qu’à la fin alors qu’ils ne sont pas spécialement bien exploités tout au long du livre. En plus, j’avais l’impression de lire "Le Diable s’habille en Prada". Certes, ce n’est pas parce qu’un auteur reprend le cadre de la mode que ça sera forcément mal fait. Mais quand on a une référence telle que ce livre, il faut savoir aligner une vraie histoire pour palier la comparaison.

Mots : componction (tristesse du repentir), étale (ce qui est stationnaire, calme)

Une lecture sympathique mais fadasse. Je pensais le garder pour l’objet livre, mais d’autres livres de cette collection me tentent davantage.
Profile Image for Minie Houselook.
327 reviews3 followers
May 30, 2015
L'édition de ce livre est magnifique. Il y a eu un véritable effort, un vrai travail et ça donne un résultat du tonnerre.
Pour ce qui est du livre en lui-même, c'est une autre histoire... La trame n'est pas complète. Il manque pleins de filons qui fait que l'on est perdu, désarçonné et que l'on ne suit absolument pas l'auteur. De plus, le rythme de Marisa Mackle est lent et sans rebondissements, qui nous endort en quelques pages...
Profile Image for Karen Patrick.
602 reviews9 followers
February 25, 2022
Following the previous boring formula as the other books. Jaded 30-year-old woman complains about how old she is and how awful her life is for about 90% of the novel. All the characters are bitchy, selfish and generally so unpleasant. The guys are all lecherous and make the most horrible decisions. The girls are catty and fatphobic (The anti-fat movement is strong in this book). Definitely go watch the Kardashians or something if you wanted some better drama than this snore-fest.
Profile Image for Marie-Pier Deshaies.
50 reviews
March 6, 2025
Je suis une grande fan des livres Girl in the City et celui-ci ne m'a pas déçu. Fiona est amusante et agréable à lire, être dans sa tête est toute une aventure! Parfois, c'est très cliché mais c'est glamour et romantique et drôle. La fin est plutôt imprévue et c'est un plus.
Profile Image for Jenni.
403 reviews
September 19, 2010
This was an okay book. There were some interesting characters but the plot didn't work so well for me.
Profile Image for Sonaksha.
244 reviews142 followers
July 19, 2014
Not as great as some of the other LBD publications, but a sweet story nonetheless.
Profile Image for Janet.
533 reviews15 followers
April 11, 2015
3 1/2 out of 4 very very funny
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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