Wildchilds

by Eugenia Melian

The loss of innocence, the death of beauty, and the price of success.

Seventeen years ago, Iris was forced to abandon Gus, the love of her life, and her career as a top model in Paris. She has created a new life for herself and her daughter, Lou, in California. However, when the news of Gus’s unexpected death reaches Iris, her tenuously reconstructed life is thrown into chaos. A celebrated art and fashion photographer, Gus has left his estate to Lou, with one condition: Iris must travel to Paris and recover a missing collection of his work.

Iris soon discovers that she’s not the only one after the photographs. An old enemy is staking claim to them and a notorious tabloid is threatening Iris with brutal—and very private—images of her past life. To protect her daughter from scandal, Iris needs to confront the demons that caused her to flee Paris, her career, and her life with Gus.

Iris embarks on a suspenseful journey through the closed world of the fashion industry where the beautiful people do ugly things.

Will she expose the industry’s dark side and shameful secrets? Can she shield her family from the consequences?

Wildchilds is a work of fiction based on the truth.

Genres: Fiction, Fashion, Mystery

418 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2018

About the author

Since the early 1980s, Eugenia Melian has worked as a model, agent, producer, and music supervisor in Milan, Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. She has discovered, managed, art directed and produced some of the most talented artists of our time, with career highlights that include launching the careers of iconic photographers Tony Viramontes, Peggy Sirota and David LaChapelle, and co-producing Malcolm McLaren’s cult album Paris. Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Hardy, LouLou de la Falaise, Sonya Rykiel, Rocco Siffredi, Helmut Newton, David Bailey, Faye Dunaway, Marlon Brando, Prince, Tilda Swinton, Guerlain, Vogue, Daft Punk, Blur, Stella McCartney, Janet Jackson and The Face are among the long list of luminaries and brands she has collaborated on projects with and represented.

Eugenia currently lives in northern California, and in September 2018 she released her debut novel WILDCHILDS.

Eugenia can be found online on Instagram @FashionSphinx, and at www.EugeniaMelian.com.

WILDCHILDS is available in paperback and e-book formats on Amazon, Book Marc New York, WH Smith Paris, Libreria Gaudi Madrid, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold.

Reviews

[ABCme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Fashion Sphinx Books for the ARC.

This book is heartbreakingly beautiful.
It starts in California, where single mom Iris, a former international fashion model, leads a quiet life as a sculptor in the peaceful countryside of La Arboleda. I'm immediately taken in by the place. The ranch, the sights and smells, the calm soothing natural environment.
But all that's about to change. While Iris' priority is her sixteen year old daughter Lou, the girl's photographer father has other plans. A parcel of documents arrives, announcing Gustavo's death, leaving his estate to the daughter he has never met. Iris has to travel back to the life she left behind to sort out his archives.
The main part of this extraordinary story takes place in Paris. Through the eyes of the photographer and his muse, we dive deep into The Nineties fashionworld. The good, the bad and the ugly. Speaking from personal experience, I found this an accurate account of events. The story of Paris the artistic, creative, bohemian and authentic, as well as its dark underbelly. I couldn't put it down.
As Iris goes through the hundreds of photos, memories pop up, stories are told, nasty discoveries enter. 'La vie en rose' is not all that. She stumbles upon hidden folders full of images from The Red Room, the exclusive members only club. The scenes described make my heart skip a beat, although it's not a new discovery. Documentaries have been made about it years ago. But the writing is so exquisite, I'm hurting for the innocent girls and boys involved.
The love story between Iris and Gus is very moving, raw and believable. Theirs are real lives in a fake reality.
I enjoyed the fast pace of the Paris fashionworld, the excitement and adventure. The settings are wonderful, past and present. There are well crafted joyous moments and melancholy minds.
Eventually the book has a unexpected twist and the surviving woman turn the bad into good.
Wildchilds is a strong story not to be ignored.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
“That’s the business, Iris. It’s a ruthless industry. People’s love lasts but one season.”

In a novel that is fiction meets memoir, Eugenia Melian (who has worked in the industry as model, agent, producer, and music supervisor in Milan, Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles) tells the story of former top model in Paris, Iris, who has to make the choice to extract herself from her greatest love, Gus and the industry itself. We meet her present day living in La Arboleda on a ranch in Northern California, a far cry from the thrills and noise of the city. Single motherhood has fit her well, raising Lou all on her own after tragedy, a teen girl who looks and carries herself as gracefully as Iris, her life feels full enough. Maybe she doesn’t quite fit in with all the moms walking around in their yoga pants, but this is the calm her soul thrives on. The past eleven years, this has been paradise, peaceful, quiet until shocking news comes screaming that Gus, the father Lou has never met, the famous art and fashion photographer Iris once was muse and lover of, has died! She hadn’t even known he was sick!

Long ago, escaping that life, that admittedly was thrilling, fulfilling for a while she never imagined normal wouldn’t be so easy to attain. Loss after loss followed, and here now Lou blames her mother for ‘never marrying my father’, blames the man who never bothered to know his girl so how is she expected to feel anything, she doesn’t know him!, Worse still, how is she to come to terms with knowing she will never know her father Gus now? Isn’t fury a normal reaction? In fact, Lou badgers her, wanting to know why she won’t go back into modeling, who is dumb enough to give up fame, money, admiration of men, Paris, New York? Iris is too scared to reveal the real reasons, the dark side of that high life. Settles instead telling her there are dangers in modeling. Making matters worse, Gus has left his photographic estate to Lou, and Iris is the executor. Being forced back into the chaos of Gus isn’t what she wants, memories of her childhood with her successful, often distant French mother consuming her as much as the abuses of her past, when she was so young and beautiful, a hot star on the rise. The drugs, the parties, the transgressions, but too there are memories of the intense bond, the passion between she and Gus. It had been amazing, for a time, where their love seemed ‘invincible’ until it soured, things moved too fast, she had to jump off that wild ride to survive, afraid of becoming something shameful.

Gus spent his entire life running away, towards something that was never enough, that took him further from Iris and Lou. But he was there in the beginning, for the rise of Iris as much a big part of her fall. Fellow models weren’t living with the easy luck, the shine that Iris was, the stark reality being girls disappeared, people took advantage, beauty wasn’t a deterrent to brutality, to the gritty streets. Beauty doesn’t keep you safe, in fact it seems to cry out for defilement. Money can be poisonous too. Power often leads to bottomless appetites, where better to feast than in the glamour and glitter of the modeling world? Young girls and boys eager as a puppy to be something, someone, willing to do anything, and if not… so much the better.

Now a dangerous enemy has Iris in their sights. In order to give Lou everything Gus intended, the only real thing she will ever have of her father, Iris has to meet his conditions and retrieve the missing collection in Paris. If that’s not bad enough, she is being threatened with photos by a tabloid, a shameful past that haunts her. No longer the ingénue, it could well be that she has been underestimated, and it is time to confront the past, and strike back. No more can she allow anyone to take power away from her, not when she has her own beloved daughter to protect! It is through her love of Lou that she finds immeasurable strength to stop being a victim!

With the headlines of today, it’s not so shocking (isn’t that sad) that people abuse the young, knowing people will do anything for fame and those who won’t can be forced, manipulated by any means and those in power always have means, be sure of that. Iris was a natural, really good at what she did, loved it but couldn’t, wouldn’t accept the underbelly and more often than not that is the choice. Her own mother’s career, betrayals she stomached, sacrifices she made even hurting her own family, all the fair weather friends is ‘just the way the business goes’, life’s a jungle and it often comes to nothing, in the end. People (men and women) don’t talk about the things that happen to them in such industries, those in control know how to blackmail, you shut your mouth and take it if you hope to remain on top, or you leave quietly if you want to survive at all.

The images may be beautiful, but the reality isn’t a dream for most.

Publication Date: Out Tomorrow September 20, 2018

Fashion Sphinx Books

[Chandra Claypool (WhereTheReaderGrows) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I feel like debut novels can be difficult to review. Here Melian gives to us a fictionalized story based on truth. Iris, a former model, who had a tumultuous relationship with fashion photographer, Gus, now is off that fast track and with her daughter, lives in California. Living a much calmer life, she receives notice that Gus has passed and has left his estate to Lou, him and Iris's daughter. Here comes the paparazzi. Now she has to confront her past to try and protect not only herself but her daughter as well. Told from present day with flashbacks, we get a look into the seedy world of modeling, drugs and sex.

A realistic look into something we on the outside tend to see as exciting and a dream for some. There were some issues in the writing of the book - it could seem choppy in certain areas and would go from past to present without any real segue or break in the chapters. This could get a little bit confusing. Am I reading about Iris of old or of now? The tenses seemed to change a lot throughout the pages as well. But hey, this is a debut novel and these things, while can disrupt the reading flow, is something I can also overlook.

I do think that maybe this wasn't quite the right choice for me to read. I'm not big on art-y type books and fashion certainly can fall into that same category in my eyes. However, this isn't just a book about fashion and the extremities that occur in the industry. It's also a story of Iris and her journey. A girl who had to make some very adult decisions at an early point in her life. Someone who had been taken advantage of, who fell in love, who got hurt in a variety of ways. Her journey to have to confront that life again and her opening up to her daughter.

It's a great story for those interested in the behind the scenes of the modeling industry that reads a bit like a memoir.

Thank you Smith Publicity for this copy.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the moment I saw the cover of Wildchilds, I was intrigued. And then I read the description of the book, and I knew I needed to read this book. While I’ve never been interested in modeling myself, I’ve always been interested in the fashion industry. And then I found out that the author of Wildchilds, Eugenia Melian, is a former model. That just makes this whole book so much cooler.

Wildchilds follows former model Iris, who after just a few short years in the modeling world, leaves Paris abruptly, never to return. We have two points of view and two storylines. The first is told in third person and takes place in our present day. The second is told in first person, and follows Iris’ life years ago, as a model. The story begins with Iris receiving a letter stating that Gus, the former love of her life whom she hasn’t seen since leaving Paris, has died. That’s only the first page, and even from there, this story is a wild ride.

I fell in love with this book immediately. Iris is just so relatable. And the writing? The writing is amazing. It’s gritty, yet beautiful at the same time. Wildchilds is one of the best written books I’ve read in a while. I would one hundred and ten percent recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

[Kate Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's VERY timely and a page-turner. Set primarily in the fascinating and sometimes also horrific inner circles of Paris high fashion, Eugenia Melian artfully captures the passionate vulnerability of youth, the heartbreak of an ill-fated love affair, the complexity of a contemporary mother-daughter relationship, the transformative power of true friendships - and the healing that can only come for women when we finally unite and tell the Truth.

[Annecraw4d · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about love, fashion, Paris, California, the world of top models and redemption. I read it straight through, and was captivated by the author's inside knowledge of the modeling industry and the abuse girls have been subjected to in order to reach the top. The relationships between mother/daughter/friends/lovers is beautifully drawn, and the sense of place, whether in the hills of Sonoma or the clubs of Paris are vivid and lush.

[Sayo -bibliotequeish- · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a time where women are fighting back against an industry that has forced them into silence for years, this book is a love song to the "me too" movement.

An ex-model returns to Paris after the death of her boyfriend and finds herself swept up in the chaos that drove her from France, and her successful career.
This book sheds light on the struggles women in this industry face everyday. Gives us a gimps into their not so glamorous lives.

At times this book is very difficult to read, to believe that people can be so monstrous.
The story in this book is timely. The message to fight back is important. Despite these two important points, I could not get into this book.

The book simply did not grab me. And it should have, it was a good story.
But I think it was the actual writing style and plot delivery that I could not get behind. This book has good bones, and in my opinion has the potential to be really good, but the rudimentary writing lost me. Having said that, it felt real, life can be choppy and raw, so while the writing was not my preferred style, I can not fault the author for writing a story that needs to be told.
It felt almost like when you are really mad at someone and you write them an email, and your writing is frantic as you try to get out all your feelings. And then you send it without reading it over. The writing may not flow in a pretty way, but it will still filled with emotion.
That was how I saw this book.

While this may not be the years next best seller, the message in this book is empowering and important.

[Janelle Janson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Smith Publicity for providing my free copy of WILDCHILDS - all opinions are my own.

This is a deeply personal story with a backdrop of the thrilling, yet dark and perilous underside of the fashion world.

Iris is a retired fashion model and a single mom to her teenage daughter, Lou. She has given up the top model life in Paris to settle down to a quiet life in La Arboleda until one day she receives a package from Gustavo’s estate. Gus, who is her ex-boyfriend and fashion photographer, has passed away. He left everything to a daughter he has never met. Iris hasn’t seen Gus since abruptly leaving Paris but now has to return to sort through the estate and revisit a painful past.

The narrative alternates between the present day and the past during Iris’ life as a model. I really enjoyed reading the 1990s Paris setting and learning about the in-depth world and cruel nature of fashion photography. Melian is a former model, agent, and producer extraordinaire, so it was wonderful to get the insider perspective on this exclusive, secretive lifestyle. Although some of the writing might appear disjointed, the book moves at a quick pace with an unexpected ending. WILDCHILDS is memoir meets fiction, which gives Melian range to explore emotions and feelings of her characters, adding depth to an already fascinating story. I really enjoyed this rather unique coming-of-age novel where a young model had to make difficult decisions in a very adult world.

My rating is 3.5 out of 5 stars!

[Ana Domínguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eugenia Melián is a superb storyteller! Wildschilds It is a book crucial to anyone interested in fashion, with the point of view of a sharp insider who has been in the industry for decades representing talented artists like David Lachapelle or Tony Viramontes. But it is much more than that, a great story full of love, compassion, regrets, frustration, nostalgia... A real pleasure to read. I highly recommend it. You will be shocked, surprised, angry and highly moved by its characters. Watch out for it, is a precious jewel you would like to keep!

[Moonbook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for sending me this book for review.

I really wanted to love it, the writing style I really enjoyed but sometimes I was confused, because some take place in the present but also in the past and I didn't realize what time we weren or settings like where we are. But I enjoyed the idea pf the story

[Bookish_Aly_Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book packs a powerful punch with an important message. The author delivered an insiders point of view into the fashion industry and told an engaging story.

I liked a lot of things about this story, but I think I most appreciated the realistic relationship dynamic between mother and daughter. The interactions between Iris and Lou were completely believable and seemed to help drive the story.

Although the writing style was a bit choppy, I feel like it aided in delivering a story that reads like a memoir. I did struggle to follow some parts though, as it switched from past to present without really leading into the change.

I feel this was a really strong debut novel with a wonderful, interesting and compelling story and is definitely worth the read.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Wildchilds" is a work of fiction based on the truth. 

The reader quickly feels a visceral connection to Iris as she encounters other models, photographers, personal agents, magazine reps and editors as they all transverse the tense demanding social and professional lives in Fashion publications and fashion runways. Many friendly faces use and devour seemingly willing prey.  Is it worth price?

"Wildchilds" by Eugenia Melian is the story of a woman named Iris who is forced to evaluate her past if she wants her daughter Lou to understand her. Iris rebuilt her life as a sculptor and left her successful modeling career behind in Paris. Living in California with her daughter Lou, she is a sculptor who is content with her life. However, that illusion is broken when Gus, the man she always loved, dies and leaves his fortune to his daughter Lou. Gus was a fashion and art photographer and some of his collection went missing. Iris will have to look for the missing pieces in order for Lou to get her inheritance. Upon returning to Paris and doing some groundwork, Iris realizes that someone else is looking for the missing collection and they are ready to do whatever it takes to get their hands on it. To make matters worse, someone from her past is trying to stir up old ugly memories that she repressed a long time ago. What will Iris do?

Told from present day with flashbacks, we get a look into the seedy world of modeling, drugs and sex. I became so emotionally vested in this well researched book that I refused to read the book for several days because I knew it was time for Iris or someone close to her to be nastily used and often abused. 

It is truly amazing when a novel is this accurate, includes well developed characters and imbues the reader with a desire to understand what drives these women and men to seek such monumental attention and fame. "Wildchilds" is a realistic look into the fashion industry that we on the outside tend to see as exciting and a dream for some.  

Additionally, I puzzled over the "WildChilds" title.  Certainly, both Iris and her daughter Lou both have an alternative way of looking at life.  They both have somewhat fierce and feral personalities. They both grow-up trying to absorb life by watching and often jump into a conflict or choice before fully considering what that will mean.

This book has such harsh eye-opening observations until fear for others becomes a passion at the end when realizing that telling one own's story and facing the corruption that continues will no doubt not just expose past events but hopefully mean another book to continue the awareness.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Anita Dehghani

[Donna Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to Net Galley and Fashion Sphinx Books.

The world of fashion is about as far from my orbit as anything could be (wrote the reviewer from her armchair while wearing her favorite chenille robe and slippers.) However, I have taken a few wild literary chances that have paid off, and an online acquaintance said she had enjoyed this novel, so I plunged. Although I did learn some things, it didn’t work for me as well as I had hoped.

Conceptually, it’s interesting. Lou has never known her father Gus, who was a successful photographer, and due to the terms of his will, she must now travel to Paris and retrieve an important collection of his work. Others are also after it, though neither she nor her mother Iris, who is traveling with her, knows why. There are dark doings in the world of fashion, and what’s more, the teaser tells us that this is a fictionalized account of real events.

The problem here is that I don’t believe one of the two main characters, and no novel of any kind works if the reader sees too much of the writer behind the character. It’s like in the movie, where Toto pulls the curtain away and we see that the great and powerful Oz is just a little guy talking into a microphone. This is what happens to me when I read Lou’s character. My sense is that the author may not have spent a lot of time with adolescents. The teenager is the star of his or her own personal world, and even the most successful entertainers and artists are their children’s audience, not the reverse. Lou, on the other hand, just can’t get enough of her mother’s memories. Iris talks and talks; Lou soaks it all in and begs for more. Perhaps the author’s purpose was to provide Iris with the chance to tell her story, but if so, it would have been more effective with another adult character, because children don’t behave this way. The news of a father that Iris wouldn’t tell her about earlier helps make her curiosity more credible, but Iris’s recollections travel far and wide, and Lou never cuts her off or redirects her.

In more expert hands, this might have been a chance to develop a very unusual literary teenager, but it’s a tough job, and I didn’t see that happen. Once Lou’s development comes apart, there’s not much purpose to the rest of it, apart from the information one can learn about the fashion industry and its history.

This book is recommended to a niche audience, and it is for sale now.

[Shari Lopatin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first choice for my first NetGalley Advanced Reviewer Copy (ARC), so trust me when I say, I really wanted to give this debut novel more than two stars. The story was good, and I can tell it was deeply personal for Author Eugenia Meliàn. Unfortunately, Wildchilds was not executed well, like reading a proofread first draft rather than a final product.

Here’s the deal with Wildchilds: it’s a great concept, a story about the dark side of the fashion industry, a #MeToo coming out for a sector that has yet to acknowledge its dirty secrets. Ms. Meliàn is a former model herself and a veteran agent in the fashion industry, so she gives the reader a real inside look into the profession. However, once I began to read, the story took a turn for the worse.

The transitions between points-of-view (POV) and timelines were choppy. At certain parts, Ms. Meliàn transitioned from a third-person POV on one character, to a first-person POV from a completely different character within the same paragraph. Other times, she did not include paragraph breaks, chapter breaks, or character labels when switching POV, creating a sense of daunting confusion for the reader.

Often, her dialogue was shallow or repetitive, slowing the story’s pace. Frequently, she’d spend several paragraphs describing the physical attributes of something—a person or a setting—but skirted over the types of important, profound emotions, backstory, or narration readers crave. Her writing usually told, but rarely showed.

The result was a feeling of disconnect, of a story that dragged, of one-dimensional characters. This book had so much more potential.

I do believe Ms. Meliàn has it in her to turn this novel around and create a magnificent piece of work. Her ability to write well with deep suspense and intensity shone through from time to time, especially during a pivotal confrontation between the main protagonist and her dark antagonist. I would encourage Ms. Meliàn to seek out a strong structural editor who can help to hone her craft and work this book into one that would touch many lives.

As it stands now, however, I cannot find it in myself to give Wildchilds more than two stars. I do hope that changes one day.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a timely book.

Iris is a former model and single mom. She's living a quiet life as a sculptor and receives the new that her daughter's father has died. Iris must travel to Los Angeles to sort through the paperwork of his estate and doing so bring about painful memories of her past life.

There are very dark parts of Iris's story explored. The illicit love affair, and pain that was inflected both physically and mentally. This isn't a light-hearted read. This is a book of pain and struggle and honesty.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Aggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful memoir. Very entertaining and grabs hold of you from the beginning. Intense! Will be hard to put down.

[Mireille ⚡️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to author Eugenia Melian for sending me a copy of this novel.

Wildchilds portrays a raw and harrowing insight into the dark side of the fashion industry, covering the unspoken abuse and exploitation that goes on behind the scenes of the glossy magazines we deem as influential. Following ex-model Iris de Valade, a sudden tragedy forces her to revisit the world she once fled, and to reminisce on the tender romance that once broke her.

Written by someone of experience, Eugenia Melian tells a story about atonement and forgiveness, Wildchilds uncovering and fighting against the injustice surrounding the fashion business, in the hopes of creating a safer world for future generations.

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!

[Nicanor Cardeñosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iris de Valade is a caring-selfish-strong-ashamed-shy-scared person that finds love and hell in Paris. But you have to get to the end to see who wins and, no, is not predictable. Total shock in the last two pages; ok, that was a spoiler all the way down, admitted. In case you feel tempted… you’ll be sorry.
Wildchilds writing is fast, fluid and, at the times, beautiful. Most of those times are about descriptions of two lover’s secret places in Paris. But also, about the publishing business making -and unmaking- magazines, models, making it to the glory of fame -or getting shipped to somewhere else in Asia, and yes, the love story is between a model and a talented photographer. But, you really think is that easy? Do you? The “thing” about Wildchilds, is that nothing is easy and everything is too real. It feels real and the author says it is “the truth”. So I believe her, she was an agent that made David LaChapelle into fashion, she was the agent to Blanca Li, to Peggy Sirota, to Matthew Herbert, she even produced an album with fuck**g Malcolm McLaren, why should I not believe her? Five years Editor in Chief at Vogue France Magazine, Joan Juliet Buck -The Price of Illusion- endorses her and her book from the back same back cover.
So, will we believe her?
While Wildchilds fits perfectly into the #metoo campaign, the novel goes deeper than any newspaper or magazine article or a nonfiction book or biography could go. And, because with fiction, you have “permission” to go down into the complexities of the human mind and soul as far and deep as you can manage as a writer. So, in my opinion, yes, she manages to go quite deep, both beautifully and sickening, and Wildchilds is too, about everyone getting loose on moral standards. It seems to me, that in this world of fashion, everybody is playing dangerously. And they know so.
Yes, sure. As men, we can too be abused. But we don´t get a daughter out of our insides that we can call “Lou”. Iris does, and her name holds all the beauty of the Universe and beyond. And this is above all a terrific love story and we all were, once, in love with the true love.
Read it. Or shame on you.

[Joan Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the real deal. The fashion insider's juiciest, dishiest , most disturbing dive into the depths of what really happens behind the scenes in the real/glittery/dark world of fashion. Told by a true insider-- Eugenia Melian was a Paris model and then an agent to the wildest photographers of the 90s. No one can tell it like she does-- the intrigue, the sexual menace, the ambition , the disorientation, the bitter taste of glamor and abuse.
I wish everyone who ever wants to be a model , everyone who ever looked at a fashion magazine-- (these days, it's What's A Fashion Magazine? but they se to rule our imaginations )-- would read this. It's a good story full of details that only a real insider knows--and that none have shared before.

[Chicho · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is amazing. Exquisitely written by a true insider who knows the fashion editorial, modeling and photography industry in depth. Descriptions of moods, feelings, atmospheres and landscapes are magical under Eugenia´s refined sense of beauty and realness. She´s is deeply accurate in her descriptions of Paris secret pleasures and extremely delicate when she writes about feelings and deep emotions. A harsh crude story about the darkness behind fashion photography that we all insiders know about -I am a fashion editor- which stays tacit in our world but beautifully told by Eugenia. Congratulations, Eugenia, for this wonderful first book!

[Paul Zaentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

great mother/daughter - muse/artist relationships story set against the backdrop of the fashion industry. i found it to be a true page turner and have given it to my three nieces who are in their 30s and each of them have passed it on to their friends

[Lynette Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I'm amazed that agencies of that type ever existed. It's far from the usual type book I like to read but I did enjoy reading it. The picture on the cover put me off to start with. But it was much better than I had thought it would be.

[Billy Buttons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Wildchilds
Author: Eugenia Melian

Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 19
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Content: 9/10
Cover: 9/10
Of the 19 readers:
17 would read another book by this author.
16 thought the cover was good or excellent.
19 felt it was easy to follow.
19 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
14 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
17 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.

Readers’ Comments
“A refreshingly original novel pack full of fully formed characters. I did feel a good editor would cut it a little and improve on the pacing. But, other than that, a thoroughly compelling story offering an insight into the fashion industry.” Male reader, aged 30
“Accessibly written, although possibly too long, there's a lot going for this fictional take on the fashion industry. From reading the author's bio, it seems she was involved in this world - and it shows. I felt this was insightfully written, not only in terms of an exposé of the industry but also as a truly gripping novel.” Female reader, age 57
“I think anybody interested in the glamour industry and how dark and gritty it can be will find this of interest. Yes, it's a novel, but there's plenty of truth in it which will open the readers’ eyes.” Male reader, aged 30

To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating insight into the world of glamour modeling. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

[Jen Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this in a giveaway and I am giving an unbiased review. This is a book that you can not put down it grips you because even though it's about a model leaving the live of her life to go find a different way for success . I left the love of my life from Connecticut to move to Florida. 8 years later I moved back to Connecticutgot together with another sweetheart. We have a 16 year old son. While watching the news I saw a bus driver was killed by freak accident a tree limb snapped and fell on bus killing the driver instantly. That was him. I was in shock. This book was able to evoke so much emotion in me. I have read it 6 times. Everyone can relate to this book in one shape or form. You won't regret reading this book.

[GustavoLucendoVelasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous novel that reflects that fashion’s world is not always easy and beautiful....but the most important is the passionate love story of the main characters of this novel.I recommend it to everyone ❤️ When i discovered this novel it was a love at first sight! love it!

[RK Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much heist/caper stuff, not enough modeling.

[Lola Mento · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for every fan of the fashion industry!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful journeying this book with intriguing characters and a good storyline. I enjoyedthis book showing how ruthless people can be to get ahead.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down!

The story is so realistic with characters that come alive, endless details in every scene, and such interesting plot turns. The reader feels like she is right there feeling the emotions both high and low,as well as the dangers encountered. It’s an eye-opener into the world of modeling.