The Fabulously Fashionable Life of Isabel Bookbinder

Isabel Bookbinder #2

by Holly McQueen

When aspiring designer Isabel Bookbinder bags a job with Nancy 'Fashion Aristocracy' Tavistock, she's sure her career is finally on track. Dazzlingly glamorous, this is a career that she can feel truly passionate about - after all, she knows her Geiger from her Louboutin, her Primark from her Prada, and she's always poring over fashion magazines. Well, ok, the fashion pages of heat. So, learning from the very best, the future's looking bright for Isabel Top International Fashion Designer. Within days she's putting the final touches to her debut collection, has dreamt up a perfume line, Isabelissimo, and is very nearly a friend of John Galliano. And on top of that she might even have fallen in love. Yet nothing ever runs smoothly for Isabel, and fabulously fashionably as her life is, it soon seems to be spiralling a little out of her control ...

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary, Humor, Romance, Adult

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Holly McQueen has wanted to be a writer ever since discovering that the nuns at her junior school would let her off maths homework if she wrote a story instead. After unexpected detours via law, magazine journalism, and even musical theatre, she began writing her first novel in 2006. Holly lives with her husband in London. She still avoids math.

Reviews

[Diana Santoso · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny, it's chick-lit, it's British, what else could I ask? It's a bit like Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series and sometimes the flow doesn't make sense, but I enjoyed it and that's all that matters :)

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Isabel Bookbinder is back and she isn’t going to be a novelist any more. No, Isabel Bookbinder is going to be a fashion designer.

She can’t actually sew or anything, but she has her mood-book which is a must-have for any wannabe fashionista!

Bagging a job with Nancy Tavistock, admittedly, as a PA, is like a dream come true for Isabel…. everything’s going smoothly, or so it seems, because things don’t always go right when Isabel’s involved…

Having thoroughly enjoyed Isabel’s escapades in the first Holly McQueen novel, The Glamorous (Double) Life of Isabel Bookbinder, I was looking forward to its sequel The Fabulously Fashionable Life of Isabel Bookbinder. This time though, I was disappointed.

Let’s start with the fact that Isabel hasn’t changed at all. She didn’t learn from anything that took place in The Glamorous (Double) Life, namely not to lie and embellish details of her life. Even the hardest of Becky Bloomwood fans (of Shopaholic fame) would find it difficult to believe Isabel’s stupidity – not only that but Isabel isn’t that stupid since, as the heroine of the novel, she has to save the day. I know Isabel is ambitious and wants to make it as a fashionista but, like before when she wanted to be a novelist, she didn’t seem to grasp that to be either of those things you need to have talent – ie. if you want to be a fashion designer you do have to make your own clothes.

The stupid thing is I liked Isabel. She does remind me of Becky Bloomwood she just irritates me when she doesn’t grasp things. The drug arrest was funny but the things leading up to it, namely Isabel thinking in the first place it was anything to do with drugs, wasn’t funny and came across really badly. I don’t expect Isabel to be ridiculously clever but as a 27-year-old woman she should be a bit street-wise.

I found the sub-plot with Ben pointless beyond belief. Probably because I actually liked Will. He was barely featured in the first book so I expected so much more of him in this one and, again, he was barely in it. I think Holly could have written the book the way she did but with Will and Isabel together and it still would have worked. Breaking them up was pointless and happened in the most cliched of ways.

Whereas I liked the articles between each chapter in the first book I thought they were dull and uninspired in this one. I found myself skipping them because I just couldn’t be bothered with them.

However, for all I’ve said, it wasn’t a horrific book. I found I could still easily carry on reading it, although at some points I did want it to end. I loved the fashion plot of the book even though I’m in no way fashion inclined. I liked Nancy Tavistock, and thought she and Isabel got on really well. I found Lara and Matthew’s continuing sub-plot tiresome but I wanted Lara to have her happy ending.

Overall this was a really disappointing book and I can now see why Chloe hated the first one. I liked how Isabel came across in the first book because it was more naivety than stupidity but to carry it on in the second just made it tiresome. Isabel is likeable enough but the fact Holly McQueen wants us to think she’s that naive is just unbelievable. It’s good escapism, but you really need to take a huge pinch of salt before reading it.

Rating: 2/5

[A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one better than the first one, even thought I still wanted to punch Isabel sometimes. If you`ve read the first one (and I guess you did), you know what you can expect. Regardless, it was fun book and I read it pretty fast.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, such a flirty little read. Isabel Bookbinder was a great character , who get herself into some hilarious mishaps throughout the novel.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's congratulate Holly for creating such an unforgettable character as Isabel. This book made me laugh many times. If you are looking for something light and funny to read, I recommend this.

[Sandra Delgado · Rating 2 out of 5]

Atención: es el libro 2 de la saga. Yo no leí el 1, pero considero que no es necesario para la trama.

Por fin lo terminé.
No es un libro que haya disfrutado realmente.
Ha sido una lectura fácil, con muchos términos sobre la moda y algunas expresiones coloquiales, lo que ha servido para mi propósito de leer más en inglés, pero ya está.

La trama es un caos, los personajes son estereotipos simplones y la protagonista nunca hace nada con coherencia. Al final, el deux ex maquina arregla todo y muchas subtramas se reducen a una frase.

Entiendo que hay un grupo de personas que disfrutan estas lecturas, junto con las mil comparaciones exageradas, los sueños despiertos y los guiños a la cultura pop. Entiendo, mas no formo parte de ella. A mí me ha saturado.

¿El libro es malo? Ni sí ni no, el libro es entretenimiento puro y duro al estilo de Bridget Jones. Si amas ese ritmo y ese humor, los tropiezos y los absurdos: es tu libro.
En otro caso, pues no lo es.

Para leer en inglés es fácil. Mi nivel de inglés es un B2/C1, por si ayuda.

No voy a continuar la historia, pero no me arrepiento.

[Sugar Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aaaargh... So, ok it's obviously Sophie Kinsella wannabe, not so successful, not so funny nor witty, but it had it's cute and touching moments... Just, SPOILER, I was reading it in a deathly fear and totally anxious about Isabel making new extra-stupid move or telling another horrible lie or find some other way to ruin her life. Oh, yes, and her boyfriend was an asshole, but the way she found that other guy, so handosme, rich and perfect, almost the same day she broke out with the first one... Oh, FFS. Still, funny little read if you don't expect too much.

[Leonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an entertaining novel and the perfect book for a summer holiday! Even though I'm actually not that interested in the fashion industry I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Especially because it's written with so much humour and because Isabel does in fact remind me a little bit of Bridget Jones in a good way.

[Ashley]

A fun, easy read. VEEERRYYY similar to the Shopaholic books.

[Elisabeth Wiggin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so fun to read. I never know what to expect when discovering a new author and I was pleasantly surprised!!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super random book with no clear plot until the end but i did enjoy the chaotic writing style and i really felt all the characters.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.

It has put a smile on my face so many times.

[Georgie Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Isabella bookbinder is crackers

[Agi · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, this what was funny in the first book about Isabel is not so funny in the second book, and I am going to start the third one in a moment:)
I could have expected that perhaps Isabel will be a little bit more mature in this book, but no. The same lies, the same fantasy and actually doing nothing, or almost nothing, to take her own life in her own hands. Getting what she wants and not thinking about other people and consequences. But anyway, she is a nice person and I still like her a little more as Becky Bloomwood (please, do not kill me:) ).
We have a little more Isabel's brother, Matthew, in this book, and I can just guess what's going to happen with him and Lara in the third book:) Exactly, and what I didn't like, was Annie and the way she wanted to give Isabel the worst task at the wedding, and the way Isabel let her to be bullied in this task. I mean, hello, Isabel, can you please finally say no and stay to your own rights??? Then the situation with Will was soooooo cliche, jumping to the conclusions, but the explanation about the air - con was really, IMHO, the lowest level. Anyway, why shouldn't they stay together? Ben was a real diseaster, and all the characters around him, McQueen drew them all so, so antipatical, amazing.
Anyway, light and easy read that have me hooked, witty and funny, even with all the similarities to Shopaholic.

[Franny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabel Bookfinder is a 28 year old female living with her lawyer boyfriend in London who wants to get into the fashion world at the top fashion school. She is turned down for not having a portfolio and not having basic sewing skills, etc. Isabel then makes it her mission to get somewhere in the fashion world because here family sees her as the type of person who never finishes things and has not done anything with her life.She ends up working for the muse of a top designer through lying to get an interview. Isabel lets say is attracted to trouble.Its all very funny and I was wondering if some of the hilarious things she goes through happen in real life. A fun, good chic lit.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. After I read the first book, I thought Isabel would have learned her lesson. Alas, she did not. Three chapters in and she's still the same person, only this time she has her perfect boyfriend at her side. Never mind that he still hasn't appeared in it yet, but why is he with her? The intelligence and ambition levels are way askew. I put it down because I cannot read the same poor book twice.

[Michelle Molinari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love the double life the main character leads. Her little fibs and well intentions lead her down a rabbit hole of problems. I’m not as impressed with her boyfriend in this book as I was in the first. I’m not a fan of her letters in which she edits with line strike-through marks. They’re not bad I just wasn’t entertained and found myself skipping over them to get back to the story. It’s cleaver but when I have so little time to read between work and life, I wanted to stick with the story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought it was just another cheap man's Shopaholic, but eventually I liked Isabel's character. The story was interesting with some good surprises. It was just a good little fluffy piece of chick lit.

Personally I didn't care for the little filler pages though- the ones with her fantasies of getting interviewed by tv personalities, etc. They may have been one of the reasons I was annoyed by the book at first so I just started to skip those pages and it was considerably better!

[Wizzfizz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Halfway through and struggling....not half as good as the Shopaholic series. Ditzy Becky Bloomwood is endearing and her stuff-ups had me laughing out loud, whereas Iz-Wiz is just plain irritating. Could she be any stupider?

Just finished.....the most interesting stuff happens in the final 30 or so pages. But I still give it 2 stars.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is basically a copy if the first book in the series, just in the fashion world instead of publishing. The plot picks up in the final 60 or so pages, just in time for the story to be done. I'm giving it a 2 rather than a 1 because I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I hadn't read the first, so similar, book.

[Skye Yeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the sequel as well but was disappointed that Isabel and Will broke up :( Will didn't make much of an appearance in the first book so I thought he'd make more appearances in this sequel but I was disappointed :( I wish that Holly McQueen had not broken both of them up...plus Isabel wasn't THAT heartbroken when she and Will broke up. Didn't like this book as much.

[Maura Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun re-read of a book I bought who-knows-when… It’s British chick-lit (a phrase I use with praise not with derision), and I never knew until this reading that it’s actually book two of a three part series. So I’m now eagerly awaiting books one and three so I can read more of this fun, quirky heroine.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but not a really good one either. Definitely not a "can't put it down" read, although somewhat humorous. At times the story goes beyond humorous, becoming just plain stupid. I've had a hard time reading more than 2 or 3 pages in one sitting. Hope I can finish it.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning, I was really bored with the story because it seemed like too much like Brighet Jones which I thought she was just whiny character but this book did get better. It was a bit like the Devil Wears Prada except that the main character was inter design instead of journalism.

[Mary Rad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holly McQueen writes intelligent, clever, witty repartee. I chuckled out loud at Isabel's antics, thoughts, reactions. McQueen's characters are full of life - the good, bad and ugly! I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining book, but not as good as the Shopaholic series to which it's compared.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

it is a great book for a quick light hearted read. I love iz whiz and her cooky world she has around her. i just wish my screw ups worked out like hers.

[Angi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It eventually got interesting, and I actually liked it...I'm glad I stuck it out! Waaay better than the first one.

[Amber Creswick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a fun light read, similar to the Sophie Kinsella, Shopaholic series.