REVIEW: Madeline Cain, Adventures in Fashion (+$30 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Madeline Cain, Adventures in Fashion

Author: Emily Craven

Series: Madeline Cain #2

Pages: 450

Date Published: 2015

Publisher: Craven Publishing

Format: Kindle

Genre: Chick Lit

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:
Madeline Cain knows that after six chaotic months, the rest of her time in New York City will be smooth sailing with Kevin -- her new squeeze -- by her side. That is, until Madeline's idols drop a bombshell - she needs to pick a specialisation before the year is out or risk losing the career of her dreams. The problem? She's about as sure of her photographic passion as a hiker is of outrunning a bear.

Thus Madeline begins her search for her one true path with student-arranged assignments featuring certifiably insane children, lip-synching rockers, a dog whisperer, and... zombies? But it's not until Madeline secures a 'life-debt' by saving a potential mobster from a gun-wielding cross-dresser that she sets her sights on an amazing internship opportunity.

Is her new patron really part of the mob? Can she nail this internship when all her experiments are going to hell? And how does she deal with Kevin's obsession over her escapades?

~My Thoughts~

I've never heard of having to choose a photography specialization, and I work at an art school that features photography prominently. Still, if we look at photography as a field that one must specialize, like medicine, then I suppose that Madeline Cain is the new Meredith Grey. She's an intern of sorts, figuring out what to do and how to do it without coming off too crazy...though that's a questionable goal when you are Madeline. 

When one of her assignments result in the rescuing of a mobster from a dangerous cross-dresser, Madeline's already pretty skewed world goes off-kilter. Her new internship may be the best, or worst, thing that ever happened to her. 

This was a long one, and I wasn't really expecting it. Chick lit, primarily books about chicks and fashion, tend to be on the short variety of about 100-200 pages of fluffy, cutesy, lite reading. While  Madeline Cain is all of those things, the book lasts for three times longer than most of those fluffs. However, the formatting could be in play when it comes to length. This book is super unique is that it's told through what is supposed to be Madeline's facebook page. 

I enjoyed the unique way that the book was presented, though that made the reading of the piece slightly discordant...kind of like what would happen if you were trying to piece a life together based off of a Facebook page. Other cool aspects were a QR code that brought you to a welcome video, and other sorts of interactive media that made reading this book into an experience rather than just a book. 

~Try an Excerpt!~

Enough was enough. The constant thought storm was getting me nowhere except nauseous.

So I asked myself: what would Mum do?

The answer?  A pros and cons list.

**PROS & CONS**

PRO: Sorella is awesome-sauce on wonder-bread. If you could crack her brain, gold would surely fall out. You’d be rich. In knowledge that is, not golden brains.

CON: Ted just told a room full of women who have nothing else to do with their time, about an opportunity that allows them to get high-end fashion for free. Competition is going to be like a cage fight with a chimera.

PRO: You’re not done with NYC, not even close. Leaving the city after a year is like licking the outside of a chocolate ice cream and never taking a bite. This job gets you a green card so you can go past licking and crack open that chocolate casing to suck on that sweet, sweet creamy centre.

CON: How are you going to build a portfolio of fashion snaps when your wardrobe consists of broken high heels and jackets worn by waiters at a pizza store? You’ve got five planned gigs, but can’t guarantee all your subjects aren’t going to be colour blind, let alone wearing underwear. To turn this to a PRO, you need clothes that make people look good, rather than look like an 80’s boy band.

PRO: Your boyfriend is hot, he’s not camera shy, and is one model that will get a kick out of you fussing over him for hours. Perfect for underwear modelling. Use this gift wisely.

CON: Not really committed to fashion. Doesn’t mean it won’t become an obsession that sees me horde hundreds of Jimmy Choos, but just that I was never that girl who cut out outfits from my Mum’s magazines and made them for my Barbies. I had mud pies that needed making and smooshing in my brother’s face. To turn this into a PRO I need to learn how to make people look cool. You can learn fashion from watching America’s Next Top Model right?

CON: Having to listen to Tara Banks on America’s Next Top Model.

PRO: Clothes. Lots of them.

CON: Models. Lots of them. Could end up in a situation where I give into the urge to bludgeon them with a camera.

PRO: You would have a real photography job, one that supported a healthy diet and regular bowel movements. One that makes use of everything you’ve learnt this year, making you an expert, a player, a person of interest but for the right reasons, not because you were followed by a man with a fake moustache. It would give you some direction, a clear path, a strong mentor, a specialisation rather than playing ‘hobbies’ like you use to play ‘dress ups’.

CON: You could stuff it all up.

~Meet Emily!~ 

Emily Craven was first inspired to placed pen to paper when she was 13, after she learnt her favourite author, Isobelle Carmody, began her first novel at 14. Emily finished three books while completing a Bachelor of Science (Space Science and Astrophysics and Geophysics) at the University of Adelaide. So technically, she can claim to be an astrophysicist (stars), geophysicist (rocks) and writer (crazy). She writes YA fiction, fantasy and non-fiction and teaches teenagers storytelling.

Emily will be awarding a set of red umbrella earrings (this is an international giveaway) and a $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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