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The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby is a story about a fashion competition that had so much potential. The concept is so original, but I found the main characters to be annoying and unrealistic. I also didn’t enjoy the excessive use of random French words and the main character’s habit of referring to herself in the third person. I’m a bit disappointed with this one, but I would still recommend it to those with a strong interest in fashion.
Title: The Fashion CommitteeAuthor: Susan Juby
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult Fiction
Publication Date: May 23, 2017
Rating:
What if one contest could change the course of your entire life?
Charlie Dean is a style-obsessed girl who eats, sleeps, and breathes fashion.
John Thomas-Smith is a boy who forges metal sculptures in his garage and couldn’t care less about clothes.
Both are gunning for a scholarship to the private art high school that could make all their dreams come true. And whoever wins the fashion competition will win the scholarship.
❃ I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ❃
Review: The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby
❀ Unique Concept
This book has a super unique concept that really interested me. Basically, there is a high-stakes fashion competition, and the winner receives free admission into an elite arts school. Of the two main characters, one is fashion obsessed and the other has no interest in the fashion industry. I found these two contrasting voices so enjoyable to read, since both candidates for the scholarship have such different motives. This book does an excellent job of demonstrating the fashion design process, and even contains some amazing drawings!
❀ Hard to Relate to Main Characters
One of my issues with this book is the way the main characters acted. First of all, there’s Charlie. She honestly sounded more like an old woman than a teenager to me, and I just couldn’t relate to her. John was better, but his character really bothered me. I get that the scholarship is his only shot at getting into his dream school, but I didn’t like the way he posed as a fashion student. I would have been fine with it if he did all the fashion work himself, but he actually gets someone else to help him out. His dishonesty annoyed me, and I found it hard to root for him.
❀ Distracting Writing Style
Another aspect of this story that I didn’t enjoy so much is the way it’s written. Charlie is trying hard to learn French since it is the language that her favourite designers speak, so she throws some French vocabulary into her sentences. I found this to be fun and quirky at first, but after a while, seeing French words in every other sentence got distracting and annoying. Also, when Charlie is writing in her journal, she often refers to herself in the third person. This confused me for a while, since she kept switching from first to third person.
❀Perfect for fans of fashion
The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby is a book about a high-stakes fashion competition that I wish I could have loved. The main characters annoyed me, and the constant French vocabulary thrown in got old. However, if you are really interested in fashion, you would enjoy this book.
About Susan Juby
SUSAN JUBY is the author of the critically acclaimed Getting the Girl and Another Kind of Cowboy, as well as the bestselling Alice series (Alice, I Think; Miss Smithers; Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last) and her latest novel for adults, The Woefield Poultry Collective. After dropping out of fashion college and attaining a BA from the University of British Columbia, Susan went to work in the book industry. She holds a master’s degree in publishing. She currently lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, James, and their dog, who prefers to remain anonymous.
About The Candid Cover
Olivia ❀ Canadian YA book blogger, Starbucks lover, & professional bibliophile.
This book is really not for me because I hate annoying heroines! Nice review btw! 🙂
I am not much of a fashion person. Put it this way… my tank top and shorts wearing husband has to help me pick out my clothes if I have to wear anything other than my scrubs. I like the competition aspect of it, but I think I would just be bored with this one. I do like the cover, though!
The cover and the illustrations are amazing! I had such high hopes for this one. I am not exactly a fashionista myself. 😉
Great review!! I probably won’t be picking this one up but it was lovely to read your thoughts! – A x
The main character refering to herself in 3rd person in her diary would irratate me too. Thanks for the review.