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The Ashleys: Lipgloss Jungle by Melissa de la Cruz
The Blurb On The Back:
Lauren Page’s plan was simple: get a fabulous makeover, secure herself a place in the Ashleys and then bring them down from the inside. The only problem is, now she’s actually made it into the inner circle, she’s having some serious second thoughts ...
But things are about to be taken out of Lauren’s hands. Sadie, Lauren’s former best friend, has started a rival group and plans to destroy the Ashleys and herself. Can Lauren stop Sadie or is their clique finally over?
The fourth book in Cruz’s Ashleys series unashamedly promotes the lifestyle of the obscenely rich and famous to young girls.
Lauren is a 13-year old girl whose life was transformed when her dad became an overnight technology millionaire. Her new wealth gained her access to The Ashleys – Ashley, AA and Lili, who are the main trendsetters and uber-cool clique at Miss Gamble’s School but her plan to bring them down from the inside hit a glitch when she found herself liking them.
In this book, Lauren’s former friend Sadie, sets up a rival group of girls who threaten the Ashley’s status as key trend setters. As the two cliques compete to dominate first the Mother and Daughter Fashion Show and then Conge (a type of spring break), tensions emerge within the Ashleys that threaten to blow them apart unless Lauren can save them.
A deeply depressing book that the target audience will probably love, it name-checks fashion labels as Cruz salivates over the rich lifestyle. The problem is that Lauren loves the lifestyle as much as Cruz does and for all her plans, it’s Lauren who works to shore the Ashleys up. Each girl is a back-stabbing cliché – the sporty one, the bohemian one, the spoilt one – and their secret insecurities are self-indulgent. Lauren in particular is a self-absorbed ninny and her fascination with Ashley somewhat pathetic. Her plan to ‘liberate’ her classmates makes little sense and her attitude to others (notably her mother) selfish and cruel. What most disturbed me though was the way that each of these 13 year olds has a boyfriend and this is seen and promoted as a necessity – it would have been nice to see a female character in this book who didn’t feel the need to couple-up so desperately.
Some pop culture references are already dated (notably one to Alias) and some of the ‘mysteries’ are obvious from their first appearance. Pace is well maintained but the cliff-hanger ending feels a little forced and the use of blogs and diaries is jarring given the third person narration used throughout.
All in all, I am in no hurry to read any more of these books but then, I’m not the target audience for them.
The Verdict:
I’m not the target age group for this book, which is why I completely and utterly loathed it. I find it depressing that girls are subjected to this type of tosh where the only worthwhile things in life are apparently designer labels and lead shallow and self-obsessed lives. It’s even more depressing that 13 year old girls should be made to believe that having a boyfriend is the be-all-and-end-all of their existence.
Lauren Page’s plan was simple: get a fabulous makeover, secure herself a place in the Ashleys and then bring them down from the inside. The only problem is, now she’s actually made it into the inner circle, she’s having some serious second thoughts ...
But things are about to be taken out of Lauren’s hands. Sadie, Lauren’s former best friend, has started a rival group and plans to destroy the Ashleys and herself. Can Lauren stop Sadie or is their clique finally over?
The fourth book in Cruz’s Ashleys series unashamedly promotes the lifestyle of the obscenely rich and famous to young girls.
Lauren is a 13-year old girl whose life was transformed when her dad became an overnight technology millionaire. Her new wealth gained her access to The Ashleys – Ashley, AA and Lili, who are the main trendsetters and uber-cool clique at Miss Gamble’s School but her plan to bring them down from the inside hit a glitch when she found herself liking them.
In this book, Lauren’s former friend Sadie, sets up a rival group of girls who threaten the Ashley’s status as key trend setters. As the two cliques compete to dominate first the Mother and Daughter Fashion Show and then Conge (a type of spring break), tensions emerge within the Ashleys that threaten to blow them apart unless Lauren can save them.
A deeply depressing book that the target audience will probably love, it name-checks fashion labels as Cruz salivates over the rich lifestyle. The problem is that Lauren loves the lifestyle as much as Cruz does and for all her plans, it’s Lauren who works to shore the Ashleys up. Each girl is a back-stabbing cliché – the sporty one, the bohemian one, the spoilt one – and their secret insecurities are self-indulgent. Lauren in particular is a self-absorbed ninny and her fascination with Ashley somewhat pathetic. Her plan to ‘liberate’ her classmates makes little sense and her attitude to others (notably her mother) selfish and cruel. What most disturbed me though was the way that each of these 13 year olds has a boyfriend and this is seen and promoted as a necessity – it would have been nice to see a female character in this book who didn’t feel the need to couple-up so desperately.
Some pop culture references are already dated (notably one to Alias) and some of the ‘mysteries’ are obvious from their first appearance. Pace is well maintained but the cliff-hanger ending feels a little forced and the use of blogs and diaries is jarring given the third person narration used throughout.
All in all, I am in no hurry to read any more of these books but then, I’m not the target audience for them.
The Verdict:
I’m not the target age group for this book, which is why I completely and utterly loathed it. I find it depressing that girls are subjected to this type of tosh where the only worthwhile things in life are apparently designer labels and lead shallow and self-obsessed lives. It’s even more depressing that 13 year old girls should be made to believe that having a boyfriend is the be-all-and-end-all of their existence.