When I was a youngster I fell in love with a series of books about an innocent young girl - I think she was called Caitlin - who got into modelling. It was like America's Next Top Model, but not so skanky. So I was excited to read Melissa Walker's Violet On the Runway, the story of 17-year-old Violet, who believes she's P.L.A.I.N. until a model scout tells her she could be a star.
Violet's friends and family are unsure this is the right thing for her, particularly when the scout, Angela, insists she goes to New York to try out for the Fashion Week shows.
Violet does brilliantly and ends up moving to New York to model and live in one of those model apartments with other models, on of whom is, inevitably, a complete bitch. Violet enjoys the modelling, particularly since she seems to be good at it, but she's not sure New York, the people or the industry are right for her...
I enjoyed Violet On the Runway to an extent. It was an easy read and Violet is an endearing character, but I felt like it didn't really live up to its promise. Early in the book Violet overhears Angela talking about how Violet's going to be "skewered" and, for me, the skewering just never happened. It was too nice, Violet's journey was too easy.
But then this *is* the first in the series - the first chapter of Violet By Design, out in March next year, is included in this book - so perhaps things hot up for Violet in the future.
One thing I will say though is that there never would have been any cocaine snorting in the Caitlin books. Either young adult fiction is getting too realistic or I'm getting old. Or both.
Rating: 3/5
Like this? Try Dramarama by E Lockhart
