Customer Reviews

The Fruit of My Lipstick (All About Us Series, Book 2)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Normally, all that Gillian Chang has to worry about is making sure her grades are absolutely perfect. This generally isn't a problem because Gillian is extremely intelligent, but pressure from her strict parents can get a little tough at times. The last thing Gillian wants to worry about is a guy, particularly after the fiasco Gillian's best friend Lissa got involved with last term. But then again, love, or at least like, is not something Gillian can prepare for--especially when she finds herself falling for the only other person who's possibly smarter than she is, Lucas Hayes. But is Lucas really the golden boy Gillian thinks he is? Only time will tell, and Gillian is going to have to believe in herself, her friends, and her faith is she's going to survive this term at Spencer Academy.

The Fruit of My Lipstick was a well-written story about friendship and dealing with boys, with a little bit of religion mixed in. Some readers may be wary of reading this series because of the inclusion of religion, but in reality, the Christian faith is more of a healthy influence on Gillian and her friends' morals. I definitely would not consider this book or its prequel It's All About Us preachy in any way. The storyline and the characters in this novel are very believable, which makes it easy to relate to Gillian and her friends' various situations or at least sympathize with them. The plot was a little slow towards the beginning, but it picked up towards the middle with the addition of a school scandal. The Fruit of My Lipstick is a fun yet sincere novel with a positive message that all teen girls can relate to and enjoy.

The Fruit of My Lipstick is the second novel in Adina's It's All About Us series, but the story can stand alone. I look forward to the third installment in this series, Be Strong and Curvaceous, and I recommend both It's All About Us and The Fruit of My Lipstick to anyone looking for a much more mild form of Gossip Girl with actual depth and meaning.

This was such a fun book! I admit I'm a bit partial because it's set in San Francisco, but the story and characters really drew me in.

The story premise is really neat--a girl's first boyfriend and the things she learns about being true to herself and to God. It also touches on the sticky relationship between a girl's friends and her new boyfriend with sensitivity and humor.

I have to admit I was a bit annoyed in the middle when Gillian kept making bad decisions and doing stupid things--you know how you want to scream at a character to stop being a dodo-brain?

But I was completely caught up in things at the climax, which is a terrific climax, by the way. Very emotional, very satisfying, and absolutely hilarious.

Gillian's personal conflicts about "measuring up" are things I saw a lot in my friends when I was single, and it took a long time and a lot of prayer to understand who I am in Christ versus who I want to be for others. It's nice to see this issue being communicated here in a teen novel--hopefully teen girls won't go through the angst I did.

The characters might be a bit young for a 16 or 17 year old girl, but I think 15 or younger girls will really enjoy this story. It's so wonderful to see a hip, fresh, fluffy novel like this that still communicates the truth of God's love for us.

This book was nominated for the 2009 Christy Award. As I read the book I found it to be nicely written, well rounded characters with a lite Christian theme. The girls were in a boarding school and there is a romance brewing between Gillian and Lucas that is pretty standard YA. I wasn't feeling the hardiness behind the book - what I would be expecting from a book, any book, up for an award.

And that is about the time that in my opinion author Shelley Adina hits a home run in this book with a twist to the plot - so perfectly woven throughout the books happenings that I didnt see it coming. Shelly takes this book to a higher level and threw all my previous thoughts on the book out the door when she blind sides me as the reader, with a topic very important to young girls, abuse.

I am trying hard not to give away too much of the book here yet this is such an important part of my review. When the abuse - not only physical but also verbal is presented I actually had to pause in my reading to consider what I had read - and how it was there, and I hadn't seen it. And that is where the brilliance of this book comes in. How often do young women go about what they think is a normal relationship and not see it in the correct light? Sometimes it takes a friend to show us the way. And as I write this I am reminded that it is not only the young that can be caught by this ... but women of all ages.

Overall, I am impressed, Faith and Friendships flow generously through this well written book.

Gillian Chang is an awesome person. She is brilliant in schoolwork, gifted in music, and totally in love with God. People love her for her outgoing and tell-it-like-it-is personality. When Lucas Hayes, the smartest guy in the school, takes an interest in her, Gillian is love struck. But the more time she spends with Lucas, the more she realizes that she doesn't measure up. Determined to be everything Lucas needs in a girlfriend, Gillian starts to make changes. When her friends call her on it, she is livid. Why can't they see that Lucas is right? He only wants what's best for her, and there is a lot to improve.

This is the second book in the All About Us series about girls who are attending an expensive boarding school. So far, these girls have everything money can buy and wear clothing that I could never afford for myself, like, ever. The books are still a lot of fun. I like how Shelley Adina wrote the character of Lucas Hayes. I was enamored with him myself at first. But when he started putting Gillian down in these slight ways--ways that she wasn't quite certain he meant derogatorily, but hurt her feelings--I got really worried. It was so hard for Gillian to see Lucas without bias. She wanted him to be the guy of her dreams. She wanted the relationship to be a fairy tale. But when three of her friends took her aside and told her they thought something was wrong, Gillian freaked, even to the point of accusing her friends of being wrong. Shelley Adina shows us that there is never a reason to change who you are to please a guy. The right guy will love you for who you are. But will Gillian realize that or end up in a world of hurt?

The Review

I started the series backwards and read Who Made You A Princess? first. After all, it is the last book of the series and I was lucky enough to get an ARC. After reading it, I wanted to read the entire series as soon as I could! Thank GOD for Hachette!

As soon as I got the remaining three books to the series, I read and reviewed It's All About Us, which is the also the title of the series. Due to my exuding enthusiasm, I was fortunate enough to able to host a fabulous giveaway in which I was able to host a contest for 3 copies of Who Made You A Princess? and also the grand prize of the entire It's All About Us Series.

So, what was remaining on my shelves were The Fruit of My Lipstick (Book 2) and Be Strong and Curvaceous (Book 3). I decided that I wanted to read them back-to-back so that I could get the full story line in my head all at once. This week, I read them both. Now, I have to do some Mommy bragging and tell you a little story. I have been told that I'm a fast reader. But, apparently, not as fast as my daughter Dee. She read It's All About Us last night in bed in just under a couple of hours. She LOVED the book and is begging me to "hurry up and write the blog post" so that she can read the next two books. As a Mommy and a Christian, I couldn't be more thrilled!

In It's All About Us, we started the story with Lissa and her friends. This second book is the story of Lissa's friend Gillian, a Chinese-American junior in the elite private high school they all attend in Northern California. As aforementioned, Gillian is a genius and an incredible pianist. Gillian is deeply committed in her relationship to God and hosts a weekly prayer circle for the students. She also has a mad crush on Lucas. Although, with my experienced eyes, I could see that Lucas wasn't all that he was presenting himself to be, poor Gillian was lost in her puppy-dog eyes for him. She allows him demean her and starts to change who she is so that he will still like her and be her boyfriend. (Examples: Trying to lose weight at the expense of her favorite art class and toning down her personality to present more demurely.) What her friends saw and Gillian didn't is that she was fabulous just the way she was. And, of course, you shouldn't change who you are for a boy as he should like you just the way you are.

Lucas ends up being more of the "bad guy" than Gillian expected and displays violent tendencies. When she breaks up with him, he lashes out and tries to frame her for some acts she didn't commit. Her friends, at the assistance of the Lord, rally to rescue her from Lucas' attacks. The ending of the story does not disappoint because, with God on your side, you're going to end up A-Okay!

The content of this book is lighter than It's All About Us, but the message is equally important. Throughout the story, Gillian looks to God to help her find her center and make the right decisions that will honor him. As I've stated in my other two reviews for this series, I appreciate Shelley Adina's commitment to providing books that we can be proud to buy for our daughters! These are stories that give mothers a platform to talk to their daughters about the peer pressures that they face or are going to eventually encounter.

On Sher's "Out of Ten Scale:"


Dee (1st Book) and Colie (4th Book) have both told me how much they love these books. I want to provide them good reading material that sends a positive message to girls that will honor their faith and our God. Shelley Adina has provided me that opportunity! I love love love this series and for my review of this Fiction: YA-Christian, I am going to rate this book a 9 OUT OF 10.

The titles in this series are great! The story is told in a lively voice full of the enthusiasms and insecurities of a modern teen. Only the first couple pages fall into the explaining trap of first-person fiction when the narrator tells us who everyone is instead of showing the relationships in dialog and action as she does so well in the rest of the book. Instant messaging effectively carries the mystery of who is selling exam answers. Gillian herself is American-born Chinese and her friends present a nice racial and cultural mix despite the posh, boarding school setting. The plot centers around the abuse of a jerk-of-a-boyfriend, who makes sly racial and gender comments as well as being obviously threatened by Gillian's brains. Gillian's response exposes some of the excuses women use to put up with such behavior. At one point I thought the story was going in the direction of an eating disorder, but that thread was not developed as it could have been given the low self-image Gillian was moving toward under the boyfriend's influence. Gillian's Christian life and prayers are integral to who she is and how she handles her problems. Only occasionally do the prayers fall into churchy language, e.g. page 112. The discussion with Shani about where she is spiritually in the last chapter had little to do with the story and felt tacked on for the benefit of the reader (or to appeal to a Christian publisher.) I did not find it credible that the whole junior class could be given straight Fs on their transcript if the cheater was not exposed. I can't imagine that would be legal. My low rating really reflects my lack of enthusiasm for high school fiction as a genre more than the quality of the writing. The book definitely deserves the notice it should get as a finalist for the YA Christy Award.

Once again, I had a blast reading the second book in the "It's All About Us" series. This is one of the most fun YA books I've read. Shelley Adina writes very well in a teen voice and really makes you feel like a bunch of 16-17 year olds are writing this book. It's a very fast read but so enjoyable that you'll want to reread it again (or at least get the other books in the series). This is one of the very few Christian fiction book that I have read that features an Asian American lead character. Especially one that is not an immigrant or an adoptee. I know it's a topic I always bring up with there's an AA character but it's something that needs to be the rule and not the exception. The book is great at showing how an Asian American tries to fit in between two cultures. You can see Gillian struggle to fit in the two worlds with her parents and with her life at school. Her mother reminded me very much of my own mother. I could practically hear my own mother's voice every time Gillian's mother appeared.

This book features a storyline that is very relevant with teen girls and dating. Abusive relationships need to be talked about to girls. They need to know that it's not always physical abuse that one needs to be on the lookout for. Verbal and emotional abuse need to be avoided as well. Lucas was a jerk. He started off being nice, but once he had Gillian wrapped around his finger, he just went off the deep end. It pained me to see him treat her like this and her either not noticing or just shrugging it off. Girls do NOT deserve that type of treatment, no matter what they've done! The scene that really got me was that he wanted to take her to Angel Island. For the majority of the readers of this book, this would have meant nothing of importance. However as a history major, I've studied about Angel Island and would have been horrified as a Chinese American if a guy I liked decided to take me there for a romantic date. This guy seriously had major issues and I was so happy with the ending of the book.

There is also a mystery involving a student selling exam answers to the popular kids. While I guessed who the perpetrator was, I was happy to read how things turned out. However I was NOT happy at how the school handled the situation with Gillian. Very unprofessional of them to condemn someone with all the required evidence. You'd think a boarding school wouldn't want bad publicity!

I really enjoyed this book and was sad to see it end. This whole series has been wonderful and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next addition. If you're a fan of Gossip Girl and want something a bit tamer, this book comes HIGHLY recommended.

Christmas break is over and we are back at Spencer Academy with Lissa, Gillian, Carly, and Shani. Since Lissa was able to tell her story about Callum in It's All About Us (and Carly will share her story in book 3 - Be Strong and Curvaceous) it is Gillian's turn to come clean about her infatuation with Lucas Hayes - the smartest guy at Spencer Academy.

Lucas is working towards the Physics Olympiad when he and Gillian hook up. Gillian has never had a boyfriend before and is pretty quick to get swept up in the moment. While she likes Lucas, and always looks forward to seeing him, she doesn't always feel quite happy after her time spent with him - but it is nothing that she can put her finger on, so she just chalks it up to not having anything to compare it to. At the same time, though, she needs to concentrate on her own grads or her Type A dad will be coming down on her pretty hard!

Most of the other juniors are studying hard also, except for those that have been buying exam sheets from Source10. Nobody knows who this person is - but the whole junior class is going to be punished with F's if they are not caught!

First, one of Gillian's friends is suspended for the deed - then Gillian herself is put on house arrest as a suspect! They give their problems to God and pray that the truth will come out - but will it happen in time to save the semester? And where will this leave Gillian in her relationship with Carly, Lissa and Shani - not to mention Lucas!

I enjoyed this book as much as I did the 1st and 3rd books in the series. I like the way they gradually lead you into Christianity without being preachy. I think this series would definitely be good for those teens/young adults struggling with their faith.

THE FRUIT OF MY LIPSTICK introduces the reader to Gillian Chang. For those that have read IT'S ALL ABOUT US, you will recall that Gillian is the outspoken Christian roommate of Lissa Mansfield. This is Gillian's story.

Gillian is by far the most verbal of her group of friends. She speaks honestly and openly about matters that are dear to her. That would be her family, her studies, her friends, and her faith. But when Lucas Hayes, most likely the smartest boy at Spencer Academy, starts paying more attention to Gillian, all common sense leaves her head.

Before long, Gillian is sacrificing time with her family and friends to drop everything and spend time with Lucas. She cancels Chinese New Year's plans with her aunt and uncle who have come to the city to see relatives and graciously included Gillian in their plans. She avoids attending Church with her roommate, Lissa.

As the semester winds down, the junior class is notified that someone has managed to steal exam answers and is selling them for profit. If the culprit doesn't confess, the entire junior class will receive Fs for the term. Gillian gets called in to the headmistress's office due to her high grades. Gillian can't possibly be guilty. But she worries about her grades and starts to accuse her close friends.

It's only as things with Lucas turn ugly and the spotlight is placed on Gillian, does she remember her faith and ask for guidance from God. With God and her friends standing beside her, Gillian remembers who she is and what is worth fighting for.

THE FRUIT OF MY LIPSTICK is the second novel in the ALL ABOUT US series. The spiritual tone of this novel was less obvious as that found in IT'S ALL ABOUT US. However, the positive reinforcement of Gillian's faith in God and friends still shines through. I enjoyed being able to read about Gillian in this volume after meeting her in the first book.

I have to admit, though, having just finished the first novel before picking this one up, I had a hard time at first remembering that the first-person character in this novel was not Lissa, but Gillian. Besides that one small detail, this is another fine addition to the rich girls at boarding school genre. The Christian tone is a nice change from the others found in this same genre.

And in case you're wondering where the title comes from, check out Hebrews 13:15-16.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

Gillian Chang thought that life with her overprotective New York family was stressful. But when she flies thousands of miles away to attend the elite Spencer Academy, a whole new set of problems comes her way. In THE FRUIT OF MY LIPSTICK, the second book in Shelley Adina's All About Us series, loud-mouthed science whiz Gillian realizes that there's one problem even hours of studying can't solve --- love.

After surviving a dramatic first semester at Spencer, Gillian returns from her holiday break expecting to throw herself back into her math, science and music studies. That is, until she begins to fall hard for Lucas Hayes, who is not only cute but a certified physics genius, already planning for his Ph.D. at Stanford. Gillian tries to get his attention just as she would prepare for a chemistry test --- working very hard. And after a disastrous first date, she's pleased to see her efforts begin to pay off. Before she knows it, she's able to call brilliant Lucas her boyfriend.

But can she keep him? Gillian can't help but notice Lucas's clear admiration of other girls --- particularly one of her biggest rivals, Vanessa. When Gillian realizes that they are all stick-thin, she resolves to undergo a rigid exercise program, to drop some pounds and make her man happy. Unfortunately, her schedule with her expensive new trainer means she will have to give up her graphic design class (her true passion). Her friends point out that this isn't the only thing she's giving up either. It seems that now that she's dating Lucas, friends, family, school and even church have all become secondary priorities. As she further distances her friends and family, Lucas begins to show a side of himself that is less than perfect.

Complicating matters even more is a mystery student at Spencer who has been selling exam copies. If he isn't identified, then the entire junior class will flunk the semester --- something that Gillian's overbearing parents certainly would not take kindly to. With the exam thief on the loose, and her boyfriend's behavior becoming increasingly erratic, Gillian realizes that she needs to reorganize her priorities and reclaim her sense of self worth.

THE FRUIT OF MY LIPSTICK is the follow-up to IT'S ALL ABOUT US, which focused on Gillian's roommate, Lissa. Fans of the first book undoubtedly will enjoy hearing the story of this formerly secondary character. However, the new entry contains far less of the up-to-date pop-culture references of its predecessor and far more references to the high-pressure world of elite academics. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on the reader. While it isn't as hip or as light of a read as IT'S ALL ABOUT US, THE FRUIT OF MY LIPSTICK does deal with some important issues that teen girls face: parental pressure, abusive relationships and eating disorders, to name a few. It may also appeal to Asian-American readers, as Gillian finds herself constantly struggling to come to terms with this identity.

--- Reviewed by Jennifer Crosby