Customer Reviews

Paper Thin (Lip Gloss Chronicles)

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In Paper Thin by Shelia M. Goss, Sierra, Britney and Jasmine are back. They are now sophomores and ready for new experiences. Especially Sierra, the narrator, as she has lost 25 pounds and is convinced that her new size will change things. Of course, she is right but not in the way she thinks. These 15-year olds are going to grow up in ways they never thought.

Ms. Goss does a wonderful job with this book of showing young women as they really are. She allows them to be selfish and loving, impatient and supportive and mostly, realistic. The reader is allowed to see how young people act when their lives change and how they deal with the economic struggles that hit their families. One of the more poignant messages deals with weight and self-esteem issues. We also get to see the young ladies deal with the timely and disturbing problem of violence among girlfriends and boyfriends. Paper Thin is an entertaining and enlightening book geared towards young people, but I recommend it to all readers. It made this reader, who has lived a long time, think, feel and relate.

Angelia Vernon Menchan
APOOO BOOKCLUB

As PAPER THIN begins, Sierra, Britney, and Jasmine are coming off summer vacation. Sierra is excited about this new school year and the promise it brings with her substantial weight loss after attending a spa during the summer. Britney and Jasmine have always garnered attention from the opposite sex, but this was new for Sierra. She meets a cute guy the first day of school, but his mixed signals cause her to feel she is still not small enough. Britney and Jasmine are not use to Sierra being competition when meeting guys and as they deal with relationship woes, they have to fight to keep a handle on the growing feelings of envy.

I was taken back to my high school days while reading PAPER THIN. Goss captured the cattiness, insecurities and immaturity of high school teens. Their feelings of inadequacy based on body image, fashion, and appearance was obvious, as well as the pressures of premarital sex, physical abuse, eating disorders and family crisis. I reviewed an advance reader copy, and there were quite a few errors and confusion with the character's names. Hopefully, this was cleaned up in the editing process. Written on a level that teens can relate to, this third installment of the Lip Gloss Chronicles will appeal to young readers.

Reviewed by Paula Henderson
of the RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

I was actually anticipating this third volume of THE LIP GLOSS CHRONICLES. In the past, readers got to see inside Jasmine and Britney's minds. Now, Sierra finally gets her turn.

Sierra's step-mom, Maria, has always been on her for her weight. Over the summer, Maria makes Sierra attend various retreats to work on her weight issues. So, it's with a new body and tamed hair that she returns to Plano High as a sophomore. Sierra was always second best when it came to guys, but now she's getting noticed.

Her BFF, Jasmine, is just a little bit jealous of the newfound attention Sierra is getting. Britney, as always, is stuck in the middle of the bickering. The only thing Jasmine doesn't seem to be upset about is Sierra and Cecil (Jasmine's tutor, who suddenly got hot over the summer) hanging out.

As with the previous two volumes in the series, the reader can expect ups and downs. There will be (of course) boy trauma. A family will fall hard financially. But through it all, the friendship that Sierra, Jasmine, and Britney share will bond them together.

I'm not certain this is the final book in THE LIP GLOSS CHRONICLES, but if it ended here, it works. Readers get to see inside all three girls' heads and follow them as they each deal with realistic life issues. I enjoyed the previous two novels a lot, but I think Sierra felt the most real and relatable for me. I think PAPER THIN wraps up the series nicely.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr