Barbara BourlandI'll Eat When I'm Dead : a sizzling romp through fashion's darker side

I'm a huge fashion lover, and so when I saw this book contained feminism, fashion and satire I jumped to purchase. But the blurb and the accompanying quotes on the cover of the book are tragically misleading.Cat Ono is the central character in the book, and the story focuses on her getting to the bottom of her friend's death, whilst also acquiring a soaring "social media" fame. Cat kind of reminded me of a Kate Moss meets Kim Kardashian - the heroin chic, deathly thin fashionista who always looks fierce, but with the social media presence and the ability to create a frenzy anywhere she goes. I couldn't really understand how Cat found herself in this position, given that at the beginning of the book she seems to have quite a solid role as a Editor for RAGE magazine. Halfway through she suddenly stops doing this work and becomes a full time socialite for the magazine. Her friend, Bess Bonner, seems like a totally unnecessary character if I'm being honest. I was never quite sure of what role Bess played, other than to make Cat look good, or "save the day", which ultimately led to her character being quite cringe-worthy.Whilst this book is definitely page turning, and most of the characters are women, I found the story very superficial and hard to engage with. It felt as though, by the end of the book, Bourland was searching for ways to suddenly conclude her story and pin the death of Hillary on a random character. The drug storyline was also a bit far-fetched. Ok, I get this is fiction, but Bourland could have incorporated fashion industry drug use into her book in a much more realistic way.I'm not sure if it's because I'm not American, but I seldom found this book funny. A few times, Cat Ono came across as quite sassy, delivering some poignant one liners, but other than that I struggled to find the humour in the book.Overall I was really disappointed with this book and uninspired. I like my feminist reads to leave me thinking about what they've just talked about, but to be honest this book left me in a bit of a slump. The story is just too superficial, and the characters aren't very likeable. Definitely wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. If you want a good murder mystery, read Gone Girl.

A fun look at working in the fashion and media industries! Although the plot was a little farfetched at times, I didn't mind (as it kept me entertained, which is surely the point of a book) and found it to be a decent poolside read this summer.

The ‘Prologue’ to ‘I’ll Eat When I’m Dead’ sets the scene for a murder mystery, but it is more of a chic-lit novel in the magazine world of fashion and feminism. This puts it well outside my usual interests, but it is well suited to author Barbara Bourland’s background at a women’s magazine and the influences of ‘Vogue’, with a realization of how female readership is attracted and exploited.Cause of death after discovery of the body of a senior editor of ‘RAGE Fashion Book’ in a locked workroom is brushed off as a heart attack due to starvation to stay slim, and a lifestyle as workaholic – and hence the title ‘I’ll Eat When I’m Dead’. School friends and colleagues of the deceased are uneasy over findings, and they cooperate when the case is re-examined by a handsome police detective attempting to make a name for himself and further his career.Focus on murder investigations gives way to satire as ‘RAGE Fashion Book’ is presented as the gold standard of publications promoting awareness to fashion and beauty, and to feminist issues. The author’s message is that this should not be frivolous, and there are insights to the multi-million dollar industry and the magazine’s trading rewards, but with awareness of responsibilities as role model, and impact on readers as consumers.Together with a nice degree of humour the dealings of the staff and their ambitions, relationships etc. with their reliance on pills to stay awake, go to sleep, injections etc. plus references to sex and drugs etc. etc. there is plenty of scope for a good read. Perhaps there is too much as narrative becomes prolonged and confused – leaving ‘I’ll Eat When I’m Dead’ as average – hence 3-star rating.

This book revolves around Cat a strong woman working in a well established fashion magazine. She has some friends who also work within the magazine, one of these friends is Hilary who is found dead and is assumed to have starved herself to death. But Cat is sure dieting wasn’t her problem so when a detective decides to look into the case afresh, Cat also starts to questions the motives behind her friends demise.Research into her friends beauty regime and discovering new products which can not only change how you look but also how you feel.Finding clues and investigating, Cat finds herself in deep water and in over her head. There is more to the case than she first believed and becomes trapped in a web of deceit, sex and upmarket drugs.This book was indeed readable but didn’t really hook its claws into me as other books have done. A somewhat weak expose type story of the inside of what you would imagine the daily comings and goings of a fashion magazine. In my opinion a bit over the top with the sordid underbelly of the fashion worlds. Interesting read and will pass a few hours but not overly engaging.

This novel sort of falls between a crime story and a faux-expose of the fashion industry. That sounds actually pretty terrible but it genuinely isn't, I did end up surprised with how much I enjoyed the story. Initially it seems pretty vapid and is all about the clothes, the accessories and the settings; not really my sort of thing. However, once you get past all the surface frippery and name dropping of real and imagined high status brands there is actually a pretty decent story tucked away here.We follow Cat Ono as she struggles with not only being an immigrant to the United States with all the tension not having a Green Card gives but also struggling with daily life. Indeed, her whole life centres around her job at RAGE magazine. When a senior staff member turns up dead in the office it initially seems that she has starved herself into a heart attack. When NYPD Detective Mark Hutton takes a second look at her demise at the request of the family Cat finds herself torn between what she knows and what her heart wants. Cat is a great character on the page and the revelation of her character upon the page is handled very well, slowly unpeeling her outward facade to reveal her true personality. She isn't always particularly likeable and does make some confusing decisions but she feels wholly real and, if we're being honest here, the sort of woman you could have a darn good night out with.The sub-plot of the death of Cat's mentor and friend weaves well in to the world built by the author. It does sometimes serve as a distraction from the horrors of the fashion industry which became strangely compelling to someone who lives in jeans and a t-shirt. The final denouement for the method of death and who is behind it do take a large leap in to the scarcely believable but still manage to remain entertaining.On the whole I really enjoyed this book, the writing has a snarky wit to it that draws you in to the characters and their rarefied world. Some of the relationships between them feel a little "off" somehow and I could never really figure out why, it did distract me on occassion from the story as I tried to figure out why it just felt wrong. Generally, I can recommend this a good read.THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PUBLISHER.