Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

No one would ever mistake "The Devil Wears Prada" for fine literature, but it was entertaining. Spoiled, entitled twenty something discovers that it's necessary to work hard to get what you want, while spoiled, entitled rich boss woman sees to it that she does work hard carrying out over the top ridiculous tasks. Whining ensues. The whining was kind of hard to take, but it was still fun to watch Andrea constantly have to jump through hoops to please Miranda, figuring that a year of this would be enough paying of dues to get her the prestigious editorial job she thought she deserved. The first book was such a success that I was kind of expecting a rehash of it for the sequel - but an entertaining rehash! That's not what I got. First of all, unlike the first-person "Devil," "Revenge" is written in third person, which is a bizarre choice that makes it seem very removed from the original book. I never quite felt as if I was reading about the same characters. The story itself is... well, not much. Really. I mean, NOTHING happens. It's ten years later and Andrea (now known as "Andy"), who spent the entirety of "Devil" looking down her nose at anything having to do with fashion is now the proud editor and co-founder of... a bridal magazine. Yeah. She still giggles adorably about how clueless she is about fashion, but just as in the first book, not a single character enters a scene without a lengthy description of their wardrobe - complete with the appropriate contempt directed at anyone who dares wear clogs or pantsuits. And she also manages to create and run an utterly too-too high fashion magazine. Andrea gets married in the first chapter to a wealthy society boy, and after making a few half-hearted attempts to look down her nose at the country club set, eagerly embraces her new lifestyle of weekends in the Hamptons and a ginormous NYC apartment. The "crushing secret" the book jacket promises is revealed within the first five pages. Max's mother has conveniently written her son a Jane Austen-esque letter in which she "beseeches" him not to marry Andrea, reminding him of what a great time he had when he (unbeknownst to Andrea) ran into his far more suitable, rich country club snob ex a few months ago, and which Max conveniently brings along to the wedding suite for Andrea to find. Andrea spends about half the book thinking Max has been cheating on her, and then that particular plot line disappears without a whimper. Andrea has stopped whining about work, but that's probably because she doesn't DO any. Apparently her job at the magazine is to fly to exotic locales on the dime of celebrity brides to be where she stays in luxury hotels, interviews the celebs for 15 minutes, and then gets a massage. Back home, she gets to the office two hours before anyone else, but no mention is made of what she actually does. At one point she does spend "hours" (really? Hours?) writing a press statement, but other than that her official job title appears to be Lady of Leisure. Most of the rest of the book is centered on Andrea's pregnancy, and the tacky maternity clothes she has to wear even after she gives birth, since she can no longer fit into the little black dress in a size 4. SIZE FOUR! Remember in "Devil" when she was a size 10? And she was 5'10 tall! How much does this woman weigh now? And yes, I said "woman", though the author continually refers to the now thirty-something Andrea and Emily as "girls." We skip randomly ahead a few months at a time until BOOM, Andrea is the devoted mother of a precious baby girl, who comes fully equipped with the perfect nanny. Emily (my favorite character in "Devil", seriously) is back, but has undergone a personality transplant. Alas, the haughty, brown-nosing ice princess is no more. She has morphed into a tough talking, chain-smoking business woman who replaces the conveniently displaced-to-Colorado Lily as Andrea's new BFF, as well as co-founder of the bridal magazine. Andrea's social circle also includes the women in her new-moms group, headed by the "hippie dippie" counselor that Andrea delights in leading the other moms in ignoring and mocking, in true Mean Girls style. Oh, and of course, her clothes suck, too. The group also includes a nanny who - say it with me - conveniently turns out to be the current girlfriend of Alex, Andrea's bland boyfriend from the first book for whom she has been pining away all these years. But what of Miranda Priestly, the titular "Devil" of the first book, and her "revenge"? You got me. The woman appears about three times, the first being halfway through the book. Out of the blue, she makes a multi-million dollar offer to acquire Andrea and Emily's magazine, since it's just that awesome. Emily is all over the idea, as is Andrea's husband, but a clause in the contract states that the full staff must stay on board for a year, which means they would be working for Miranda again. The idea makes Andrea break out in hives, but she manages to repeatedly put off making a decision for months at a time. During those months, she freaks about the very thought of sharing air space with her former boss, who she knows will be out to get her. Hilariously, when they do come face to face at a meeting to discuss the sale of the magazine, Miranda hasn't the foggiest notion who Andrea is. So much for "revenge!" They meet a grand total of two more times, and both times Miranda is perfectly lovely. She even says "please" and "thank you" to her servants. However, just so we don't forget how truly eebil Miranda is, at the end of their second meeting Miranda finally sidles up to Andrea and delivers a Don Corleone style threat for her to just sign the contract already. And that is the end of Miranda's involvement in this tedious story. I'd advise skipping this one, and waiting for the inevitable movie sequel. Hollywood managed to make a better story out of the first book. Maybe they can do it again, although there really isn't much to work with here.