Curse of the blue tattoo by L.A. Meyer

It's the second book of the Bloody Jack series! This is really shaping up to be one of my new favourite series! I actually read the book before I left for Singapore (so three months ago?), but somehow forgot to post my review. My bad ><
Anyway, if you want to read my review of the first book, click here.

After the ending of the first book, where [SPOILER ALERT] Jacky's true identity as a girl was revealed, she was sent to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls, where she is to learn to be a "lady". But, the strict rules and mean girls prove too much, and Jacky's yearning to be free leads her into a host of adventures, which include her getting thrown into jail, and disguising herself as a boy (again) to ride a horse in a race.

One other thread running through the book would be Jacky and Jaimy's romance. The two of them were separated at the start of the book, and they attempt to keep in contact through letters. The key word is attempt, because somehow, their letters don't reach each other. Jacky's suspicion is that Jaimy's mother, who disapproves of her, and there's a fair chance that Jaimy's letters are being kept from Jacky by Mistress Pimm, the strict schoolmistress.

Lots of things happen in this book, and if I summarise them all, you might think it terribly unbelievable and far fetched. But the way Jacky tells it, it seems very natural to me. Jacky is just doing what she thinks is best, she can't help it if she has all sorts of crazy adventures.

Oh, and Jacky is way more charming than she thinks. I'm pretty sure she won the admiration of all the servants, and her new friend Amy's brother Randalph (although Randalph is a connundrum, since you're never sure why he's nice to Jacky).

Speaking of Amy, I thought she was an interesting character. As a girl who chose to be an outcast (she refuses to sit with the popular girls because one of them owns slaves), her friendship with Jacky was one of the high points in this book.

Another interesting character was Mistress Pimm. I had thought her to be the sort of headmistress that would be partial to the rich, but she's actually quite fair. As long as you break her school's rules, you will get punished, no matter who your father is. She wasn't as shallow a character as I had thought her to be.

Lastly, there's a reference to the first book here, as Jacky quotes the opening of the first book when she tells her lifestory to her friend Amy. Honestly, it sounds a bit weird, because if Jacky were to recite the entire first book, it would be way too long. But, in another way, it does make sense, because Jacky is the narrator of the first book as well, and she's telling her story to a friend.

In conclusion, this is a wonderful second book. I can't wait to get my hands on the third book and read it!

So You Want to Work in Fashion? by Patricia Wooster

I requested this book because... because... I'm not sure why. I guess I requested this book because I'm reaching the stage in my life where I need to start thinking about my future goals, and I figured I should learn as much about different industries as possible.

Personally, I'm rather impressed with this book. It covers many areas of the fashion business, from the "obvious" jobs like blogging and modeling to things like stylist, production, photographer etc. At the end, there's a guide as to what you can choose to study, and how to take your first steps (there are activities scattered throughout the book as well), alongside a glossary of terms. Interspersed with the descriptions are interviews with various people working in the industry.

For some reason, a few of the interviews made me feel as though you need connections (or a lot of luck) to make it in the fashion business - especially if you intend to be a designer. I'm not quite sure if that's what they're trying to convey, but I got that impression. Also, I should probably note that I skipped over quite a few of the interviews because they bored me, and because I found the "introduction" font hard to read. But, I think if you're interested in the fashion business, you'll find the interviews to contain a lot of useful information.

Overall though, I think this provides a level-headed view into the fashion business. I like how they covered all the different aspects equally, and seem to provide good advice to people who want to be in the business.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

Teaser Tuesday - Mademoiselle by Rhonda K. Garelick

Hey everyone! It's the first Tuesday of NaNoWriMo! I mean, November. Anyway, I'm participating as a Rebel this year (resisting the urge to place a Ever After Video here), so my blog posts might taper off after a while. For this month at least.

But, I'm still reading, and right now, I'm working my way through a biography of Chanel. I don't actually own anything from the brand, but Coco Chanel is so fascinating that I can't help but pick up books about her.

My teaser:

"And so, instead of embossing her initials on her personal, household goods, Chanel figured out a grander plan: she would imprint her initials on the entire world. The double-C logo crystallizes the paradoxical brilliance at the heart of Chanel's empire: it granted prestige through uniformity, through mass identification with one idealized individual."

What are your teasers this week? And to all those doing NaNoWriMo, all the best!

Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas

Aaaand, blogger blackout is over. Let's restart with some positively. Here's a review from a book I really enjoyed :D 

How did it take me so long to know about Veronica Mars? I first saw the (start) of the movie on my flight to Singapore, and then started watching the series. I saw the movie on the flight back to Japan, and it was awesome! I'm still watching the series, so I can say that I started from the end of the series.

The Thousand Dollar Tan Line takes place after the series and movie, so you might not want to read it if you hate spoilers. Skip this review too, because I need to start setting the scene in the next paragraph.

So, Veronica has officially given up her big city lawyer's job to take over Mars Investigations. Keith Mars, still hurting from that accident that killed Sachs (He was one of the better police officers), disapproves heavily but has no choice. However, business is slow until one day, she gets a job. Despite it really being a case for the police, the commercial powers that run Neptune recognise that she's a better detective than the lackey they have in the sheriff's office. So with the help of Wallace and Mac, Veronica does some good ol' investigative work.

By the way, this book (actually this series) is canon compliant, fanfiction writers, you should really be reading this to get up to speed. While this series features a grown-up Veronica (well, the series started of grown up compared to Nancy Drew or Tracy Belden), the format is very much the same as how the series runs in terms of solving the mystery.

Definitely for fans of Veronica Mars. And, if you're a fan of darker mysteries (and don't mind missing the numerous series references), you'll probably enjoy this mystery as well.