REVIEW for Lipstick Laws

Thank you! thank you to the wonderful people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sending me this book (I had been dying to read it).

TITLE:                  Lipstick Laws

AUTHOR:            Amy Holder

GENRE:                YA

RATING:              5 Stars

I had been anxiously awaiting this book and was really looking forward to reading Lipstick Laws. This, for me, is often a problem as I find myself building up my expectations, only to be disappointed in the end.


Fortunately, in this case, the fears were not warranted in the least. While Lipstick Laws may not be high literature, it is an absolutely engaging, enchanting and entertaining ‘chick lit’ read that I simply adored – so much so – that I am rating it a coveted 5 stars, which is something I don’t often give out.

I am a huge fan of chick lit and I love YA chick lit. In Lipstick Laws, we find all the pre requisite that, to me, indicates that I am about to embark on a great, great read.

Firstly, the setting is high school which you just know is a ripe environment for the cattiness and disaccord that can only exist between teenager girls. Secondly, ‘Brit’ is the perfect spoiled, horrible brat. In fact, author Holder has created a somewhat ‘over the top’ character that is a lot of fun to hate (and to follow). Brit is a huge part of the storyline and I simply loved just how totally evil and completely devoid of niceness she truly was.

Of course, we have our main character April who has issues of her own – mainly that she is addicted to stuffing her bra with tissue. April also finds herself as part of Brit’s exclusive entourage and is asked to sign the Lipstick Laws – a series of ridiculous laws, as determined by Brit, in order to ensure that Brit’s little ‘clique’ stay faithful to her.

While April reluctantly signs the document, you can already feel the direction this book is going to take and this is where things get crazy and entertaining. Fortunately, Holder takes the book in a bit of a different direction than you might expect, although I have to admit that at times, I felt as though I had read parts of this story before, through other authors.

However, it is a testament to how much I enjoyed both the writing and the storyline that I did not mind this at all. The story just flows and I found myself completely involved, at times rooting for April and her gang and at times, reading in a mad rush to find out more.

If I have a criticism of this book is that April was a bit of a weakling and while I realize that this is a fundamental part of the storyline, it felt a bit much at times – especially the ‘pool’ segment where April is worried that her tissue filled bikini top might get wet. At times, I felt that April was simply too silly for words.

Having said that, however, I have to say that I am hoping for a part 2 of this book or, at the very least, another 10 books by this author. Loved, loved Lipstick Laws.