Autumn Krause

Betrayal has never been so fashionable than in Autumn Krause’s glamorous debut, perfect for fans of The Belles and The Luxe. True to its name, the sleepy town of Shy in Avon-upon-Kynt is a place where nothing much happens. And for eighteen years, Emmaline Watkins has feared that her future held just that: nothing. But when the head of the most admired fashion house in the country opens her prestigious design competition to girls from outside the stylish capital city, Emmy’s dreams seem closer than they ever have before. As the first “country girl” to compete, Emmy knows she’ll encounter extra hurdles on her way to the top. But as she navigates the twisted world of high fashion, she starts to wonder: Will she be able to tailor herself to fit into this dark, corrupted race? And at what cost?

A Dress for the Wicked

I really enjoyed the fashion aspect of the book. I think the author described the dresses beautifully. However, the main character was so incredibly boring, but worst of all was the plot. It was starting to get really predictable and to be honest nothing really memorable happened at all throughout this book. 

Megan Lowe

I wanted to like this book. The description was right up my alley, but it fell way short for me.
The fashion and the descriptions were beautiful and so very rich, but it wasn’t enough.
The story needed more than just pretty dresses.
There was supposed to be romance, but I didn’t get that. Tristan and Emmy’s relationship happened because the blurb said it would. I didn’t see any chemistry and while Tristan is very sweet, the whole Sophie thing was unnecessary.
I was also confused with Emmy and her mother’s relationship. I didn’t get that they were close. 
I also felt the “twists” were predictable, as was who was ultimately responsible. At times Emmy was too naive to be believable. Honestly, no one could be that dense.
As I said, I wanted to love this book but it fell so flat for me, sorry.

Bianca Caliban

3.5 

This was an amazing book, to say the least! An intriguing tale woven with mystery and hardship about a young girl heading off to live her life and make her dreams come true. Small-town Emmy thinks that she'll finally be able to design one-of-a-kind gowns and work in the the famous Fashion House when she is accepted to participate in a prestigious design competition. But when things don't go to plan and the outlandish Fashion House owner Madame Jolene is tougher than she thought, Emmy is forced to make her choice about what's wrong and what's right while trying to choose the future she wants to have.

This book was beautifully written. I’m not sure I like the title- it gives the book a darker more fantastical appearance when in reality its’ Project Runway in the Victorian Age. Which isn’t to say it wasn’t phenomenal. The idea which was original and done so well, left you being able to picture rich designs in your mind. Even if you do not follow fashion in modern times this isn’t a book you’ll want to miss.

Tatiana 

Is fashion truly freedom? Or is it just another cage?

Emmaline just wants to join the fashion house. That’s all she wants. She wants to design and leave her sleepy town behind for the city. When she gets to the city, she soon realizes everything isn’t as glamorous as it seems. Will she be able to see her dreams through, or will they get crushed under another persons success?

I’ve had this book on my shelf for quite some time now if I’m being honest. The cover and title was what originally what had drawn me to the book, and I think some part of myself was scared it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. Overall, the book ended up being pretty good. 

For some reason I can’t quite understand, it felt quite like a Cinderella story, even if it didn’t follow the same storyline. Maybe I’m just trying to make myself believe it’s a retelling hahaha. 

I really loved the fashion aspect of the story, especially since it was so fresh and creative. A lot of stories that do have fashion never actually talk about how it’s made and the hard work behind it, more like the dress kind of just popped up from the middle of no where. I really enjoyed learning the processes of design, especially when the dresses came out so beautifully. 

Emmaline was interesting, but she wasn’t captivating to me. Her character at times could be very original, but then she would turn into a normal “I’m an average normal girl” and I would lose interest. Towards the end of the book, she became more interesting, which helped with her character development. The problem was I didn’t really care much for her, compared to other side characters. 

One of the things I cared about most and that intrigued me was Emmaline’s mothers mystery past in the series, I was really looking forward to learning about all that happened. The author ended up dropping one sentence about it, and it left so many questions left unanswered, which really disappointed me. Also, the ending was very open ended, and I honestly wanted a more solid foundation for it. Even one more chapter or page would’ve solved most of these problems. 

Overall, it was a good quick read, but I feel like there could’ve been so much more added to the concept. It had great potential, and it ended up being good but not GREAT. If your looking for a quick book about fashion this is for you!

And remember, does fashion mean a cage or freedom for you? 

K.J. Haakenson

This was a fun historical book with a sprinkle of magical and downright gorgeous descriptions of the fashion world. I loved how the author illustrated all the dresses so well with her words and how she mixed Victorian London and couture fashion into her setting.

Sadly, everything felt a little rushed. I loved the sabotage and dress competitions but after that, the plot moved in a direction I didn't expect which felt disappointing. I just wanted more. More dresses, more of the love interest side plot, more of the backstabbing fashion world. I went into the book expecting something fairly dark and twisted but I ended up making more of the sabotage than there actually was.

I think if I hadn't read this book pretty much straight through (roadtrips rock for reading), I wouldn't have been quite as hooked. But it was still a fun summer read! A solid 3 stars for sure :)

Aubrey Erskine

To read the full review visit my blog:
 http://theshelflifechronicles.home.bl...

Emmaline is from a small rural farming town located in Britannia Secunda, an ex-British Colony where fashion has somehow become the major industry of the country and is a huge part of the government. Emmy dreams of being a designer, but after her moms own failed attempts at a life in the city this dream is highly discouraged. This year however, the exclusive Fashion House Competition is opened to the general public and Emmy has a chance to make her dreams come true. 

I wanted to so badly love this book. The premise was new and sounded interesting, a mix of The Selection series and Project Runway all rolled into a fierce competition. I read this book in one sitting because I genuinely loved the main character Emmaline and wanted to see where her journey would take her. I was captivated until the end, but it was then that problems started to arise. There were so many unanswered questions that I assumed this was meant to be a series, but discovered it actually is a standalone novel. Yikes.

Laura Allen

Liz Griffin

I’ll blog a full review of this book eventually, but it was a solid 4 stars. Devil Wears Prada meets BBC North and South. It combines together a lot of the elements that are popular in YA right now — fashion, competition, class conflict.
Slight spoiler: even though it’s shelved as “fantasy” because of it being a secondary world, there’s no “magic”, so my expectation were a little misaligned.
I also wasn’t into the love interest at all.

A Dress for the Wicked

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