Author: Roxy Jacenko
ISBN: 978-1-74237-757-5
RRP: $24.99
Strictly Confidential is a novel written so well, so convincingly that more than once I was left wondering if these were episodes taken straight from the pages of Roxy’s life. This could be partly because Roxy is a driven young woman who built a Sydney PR company but I think a lot of it is her honest, no holds barred style of writing.
Roxy takes us behind the scenes of the glamorous and cutthroat world of fashion PR where who you know can be as important as what you know. Strictly Confidential gives us an all inclusive look at the celebrity lifestyle and the lengths that a dedicated PR team will go to for their clients.
The Sydney celebrity scene is Roxy’s natural environment and that really shows through in the way that the dialogue feels so natural, even when you’re sitting back thinking ‘Do they really talk like that?’. All of her subject matter is familiar to her and she includes some very handy tricks of the trade that help you understand how she built her PR company into the raging success that it is.
Strictly Confidential is the story of Jasmine Lewis, a young publicist working her heels off in Sydney’s hottest PR firm for the grandmother of PR, who just happens to eat young publicists for breakfast. Four years Jasmine has slaved to make her way up the food chain and never once has she taken her eye off the prize, often at the expense of some other aspect of her life and it has never quite been enough for the company’s matriarch.
All of that is set to change one morning when heads have to roll and circumstances conspire to see Jasmine start out on her own. Her dedication and willingness to put work first for someone else are nothing compared to the extra lengths she will go to and extra depths of commitment she taps when starting out as the Queen Bee in her own company.
Lovers of gossip who love to keep up to date with all the celebrity happenings are going to love this book with all its juicy insider info and look at how all of the different facets of the publicity machine work together. The dog eat dog world of celebrity often becomes a catfight and there is no shortage of entertainment in these pages. Even now I sit here wondering….. how much really happened, how much of Roxy’s own experience has had it’s name changed to protect it’s identity and made it into the story?
I loved the writing style, it was very metaphorical, often lyrical and evocative. There was no surprise that these words come from the talented mind of a PR queen that spends a lot of time writing media releases!
The action never stops in this fast-paced, funny glimpse into the workings of a world many of us will never get close to. It may also be a good read for the gorgeous teens thinking about the glamorous lifestyle they could have getting into PR. It’s certainly been an eye opener for me into just how tireless and never stop the industry is. Hats off to the fabulous women of PR who make it and still step out to all of these events, making it all look easy and glamorous in their stilettos.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
have been dying to read this, heard so many good reviews and i must say was a little surprised that they were so good!
I’ve really been wanting to read this! It sounds so good!