I’ve always been a sucker for books that contain letters and in the modern era that includes texts, emails and DMs. When I saw Anon Pls I couldn’t resist picking it up. I was a bit concerned that being a collaboration between a super famous Instagram account it would be all style and no substance but I was totally wrong. This book is fun and well written. Sure, it’s not revolutionary content, but it’s a fantastic holiday read.

The story is told by Cricket Lopez, an assistant to the nastiest stylist ever to get famous off a reality TV show. She’s been an assistant for eight years despite her boss Sasha’s nasty comments (like, jaw-droppingly horrible) and her aim is to get a promotion. Her friends Leon and Victoria are more successful career and family wise and tend to prop up Cricket during her moments of despair. After a drunken night out, Cricket revisits her failed style Instagram, deuxmoi, and posts some celebrity gossip. It catches on and fuelled by some of Cricket’s own celebrity spottings and gossip, it takes off to the point where everyone is ready to spill to deuxmoi. From the inane to the scandals, everyone read it first on deuxmoi. But of course running a viral Instagram account is difficult while you work full time and even harder when your boss is irrational. Cricket tries to keep it all going with some spectacular failures followed by a huge scandal. In the middle of it all, she’s thinking about selling deuxmoi and getting down and dirty on the phone with an editor of one of the magazines that reached out to her.

I really enjoyed this story, as it’s not pretending to be anything but fun. I think it probably helps that 98% of the celebrities are fictionalised, although there is plenty of room to try to guess if any character is modelled on a real person. (Kind of hoping one of them isn’t though – the scandal involving him is super icky). I would love to know if the bakery scandal is true though! The texts, messages and internet stories help show what Cricket is seeing on the screen and consolidate what a big deal it is.

Some things didn’t quite work as well for me. The brand dropping for the clothes didn’t add anything (nor am I going to run out and buy them). The finale of the book when Cricket has a revelation of what to do next kind of felt like product placement (or it’s a coincidence that it aligned at the time). The phone sex with editor Ollie felt a bit tacked on and not strictly necessary. I would have liked to have seen more time with Cricket’s friends and her self esteem building instead. That being said, the book flows well and it’s a great book to keep you more than entertained on a flight without WiFi (If you know, you know) and capturing the urgency of not being connected 24/7. It’s a fun escape into a world most of us won’t inhabit as Gossip Girl goes modern.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

Despite how, you know, it says "A NOVEL" on the cover in bright blue text, I managed to open this without realising that it is, in fact, a novel. I don't follow DeuxMoi or have any interest in the day to day, but thought the big picture would be fascinating--and it was! This isn't a book I'll recommend anyone read, but it was certainly pacy and I actively wanted to keep reading to know what happened. Though there were definitely some sex scenes I really could have done without, and a romantic subplot that seemed the most unrealistic. ( )

Anon Pls. by the famous Instagrammer Deuxmoi is not my kind of book, but there’s certainly an audience out there for it. Long-suffering assistant to a celebrity stylist, Cricket decides to turn her anonymous Instagram account into a gossip site and it takes off like gangbusters. Anon Pls. is filled with fashion, fake celebrities, sex, and other chick-lit features that will appeal to certain readers — just not me. ( )

I was not sure what I was expecting when I received this advanced copy of Anon Pls. I read the entire book but did not really enjoy it. It was boring, to me, but fans of the Instagram account "Deuxmoi" may find this enjoyable. ( )