Review by Booklist Review
Maxine came of age in the 1980s and 1990s department store beauty world and still finds beauty to be her destiny. It all started as a child, when she melted a popsicle on her lips to achieve the perfect juicy pout, so flattering compared to the chunky bright lipstick of the day. As a teen, Max earned cash doing makeup for her friends, mixing her own colors and consistencies from existing products and her own ingredients. NYU brought her out of New Jersey and into her adult life in New York City, where she continues being noticed for her talent with makeup--specifically products that elevate shine and flush--long before they're mainstream. At the dawn of the millennium, Max, at the helm of her own booming beauty empire, Reveal, is the dedicated young founder whose sole focus is the brand. Reveal and Max face a new world in the 2010s, challenged by changing beauty standards and public backlash, forcing Max to face herself. Max is an unforgettable protagonist, and Lawrence (Ellipses, 2024) nails the beauty world and how its trends speak to so many layers of culture, which all makes for a vibrant and sharp read.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the engrossing sophomore effort from Lawrence (Ellipses), an entrepreneur navigates power dynamics in the beauty industry. At the outset, Maxine "Max" Thomas, 40, has been sidelined by the board of Reveal, the makeup company she founded. Lawrence then rewinds to tell the story of Reveal's origins, when Max, a college student in 1990s New York City, makes money by doing makeup for wealthy women. One of her clients, Ellen Atkins, sees Max's potential and agrees to help launch her company, but takes advantage of Max's naivete and has her unknowingly sign away her rights. Ellen also insists that Max keep her queer sexuality a secret. In the present, as Max waits for the board to decide whether to oust her over a scandal that is revealed late in the novel, she recounts the long road to success, including dealing with lecherous male investors at Ellen's behest, keeping up with the changing makeup trends of the last 20 years, and the power struggle between her and Ellen as the latter pushes to make the brand profitable. Max also has an affair with her 25-year-old assistant, Amanda Weston, who inspires her to develop a popular new product. Lawrence weaves all these threads with subtlety and nuance, and adds depth to the characterization of the complicated Maxine as she comes to terms with how she might have unwittingly exploited Amanda. It's a well-crafted tale of a striver's fall from grace. (Jan.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A cosmetic mogul's carefully concealed sexual identity threatens the foundations of her brilliant entrepreneurial business. Maxine Thomas has always understood two things about herself: She's a wizard with lipstick and powder, and she's attracted to women--both of which threatened her controlling, fashion-obsessed mother, who once said about a lesbian couple in a restaurant, "Filth like that shouldn't be allowed in here." No wonder Max faces deep despair in light of a career-ending scandal as the book opens in 2015; this is a thought-provoking and fast-paced story about a world of artifice that conceals a world of hurt. Max peels the layers back slowly, from her preteen expertise with drugstore compacts, on to her college-era list of socialite clients, interwoven with chapters about her present predicament as founder of a bestselling cosmetics line meant to enhance "who a woman really was--in her best light." Even if society at large has grown comfortable with same-sex relationships, Max's high-gloss sector prefers to draw a veil over them. As she negotiates bigger and bigger deals, she backs her personal life and deepest needs into a tiny corner of a psychological closet, and the author carefully ensures that that's where the most destructive bomb goes off for Max, a double whammy of private pleasure and public humiliation that results from a naive early business decision. Unlike many novels about glamorous pursuits, this one doesn't indulge in long paeans to luxury; each scene describing Max's expertise or negotiations has a thematic purpose, driving forward industry misogyny, homophobia, and desperate attempts to fill an early void. Tightly plotted and full of insider detail, the novel shimmers with complicated truths about women, beauty, and betrayal. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
