The Dress (Everyday Magic Trilogy: Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

I bough this book for 99c on the kindle store and it was the perfect book to read while on holidays.
If i had been reading it in my normal everyday life I would have like to see it go a bit more in depth in to their stories, but for a holiday it was easy to read.

I really enjoyed the stories from the "Old Country" and thought they were woven in well throughout the story and used to help the writer make her point.

The only slight criticism I would provide would be that it didn't read like it was set in 2010, at least my school life wasn't like that, although perhaps schools in England are different to Australia.

Overall it was a nice, easy, book that I would happily recommend for a light-hearted, quick read.

When I got this ebook from Ms Sophie (Librarything Giveaway), I was told that "there's a little surprise waiting for you in the pages of The Dress." Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. In Chapter 10, a character Lady Eustacia Beddowes is introduced! How psyched was I? Very! My name is rare enough that it's hard to find it mentioned in a book. Plus, I become a "Lady".

But I'm sure no one is going to rush out and get it just because my name is there, so here's my hones opinion: even if my name didn't appear (sorry, very excited about this), I'd still love the book and recommend it to everyone.

The Dress has been compared to Chocolat, and there are similarities. But The Dress focuses on vintage clothing and has a slight feeling of magical realism to it, especially with the names like "Old Country" and sewing words into the clothes and of course, The Signals. It reminds me of a fairytale.

But if this is like a fairytale, it's more like their original versions rather than the cleaned-up, Disney ones: it's dark at times. The book isn't all sweetness and light, with not only Fabbia's secret but also with Jean Cushworth and her maliciousness. She reminds me of the evil queen, although I'm happy to see that Katrina, her daughter, has a happy ending.

The dual plots in this book: Ella and her bildunsroman journey with Fabbia (Ella's mom) and her secret (plus her blossoming romance with the Doctor) joins together very well. After all, they are one family unit. And at the right moments, short stories, such as that of the soulskin and La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) add to the sense of atmosphere in the book.

Although I'm really not into clothes, the descriptions of vintage clothing are really marvellous (though I know better than to try them on).

Bottom line: Read this book. And I'm not saying this because I got a free copy and found my name in it.

Disclaimer: If you managed to miss the first two times I mentioned I got a free copy of the book, there's a good chance you didn't read my review at all. But just so you know, I wasn't asked to write a positive review, it just turned out this way.
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I bought this book because it sounded as if it might be ok and also to be honest because of the price. I thought 'if I don't like it I've only wasted £1'. It was the best money that I've spent for a long time. The book was thoroughly enchanting and I quickly warmed to Ella and Fabbia. I was up reading this at 2 am trying to finish it and when I did I was sorry it had come to an end. If you want to try a new author then try this one.