Book Review- Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler

Last year, I decided to re read any books I read many years ago or didn’t read, but wanted to. My intention was to decide which books I want to keep and what I didn’t. My plans didn’t work out like I hoped, but I did finish reading a few books. One of these books is Beneath the Glitter by Elle and Blair Fowler.

If you never heard of Elle and Blair Fowler, they are two of the first beauty and lifestyle YouTubers. They started their YouTube channels well over ten years ago and was both popular and controversial because of the videos they posted. Their videos, which are focused on beauty and lifestyle tutorials, are known for shopping hauls of makeup, skin care, clothing, and anything else they felt like posting. Many did not like their videos because the videos are believed to have encouraged materialism. Despite this, they are known for being the first beauty gurus on YouTube and for their influence on social media.

Today, Elle, who took a break from social media in the mid to late 2010’s, continues to post YouTube videos. Blair did post videos, but has, as of this post, not updated her YouTube channel since May 2020.

Back in their YouTuber hey day, the sisters embarked on several different side projects including Skylark, a cosmetics company that is now defunct. One their side projects is a book series loosely based off them and their lives as social media influencers. The series follows the London Sisters. They are social media influencers who moved from the Eastern side of the United States to Los Angeles County, California to pursue their careers in social media. There are only two books in the series, the first being Beneath the Glitter.

Beneath the Glitter follows the London Sisters as they begin to gain popularity after receiving an award for their social media work. Even though the sisters are excited about their award, their lives start to change dramatically as they become more and more popular. They get a contract with a major makeup company. They meet new boys, go to parties, and become acquainted with celebrities. They also begin to dating two of their newfound celebrity acquaintances, leading to more public exposure due to the paparazzi’s photographs of the new couples. Even though everything seems like their lives are great and nothing can stop them, they start to grow apart.

Beneath the Glitter is a fast paced novel that isn’t too difficult to read. It can be read easily by a faster reader in a few days, depending on the amount of time dedicated to reading it. It took me a longer to read it because I didn’t dedicate my time to reading it in one sitting.

I did enjoy rereading the book. I don’t like the more adult portions of it, such as descriptions of how the movie star’s ex girlfriend became famous and curse words in it, but that’s about it. It is fast paced, which makes it a great summer read, and is the kind of book that would be perfect young adult book that adults will enjoy. It also is a book with a lot of nostalgic for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to relive the early to mid 2010’s social media influencer time period in book form or wants to read a book that may not be very common as a summertime read. The book does end on a cliff hanger, which will be picked up in the second and last book in the series, Where the Glitter Lies. If you don’t like cliff hanger endings or are not interested in reading two books, then this book would not be a great book for you. Also, if you don’t like young adult novels about celebrities, Hollywood, or anything of like subject matter, this book would also not be a great book for you.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!