REVIEW: Marlowe Banks Redesigned by Jacqueline Firkins

Marlowe Banks Redesigned by Jacqueline Firkins: Fleeing home town New York after a spate of harsh reviews regarding her creativity and abilities as a high profile costume designer, Marlowe lands herself at the bottom of the design rungs on a LA television set. PA to Babs who fills up Marlowes days with 14+ hours of bizarre busy work, Marlowe detests the actors, the lives they lead and all that they represent. Until of course she has no choice but to jump in as an extra when one falls sick.

Unfortunately for Marlowe though, the scene involves pouring coffee for star character Jake, aka Angus, who she has undeniable chemistry with, both antagonistic and sexual, thus sparking a frenzy of social media interest gaining her 3 episodes in the series. For Marlowe, Babs strange design tasks grow even more demanding and obscure, meanswhile, the media begins to have a field day with Marlowe’s credibility – fans opting to demonize her with some brutal character assassination firmly cementing for Marlowe that living in the spotlight is certainly not the life she wishes to lead.
Whilst some elements were thoroughly believable, and the chemistry and banter between Angus and Marlowe was super fun, some elements seemed fairly contrived and a little forced. With that said, this is more or less due to the LA Insta-Famous context and for the most part, this was managed carefully.

The romance that ensues between the duo creates perfect tension and side character and new besty Cherry is brilliant. Superficially, this ticked a whole bunch of boxes and whilst it would have been great to see further thematic depth, it tackled identity and self-belief fairly well particularly given how entirely likeable Marlowe and Angus are individually and as a potential love match.

On the whole, this was a super cute read that certainly highlighted the fabricated nature of the media and certainly questioned why anyone would genuinely pursue a life of fame.

Book Info:

Publication: 25th October 2022 | St Martin’s Griffin |

Marlowe Banks’s life has come apart at the seams. Her engagement ended abruptly. Her latest costume design was shredded by critics. Her student loans are overdue. Her parents have never been more disappointed. Desperate to hide from her failures, Marlowe flees New York City to embrace invisibility in Los Angeles as a menial Production Assistant on a popular TV show. While sorting socks and taking care of her boss’ spoiled Weimaraner, no one can confront her poor artistic choices or the end of her engagement, the end her ex refuses to accept.

When a costume mix-up requires Marlowe to step into in a scene, the camera catches a heated look between her and Angus Gordon, the show’s arrogant bad boy, thrusting Marlowe into the spotlight. As the pair is forced together on set, Marlowe learns she’s not the only one hiding. Walls come down for both of them, revealing a life Marlowe isn’t sure she’s ready for, and when her past comes calling, she has to decide if she’s going to stay invisible or if it’s time for a redesign.