All That Glitters

by Ilana Fox

[Leah]

Ilana Fox’s third novel has been a LONG time coming. I’m not joking. It was originally due out in 2011 but was delayed, and delayed, and delayed, until eventually All That Glitters was released in its Kindle format in June 2012. You know when a book keeps being delayed and you’re just waiting for its cancellation? Yeah, I was worried about that. So I was immensely pleased to see it on Amazon and I downloaded my copy immediately.

All That Glitters is a novel that’s very on point at the moment. Considering just how famous footballers are at the moment – for their on the field AND off the field antics, and WAGs are always in the news (seriously – pick up a copy of Closer/Heat/Now/any kind of gossip rag) and you’ll see a WAG. So a novel about a footballer and his wife is always going to be interesting, even more so since I actually like football. Despite all the football interest at the moment and the fact you’d think WAGs would be a hot topic in the Chick Lit world, there aren’t THAT many books about football or WAGs. Strange, I know. So All That Glitters was a refreshing and very enjoyable read, if a lot predictable.

I’m a big stickler for predictability in Chick Lit. I know every single Chick Lit novel has some predictability in it in one way or another, but despite how much I enjoyed All That Glitters, it is without a doubt a very formulaic Chick Lit novel.
Happy football couple who are a “brand”? Check.
Affair of some kind? Check.
The consoling/kind manager? Check.
The epic idea that launches WAG into stratosphere? Check.
Blackmail of one kind or another? Check.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just left the book with no surprises. There was nothing in the reading of the novel that gave me pause, that surprised me, that made me think “Oh this is a different kind of novel”. More than anything, Ella and Danny’s story ticked all of the boxes and I did enjoy it, sure. It had potential, it could have been so much more than a footballer and his WAG and their numerous secrets that aren’t really secrets because they’re ridiculously obvious.

I liked the book. It was an easy read, it had likeable characters, but I wanted more. I wanted more of a plot than what I’ve outlined above. I wanted more from Ella, more from Danny. The brightest spot of the novel was most definitely Ella’s WAG pal Chastity Taylor. All That Glitters was a fine novel, but it did not hold a candle to The Making of Mia, Fox’s debut novel and I just wish she’d write another edgy sort-a book like that one. One that surprises me as Mia did. Fox’s fourth book is out in 2013 and I WILL be buying it, and I do recommend All That Glitters because, well, not everyone is as fussy as I am…