A review by hannahjsimpson
A Beautiful Rival: A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden by Gill Paul

2.0

A Beautiful Rival left me somewhat disappointed. While it could have been fascinating look at two powerful business women who built empires in a time where most women didn't have that opportunity, this book was simply superficial. But I suppose that's fitting for a book about two women with competing beauty lines.

Everything was spelled out in this book. So much more telling than showing. No mystery, nothing compelled me to keep turning pages, and everything in the plot seemed rather obvious. A swing and a miss in historical fiction for me.