Book Review: The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Title: The Devil Wears Prada
Author: Lauren Weisberger
Publication Date: 2004
Page Count: 360
Genre: Chick-Lit


From amazon.com
Charmingly unfashionable Andrea Sachs, upon graduating from Brown, finds herself in this precarious position: she's an assistant to the most revered-and hated-woman in fashion, Runway editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. The self-described "biggest fashion loser to ever hit the scene," Andy takes the job hoping to land at the New Yorker after a year. As the "lowest-paid-but-most-highly-perked assistant in the free world," she soon learns her Nine West loafers won't cut it-everyone wears Jimmy Choos or Manolos-and that the four years she spent memorizing poems and examining prose will not help her in her new role of "finding, fetching, or faxing" whatever the diabolical Miranda wants, immediately. Life is pretty grim for Andy, but Weisberger, whose stint as Anna Wintour's assistant at Vogue couldn't possibly have anything to do with the novel's inspiration, infuses the narrative with plenty of dead-on assessments of fashion's frivolity and realistic, funny portrayals of life as a peon. Andy's mishaps will undoubtedly elicit laughter from readers, and the story's even got a virtuous little moral at its heart. Weisberger has penned a comic novel that manages to rise to the upper echelons of the chick-lit genre.

My Review

I have known of this books existence for a long time, I just never picked it up to read. When I was reading it, both my mom and my sister said ... "You haven't read that book yet? That's surprising!" While reading, I too realized it was surprising that I hadn't picked this book up previous to now.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was nothing life altering (chick-lit rarely is), but it was entertaining throughout.  I was only slightly frustrated with the meanness that Miranda Priestly's character showed toward her assistant, Andy Sachs (but that is the whole point of the book, and it wasn't so frustrated it made me want to put the book down. 

Andy's character is likable enough, and I only recently found out that this may have been written more as an expose of sorts (similar to Nanny Diaries) as the author worked for a high-maintenance magazine editor in her past.

I will note that the movie does a really good job of capturing the book. Typically, movies do not do justice to the book they are based on, but I would say this is an exception. The book was harder to read with the comedic flare that the movie gave to it, so I think that it made it a different sort of story. In the movie, I felt sorry for Andy's characater, but chalked it up to more "slap-stick", "oh-no-not-her-again" attitude. In the book I felt much more invested into the character and felt more deeply affected by Miranda's rudeness and meanness.

I would recommend this book to anyone who was interested in a quick read. Don't go in expecting the sun, and you will be happy with the outcome!

Overall Rating: 8/10

Next Review: Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells

Book Review: Hip to be Square by Hope Lyda

Title: Hip to be Square
Author: Hope Lyda
Publication Date: 2005
Page Count: 336
Genre: Christian Chick-Lit


From goodreads.com

On her twenty—ninth birthday, Mari Hamilton, a worn-out recreation director at Golden Horizons Retirement Home, is convinced that leaving social work will improve her social life. So she seeks and receives a stylish position at a new and fabulous luxury spa. In addition, after countless bad first dates at hip clubs, Mari meets the perfect guy at Golden Horizon's anniversary party (of all places!). But a funny thing happens to her on the way to a life makeover—a forced stopover in her past where she admits to the unadmittable...

Through all her work and dating adventures and misadventures, Mari realizes that it was in her old life that God was doing a new and incredibly hip thing.

My Review

I got this book about a year ago at the Friends of the Library Book Sale. I didn't read in depth about what this book was about, but was intrigued enough by the back cover that I gave it a shot. 

I never realized that Christian Chick-Lit was even a type of book, it seems crazy specific. While it was not much different to regular chick-lit, it still is an obvious difference. It didn't have the swear words or the more risque subject matter and the author talked about bible study, and God's plan for the main character's life, etc, etc. 

The plot was nothing terribly exciting, and I predicted most of the turns with ease, but it was an entertaining read. I enjoyed it enough to track down the second in the series. I am curious enough about the characters that I want to know what happens to them. I may or may not be disappointed, but it is worth the shot.

I don't have a super in-depth review for this book, but would recommend it to anyone who wanted some light fast reading that want to stay away from the trashy romance.

Overall Rating: 7/10

Next Review: The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Book Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Title: The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publication Date: 2008
Page Count: 665
Genre: Science Fiction

From goodreads.com
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

My Review
I have been putting off this review for quite sometime now. I gave myself a little time to digest the story and decide if I really didn't like it as much as I thought I didn't like it.  I was giving Meyer the benefit of the doubt here... and when all is said and done, I shouldn't have. This book was 660+ pages just because. There was no need for it to be this long. I think Meyer just wanted to be able to say... "hot damn, look at that, my book is the biggest on the shelf!" It was boring, slow moving and the end was a joke.  Amazing how she tied everything up neatly in a bow and we all go on our merry way.... yea, not so much. How ridiculous.

Meyer is at it again. Her story line was all over the place, her characters are one-dimensional, and she writes a lot of words for not saying much. This could have worked better had she fleshed out more the the story with half the words. She is overly descriptive in a "Last of the Mohicans" kind of way (read: 6 pages to describe a tree.) I don't know what the infatuation with Meyer is. I don't believe she deserves the hype.

Meyer says this book is aimed more at the adult than the Twilight series which is aimed at the young adult crowd, but I disagree.  The characters are so similar to Twilight it felt like just another extension of that world. I read a review that said... "I would like someone tell me what [Meyer's] fascination is with sappy, overly dramatic dialogue, 17-year old girls and over-protective older men who carry them while running?" This made me laugh out loud, partly because it is funny, and partly because it is very true. In the two Twilight series books I have read and The Host, the similarities are striking.

It is safe to say that this is the last Meyer book I will be reading. And I hope for the sake of young readers out there, they find a better author to obsess over. Please.

Overall Rating: 2/10

Next Review: Hip to be Square by Hope Lyda

Book Review: With or Without You by Carole Matthews

Title: With or Without You
Author: Carole Matthews
Publication Date: 2004
Page Count: 380
Genre: Chick-Lit

From goodreads.com

Romantic comedy heads for new heights -- in this case, the Himalayas -- in this charmer by USA Today bestselling author Carole Matthews. Matthews excels at weaving the mundane problems of modern life, jobs, love, and relationships into something fresh and funny, and this one is no exception. This time, the focus is on Lyssa, a 34-year-old Londoner whose hunky boyfriend has just walked out after their fourth, most grueling attempt at IVF ended in failure. Aching to get away from hormone injections, her job at My Baby magazine, and the mounting fiascos of her life, Lyssa sets out on a monthlong sabbatical in the Himalayas, to her family's surprise. The change of pace and the attentions of an American tour guide gives her a new perspective on her life and her baby obsession, but when it comes time to pick up her old life again, will it seem like the right thing to do?

My Review

This was a majorly fluff book, and often my favorite type to read. With or Without You was, in a way, like Eat, Pray, Love but in my opinion better. I wasn't a huge fan of EPL, I found it pretty boring, and overly whiny.  This book had similar themes: leaving home, leaving what you are comfortable with to find yourself in a far off land. The main character was likable, believable and funny.  

This book is originally published in the UK, (some of my favorite chick lit books are written by Englishwomen). I don't know why I enjoy Brits novels so much, but of the 10+ or so that I have read by Brits, I am almost always happy with the choice to pick up those books. 

I found Matthews story-telling to be very entertaining and kept me turning the pages. One of the best things about books like this is usually you aren't surprised by any of the happenings. While I like books that keep me guessing until the end, I do like books that are predictable and cheesy, just like a romantic comedy movie.  Sometimes it is nice when books don't make you think too hard, but they are just pure entertainment.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Next Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer (ugh!)

Book Review: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Title: The Tenth Circle
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publication Date: October 2006
Page Count: 386
Genre: Fiction

From goodreads.com

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle is a metaphorical journey through Dante's Inferno, told through the eyes of a small Maine family whose hidden demons haunt every aspect of their seemingly peaceful existence. Woven throughout the novel are a series of dramatic illustrations that pay homage to the family's patriarch (comic book artist Daniel Stone), and add a unique twist to this gripping, yet somewhat rhetorical tale. 

Trixie Stone is an imaginative, perceptive 14 year old whose life begins to unravel when Jason Underhill, Bethel High's star hockey player, breaks up with her, leaving a void that can only be filled by the blood spilled during shameful self-mutilations in the girls' bathroom. While Trixie's dad Daniel notices his daughter's recent change in demeanor, he turns a blind eye, just as he does to the obvious affair his wife Laura, a college professor, is barely trying to conceal. When Trixie gets raped at a friend's party, Daniel and Laura are forced to deal not only with the consequences of their daughter's physical and emotional trauma, but with their own transgressions as well. For Daniel, that means reflecting on a childhood spent as the only white kid in a native Alaskan village, where isolation and loneliness turned him into a recluse, only to be born again after falling in love with his wife. Laura, who blames her family's unraveling on her selfish affair, must decide how to reconcile her personal desires with her loved ones' needs. 

The Tenth Circle is chock full of symbolism and allegory that at times can seem oppresive. Still, Picoult's fans will welcome this skillfully told story of betrayal and its many negative, and positive consequences.

My Review

My first finished book of 2011.  My first book by author Jodi Picoult. I wasn't terribly impressed with this book. It makes me curious to know why she is such an acclaimed author. If her other books are similar to this, I don't think I would be able to handle it over and over again. 

This book was 386 pages of way too much storyline.  She put way too many implausible plot twists throughout the pages, some of which felt like they were added simply for the shock and awe factor. The book centers around a family, the Stones, Daniel, Laura and their daughter Trixie. Trixie's character gets raped (or does she? it never really is clear?) She attempts suicide. She cuts herself. Laura (the mom) is having an affair with one of her grad students, who turns out to be the one who sells drugs to high school students (which is barely referred to, you really have to be paying attention). The dad, Daniel, is from an Eskimo village in Alaska, and has dealt with a pretty horrific tragedy that he ran away from. There is a story line of murder, of Eskimo culture, of comic book writing, of Dante's Inferno, and that just scratches the surface. 

Because there were all of these different aspects of the book, none were well-developed. If I had been Picoult, I would have probably made this into a series of books which could have really helped flesh out some of the story lines and given me more to hold onto (and probably made her more money, heh) The way she wrote this book, it made the end abrupt and uninspired. There were several lose ends that were tied so quickly (or not at all) that I was left with a bad taste. 

I may or may not attempt another Jodi Picoult book (I don't have any on my shelf at this moment), but I do know that I will most likely read reviews before I choose one. I also have heard that this book was made into a lifetime movie.... figures. :)

Overall rating: 6/10

Next Review: With or Without You by Carole Matthews

Book Review: I Love You Like A Tomato by Marie Giordano

I

Title: I Love You Like a Tomato
Author: Marie Giordano
Publication Date: July 2003
Page Count: 382
Genre: Fiction


From goodreads.com
ChiChi Maggiordino will do anything to get God's attention. She will hold her breath, stand on tiptoe for an hour, walk a mile backward, climb all stairs on her knees.... anything. When her grandmother teaches her how to use the Evil Eye, telling her it's how Jesus Christ made his miracles and how the Italians got rid of Mussolini, ChiChi realizes it's what her prayers have been missing. Now she can get started on the business of making her mother happier by helping her find love, and healing her brother's weak lungs. But ChiChi's family lives in Minneapolis, and it's the 1950s. For an Italian immigrant family, sometimes it seems like nothing can make life easier. ChiChi's mother still pines for her husband, a long-dead American soldier; ChiChi's brother is disdainful of her sacrifices and penance--he doesn't understand what his older sister already knows, that sometimes God needs to be bribed. When her grandmother passes away, ChiChi steps up her search for meaning and happiness, but it seems to be fruitless. And she struggles, the way so many women do, because her love for her family is suffocating, even while it fulfills her. It's not until she meets two Italian dwarves, and they teach her of the ancient clown tradition, the commedia dell'arte, that she comes to understand that in order to make everyone else happy, she herself must be happy. But first she must find her own way in the world.... and learn to accept that not even the power of the Evil Eye can keep people from changing.

I should start by saying that this book took me entirely too long to finish.  I was working on another project that took my attention away from reading, which is really too bad, but there are only so many hours in the day...

This book was disjointed anyway, and it probably wasn't the best one for me to start and stop. I was confused by the characters and their actions in certain situations... The narrator (ChiChi) was incredibly unreliable, and it required me to read between the lines quite a bit.  Because the story started out with her so young, I was left with her point of view and her understanding of the happenings around her.  Her mom was not always great woman, but in the eye's of a very young daughter, we weren't presented with that outright. We had to connect the dots to realize that her mom may not have been as upstanding as ChiChi thought. This is a difficult way to read a book and it is the hardest part of books written in first person.

While I didn't dislike this book, I wasn't blown away enough for a recommendation.  It is also hard to know because it took me so long to read the book that that was why I wasn't moved by the book, or because the book itself just didn't show itself. ChiChi's character is likable enough, she is silly and funny and entertaining. On the other hand, she is sad and desperate and confused. Overall, I would say that this book, had I read it more quickly, I would have probably enjoyed it more, but I doubt it would have ever been a 10 out of 10.

Overall Rating: 
6/10

Next Review: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Book Review: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Title: New Moon
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Publication Date: May 2008
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Page Count: 563
Genre: Romance/Young Adult/Sci-Fi (?)

From goodreads.com

Legions of readers entranced by Twilight are hungry for more and they won't be disappointed. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The "star-crossed" lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

What an unfortunate book.  I read this with a pretty open mind... (it wasn't completely open, because I had seen the movie and didn't care too much for it, but I thought I would give the book a try because books are almost always better than the movies). I wanted to know what the hype was about, I wanted to see if I was going to buy into it. To make a long story short, I didn't.

  

All I can say is why?  Why are these books so popular? This book is poorly written, clunky and the plot and the characters aren't well developed.  I can get behind stories written in first person, in fact some of my favorite books are written that way, however, when you are writing from the viewpoint of a 17-18 year old girl, you shouldn't write as if you are 40.  It is not believable.  I think Meyers over-used her thesaurus in most cases.

New Moon is the second in the series of 4 (why, God, Why?!) I have mentioned in another review that I felt silly talking about parts of books to people who aren't currently reading it... what makes me sad is that enough people have read these books that they know what I was talking about when I talked to them.  Really.... there are a million books that are better than this.... I also don't really understand why other authors are trying to be like Meyers.  If you go into a book store and happen into the young adult section (one of my favorites) you will find books and books that are about vampires.... SERIOUSLY! Why would anyone want to be associated with these books? The only thing redeeming is that it is getting people to read, which I am all for... I just want to set up camp at the bookstore and tell people of the better books they could read.... this isn't one of them.

Anyway... I could go on, but I wasted enough time reading the novel.  It is probably obvious, but I won't be reading the second two in the series unless suddenly they are the last books on the face of the earth, and even then, I might say no. I would be curious to hear your take on them? If you like them, why? If not, why? I am so perplexed.

Overall Rating: 2/10

Read this if you want, its good food for thought... 100 Reasons Why Twilight Sucks
  (my favorite reason #81- Threatening/attempting suicide does not true love make.)

Happy reading everyone!

 

Book Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Jane Eyre 
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Orginal Publication Date: 1847
Publisher: Pocket
Page Count: 545 pages
Genre: Classic Fiction

From Goodreads.com:

Charlotte Bronte's impassioned novel is the love story of Jane Eyre, a plain yet spirited governess, and her arrogant, brooding Mr. Rochester. Published in 1847, under the pseudonym of Currer Bell, the book heralded a new kind of heroine one whose virtuous integrity, keen intellect and tireless perseverance broke through class barriers to win equal stature with the man she loved. Hailed by William Makepeace Thackeray as "the masterwork of great genius," Jane Eyre is still regarded, over a century later, as one of the finest novels in English literature.

My Review:

I have read this book before, and remember enjoying it.  However, when I picked it up to read it this time, I was struck by a different story than I remembered.  I enjoyed it as much as I remember enjoying it, but it is funny that the story seemed so different to me.  (I may have read it in high school, and was just reading it to get by and not reading it fully for content, who knows?!) 

I find it interesting that a lot of "classic literature" are stories about orphans.  I don't relate to being an orphan, but I find myself drawn to stories that are centered around orphans. The sense of adventure excites me, their can-do, in spite of everything attitude inspires me, their often unconditional love of those who don't like them is humbling.  I think of  Harry Potter, Anne Shirley, Mary Lennox, Tom Sawyer, Cinderella... to name a few. Who do you think of?  Why is this is such a common theme? Do we as humans have that much of a desire to see the so-called 'underdog' prevail, rise up and succeed? (I am sure that many an English thesis has been written about such topic, and funny enough, a book I read about another orphan, often compared herself to the many orphans in literature, so much so that she created a similar list to mine.  I don't claim to be uncovering the big secret to the world of fiction, just an observation...  I digress.)

Jane Eyre is a well-told story of love, loss and life.  It is a bit denser than some other books I have chosen to read, but I honestly felt that this book was well worth the time it took me to read it.  I will probably read it again in my lifetime (even though there are millions upon millions of books I would like to read) because I feel that this is the type of book that depending on where you are in your life when you read it, you may find something new or connect with the character in a way you hadn't before (which I have experienced first hand in my second reading of it).

Bronte's novel has stood up against the test of time for me, and for many others, I presume and will remain a classic for years and years to come.

Overall rating:

9/10

Next Review: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Book Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Uglies (first in a series of 4)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publication Date: February 2005
Publisher: Scholastic
Page Count: 425 pages
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction

From Goodreads.com
Playing on every teen's passionate desire to look as good as everybody else, Scott Westerfeld (Midnighters) projects a future world in which a compulsory operation at sixteen wipes out physical differences and makes everyone pretty by conforming to an ideal standard of beauty. The "New Pretties" are then free to play and party, while the younger "Uglies" look on enviously and spend the time before their own transformations in plotting mischievous tricks against their elders. Tally Youngblood is one of the most daring of the Uglies, and her imaginative tricks have gotten her in trouble with the menacing department of Special Circumstances. She has yearned to be pretty, but since her best friend Shay ran away to the rumored rebel settlement of recalcitrant Uglies called The Smoke, Tally has been troubled. The authorities give her an impossible choice: either she follows Shay's cryptic directions to The Smoke with the purpose of betraying the rebels, or she will never be allowed to become pretty. Hoping to rescue Shay, Tally sets off on the dangerous journey as a spy. But after finally reaching The Smoke she has a change of heart when her new lover David reveals to her the sinister secret behind becoming pretty. The fast-moving story is enlivened by many action sequences in the style of videogames, using intriguing inventions like hoverboards that use the rider's skateboard skills to skim through the air, and bungee jackets that make wild downward plunges survivable -- and fun. Behind all the commotion is the disturbing vision of our own society -- the Rusties -- visible only in rusting ruins after a virus destroyed all petroleum. Teens will be entranced, and the cliffhanger ending will leave them gasping for the sequel.

My Review:
I read this book with an open mind. I had a vague idea what it was about. I would never have purchased this book on my own. I got it as a Christmas gift from my sister. She said, "this seems like the kind of book you like to read." She was right in some cases, and wrong in others. This book was similar to what I enjoy to read by way of the characters, but it was also radically different by way of the subject matter. I am not a science fiction reader by any means. I have read a few in my day, Ender's Game being the one that I liked the most. (I recommend this to anyone, science fiction reader or not) The science fiction of Uglies was not difficult to understand and I was able to follow what was happening without getting caught up in what certain terms mean (which can happen very easily in science fiction).

My overall impression of this book was good. I enjoyed the characters and found myself rooting for them in the end. I liked the main character, Tally, even though I thought I wouldn't at first. In the beginning she seemed vain and desperate. I changed my mind about her when I started to see her growing up and coming into her own outside of the confines of Uglyville (yes, where they live when they are Uglies.)

A couple of times, while I was reading the book, people would ask me what it was about. In explaining to them, I felt very silly. Talking about a land of 'Littlies,' 'Uglies,' 'Pretties,' 'Specials,' 'Middle-Pretties,' 'Rusties,' and 'Crumblies,' made me sound like a crazy person. But when reading the book, I knew the culture, so it didn't seem as silly to me since I was reading about them. (Note: I fully realized how silly I sounded, when people looked at me funny mid-explanation).

I don't think it is a coincidence that Westerfeld chose to create a world where you were classified as an Ugly when you were ages 12-16. This is a time when most everyone in our world feels this way at some time or another.

I also found it interesting that this world was evolved from the world we live in now. To this new world we are the 'Rusties,' we use too much metal, we rely too heavily on oil. We fight; we dissent. In the land of the Pretties, these issues don't seem to arise. They have found new ways to produce and to build, there is no war, no dissent, everyone is compliant.

Becoming "Pretty" was made into a rite of passage. When you turned 16, your birthday was spent under anesthesiology, making you a Pretty. Without giving away too much, when Tally discovers a secret about becoming a Pretty, there is definitely more reasons that the 'government' wants them to do this. I think that the 'Pretty' piece was/is all just a reason to get people to submit to the procedure. Food for thought.

If any of this review has intrigued you, I would suggest picking up the book. It is a quick read, not a major endeavor at all.

I look forward to reading the other books in this series as soon as I can get my hands on some copies.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Book Review: Hot and Bothered by Annie Downey

                                     From Goodreads.com

She’s offbeat, off balance, and at times off-the-wall, a late-thirties mother of two living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and trying to figure out who she is now that her husband has left her. He’s a rat, anyway, and currently attends Sex Addicts Anonymous. He still comes by the house, though, as do her hippie, macrobiotic mother; her feisty, alcoholic best friend; her God-fearing grandmother; and that Perfect Guy, the one with the beatific son who plays with her daughter, the one who happens to have a winning smile, wild black hair, a professorship at Harvard—and (drats!) a gorgeous doctor girlfriend.

Told in short takes that perfectly mimic the frantic nature of our busy lives, Hot and Bothered follows its heroine through the streets of Cambridge, where she spends far too much time staring into space and sipping mocha lattes with extra whipped cream; to church, where she prays for a little salvation; to Alaska, where she believes a rugged outdoorsman might just be that salvation; and to Cape Cod, where, in a little house by the sea, she might finally see the light. Annie Downey has written an updated Cinderella story for all single moms. 

I picked this book up at the local "Friends of the Library" book sale last April.  Not sure what to expect, it has taken me a long time to decide to read it.  I finally picked it up to read because I am trying to read my older books first and was surprised by the story.

I found myself intrigued by the main character (we don't learn her name until the last line of the book.) Through most of the book she is unstable but I was able to connect with her. Does that mean that I am unstable? I have questioned the things that she questions. I have felt insecure as she feels insecure. I have felt happy as she feels happy.  Granted, there are times when she is a little more wacky than I am, but this character is believably written and I grew to love her. Having read some other reviews of this book, I notice that other readers too have the connection with the main character even if their life did not parallel hers. That is a major accomplishment by the author as far as I am concerned. To be able to connect with your reader even if their lives are not similar speaks volumes for the writing style and the story.

I enjoyed this book very much. It is a fast read and it keeps you turning to the page as the story develops quickly. I can't say a lot about the plot without giving away too much. While my life was not changed in reading this book, I would recommend this book to anyone as I am sure you could get something out of it that you were not expecting.