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The Brenda Diaries

by Margo Candela (Goodreads Author)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 33 ratings · 13 reviews

Meet Brenda. A temp with a bad attitude, but an excellent work ethic.

Working assignments all around Los Angeles, Brenda was the official purse holder for a high powered event planner, has had an employer ask about her ovulation cycle, worked as a kiosk gypsy at an upscale mall and suffered as the reluctant muse for a frustrated architect who'd rather write screenplays on...more

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Published October 3rd 2011 by SugarMissile, LLC (first published October 2nd 2011)

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Dec 18, 2012 Livin' la Vida Latina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reviewed by: Sandra L.

Review: Meet Brenda, a temp office assistant living from paycheck to paycheck, reflecting on how much work sucks. In her diary, we get to know all the day-to-day aspects of her world.

I liked Brenda a lot. She’s a savvy, intelligent woman with strong work ethics, but she doesn’t have life quite figured out. Who does, right? Still, the girl struck me as someone with a good head on her shoulders. At times, I suspected that Brenda suffered from a low self-esteem. Why else would...more Reviewed by: Sandra L.

Review: Meet Brenda, a temp office assistant living from paycheck to paycheck, reflecting on how much work sucks. In her diary, we get to know all the day-to-day aspects of her world.

I liked Brenda a lot. She’s a savvy, intelligent woman with strong work ethics, but she doesn’t have life quite figured out. Who does, right? Still, the girl struck me as someone with a good head on her shoulders. At times, I suspected that Brenda suffered from a low self-esteem. Why else would she work at jobs with no possibility of advancement? Why else would she “date” a guy and not really care for him? It all seems like a waste of time to me. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed her no-BS views on life, I just wished Brenda would’ve spent a little more time trying to figure out ways to make herself happy. I honestly don’t get why smart girls don’t give themselves the respect they deserve. But I must say that even though I didn’t always agree with Brenda’s choices, like taking in her promiscuous friend as a roommate, she was still a flawed character that most people could relate to. I definitely saw parts of me in Brenda. I don’t like getting “chummy” with co-workers (or anyone else, for that matter) either, and the whole clingy, touchy-feely boyfriend is also a huge turn-off for me, too.

As stated by the title, this book consisted of nothing but diary entries, all of which summarize the quick highlights of Brenda’s day. At times, I found my energies depleted by the mundane aspects of her daily activities; however, I managed to be revitalized by Candela’s smart and witty commentaries. Fortunately, most of the entries were kept short and to the point. Sometimes you’ll even find yourself laughing at some of them.

Overall, this book was a colorful rendition of humorous anecdotes about work and life; it really didn’t have a story—well, not much anyways. This was more of a depiction of Brenda’s observations instead of her life, which was nothing more than job-hopping. However, at one point, I wondered if there could be more to the character than I originally credited when the temp recruiter said to her, “Maybe it’s time you started working toward something.” (pg. 100) I was impressed when, at the end, Brenda finally embarked on her first step to being a “grown up,” even though it was shrouded in mystery.

I actually look forward to what becomes of Brenda in this series.(less)

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Oct 06, 2011 Colleen rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: older teens, adults

I knew that I would enjoy The Brenda Diaries from the first entry that I read. Margo has created a character so real that you swear you just went to lunch with her. I really loved all of the tangible qualities of Brenda. Not to mention her take no bull attitude and tell it like it is snark. As you read The Brenda Diaries, you will feel like you are breaking all of the rules of social etiquette by breaking into her diary. Now, one would think you would feel a little bad, but don't worry, you won'...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Yulande Lindsay rated it 1 of 5 stars

What an utterly colossal waste of time. No likeable characters, little character growth, no plot, no payoff ultimately. AND THEN the author writes this in diary form and the procedes to retell the story in TWITTER format. I can only surmise that she wants to contrast the narrators' two selves, with the diary self being the true self and TWITTER self being the public, snarky one. DID NOT WORK. MERELY ANNOYING and...this cannot be emphasised too much...A COLOSSAL WASTE OF THE READERS' TIME!!!! Als...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Clementine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction

Brenda is a professional temp with a terrible attitude. She works random assignments in Los Angeles. While she remains fairly stoic in each work environment, her diary entries reflect her true feelings: about her zany employers, and about her sort-of boyfriend, Jared, and her sort-of roommate, Maya. As Brenda navigates the post-college world of uncertainty, readers are privy to her insights about what it is to be smarter than the work you’re being paid for–and how to survive it.

I first discovere...more Brenda is a professional temp with a terrible attitude. She works random assignments in Los Angeles. While she remains fairly stoic in each work environment, her diary entries reflect her true feelings: about her zany employers, and about her sort-of boyfriend, Jared, and her sort-of roommate, Maya. As Brenda navigates the post-college world of uncertainty, readers are privy to her insights about what it is to be smarter than the work you’re being paid for–and how to survive it.

I first discovered Margo Candela’s Brenda on Twitter, where she would post some of her character’s observations. I had the chance to get the book for free recently on Amazon.com, and I decided to take a chance on what I thought was an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the idea behind The Brenda Diaries is much stronger than the execution.

Candela is an adequate writer, and she’s at her strongest when she lets Margo go about her daily observations. Brenda’s voice is authentic to that of a disaffected young twenty-something. Her voice is consistent throughout the relatively short novel (almost more of a novella, if we want to split hairs). She is well-developed, but the rest of the characters who populate her world are not, which is disappointing.

Part of this is due to the structure of the book, which takes place entirely in Brenda’s diary (except for the odd choice to add a backlog of tweets at the end). Because we view these characters through Brenda’s eyes, we are only privy to what she writes about. She doesn’t like to get close to people, so the reader doesn’t get to, either. It’s a shame, because there was potential to flesh out the characters, especially in the case of her boyfriend and roommate.

Despite being frequently funny and even quite astute in her observations about life as a temp and a fairly attractive female, Brenda’s story never quite gets off the ground. This is a novel short on plot in the worst way: readers will keep waiting for the rising action or any sort of real conflict, and they will be disappointed. There just isn’t much of one to speak of. The entire thing feels underdeveloped, which is a shame, because Brenda has a great deal of potential as an unlikely heroine.

It might work for readers looking for light, quick reads. The Brenda Diaries is available as an ebook and can be purchased at your preferred ebook vendor.

The Brenda Diaries by Margo Candela. SugarMissile: 2011. Purchased copy.(less)

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Sep 12, 2012 Samantha Robey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of The Brenda Diaries in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:
Meet Brenda…A temp with a bad attitude, but an excellent work ethic.

Working assignments all around Los Angeles, Brenda was the official purse holder for a high powered event planner, has had an employer ask about her ovulation cycle, worked as a kiosk gypsy at an upscale mall and suffered as the reluctant muse for a frustrated architect who'd rather write screenplays on company time.

Off the clock, Brenda's boyfrien...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Sandra Lopez rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review: Meet Brenda, a temp office assistant living from paycheck to paycheck, reflecting on how much work sucks. In her diary, we get to know all the day-to-day aspects of her world.

I liked Brenda a lot. She's a savvy, intelligent woman with strong work ethics, but she doesn't have life quite figured out. Who does, right? Still, the girl struck me as someone with a good head on her shoulders. At times, I suspected that Brenda suffered from a low self-esteem. Why else would she work at jobs with...more Review: Meet Brenda, a temp office assistant living from paycheck to paycheck, reflecting on how much work sucks. In her diary, we get to know all the day-to-day aspects of her world.

I liked Brenda a lot. She's a savvy, intelligent woman with strong work ethics, but she doesn't have life quite figured out. Who does, right? Still, the girl struck me as someone with a good head on her shoulders. At times, I suspected that Brenda suffered from a low self-esteem. Why else would she work at jobs with no possibility of advancement? Why else would she "date" a guy and not really care for him? It all seems like a waste of time to me. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed her no-BS views on life, I just wished Brenda would've spent a little more time trying to figure out ways to make herself happy. I honestly don't get why smart girls don't give themselves the respect they deserve. But I must say that even though I didn't always agree with Brenda's choices, like taking in her promiscuous friend as a roommate, she was still a flawed character that most people could relate to. I definitely saw parts of me in Brenda. I don't like getting "chummy" with co-workers (or anyone else, for that matter) either, and the whole clingy, touchy-feely boyfriend is also a huge turn-off for me, too.

As stated by the title, this book consisted of nothing but diary entries, all of which summarize the quick highlights of Brenda's day. At times, I found my energies depleted by the mundane aspects of her daily activities; however, I managed to be revitalized by Candela's smart and witty commentaries. Fortunately, most of the entries were kept short and to the point. Sometimes you'll even find yourself laughing at some of them.

Overall, this book was a colorful rendition of humorous anecdotes about work and life; it really didn't have a story--well, not much anyways. This was more of a depiction of Brenda's observations instead of her life, which was nothing more than job-hopping. However, at one point, I wondered if there could be more to the character than I originally credited when the temp recruiter said to her, "Maybe it's time you started working toward something." (pg. 100) I was impressed when, at the end, Brenda finally embarked on her first step to being a "grown up," even though it was shrouded in mystery.

I actually look forward to what becomes of Brenda in this series.

[This review was originally posted on Livin' la vida Latina](less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Lisanne rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

I didn't like this book at all. It only has 106 pages, so I though this would be a fast read. Well it certainly was not. First of all I didn't like the main character, Brenda, at all. Second, I felt like there was o story in the book. It's called the Brenda Diaries, and that's what is is, a diary. To me it felt like it was just a book with some random notes out of a diary. I wouldn't recommend this book.

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Mar 18, 2012 Ally rated it 4 of 5 stars

Total fun, but way more than that. Transported back in time to those carefree years that didn't feel carefree at the time, and Brends makes me remember why.
I enjoyed the format as well, was expected all diary entries but pleasantly surprised by the "twist" on the storytelling. I thought it was fresh adn would defininetly recommend!

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Oct 14, 2011 mdt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

A funny, sarcastic and totally believable novel in diary form about a temp trying to figure out her work life and her love life at the same time. The twitter feed (@BrendaDiaries) is hilarious, too, and well worth following. I can’t wait to read the next installment in Brenda’s messy life.

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Sep 05, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fun, quirky read. Would love to know what's next for Brenda.

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Apr 03, 2012 Maisie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, fiction, on-kindle, 2012

This was a fun read, my only complaint is that it ended too soon. I wanted to know what happened next. Brenda was an interesting character, and I could relate to having Maya's in your life.

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Aug 20, 2012 Valerie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story really doesn't have much of a plot, but I really enjoyed Brenda. I think we could be friends.

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Dec 26, 2011 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

http://chicklitcentraltheblog.blogspo...

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Apr 12, 2013 Chanpreet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 06, 2013 Klaudyna Z. marked it as to-read

Mar 02, 2013 Stephanie (StephTheBookworm) marked it as to-read

Shelves: kindle

Feb 27, 2013 Camille Breckenridge marked it as to-read

Feb 22, 2013 Kat marked it as to-read

Feb 07, 2013 Sreevidhya marked it as to-read

Feb 05, 2013 Roy Huff marked it as to-read

Feb 02, 2013 Jenny Alkire marked it as to-read

Jan 28, 2013 Donna Allen added it · review of another edition

Jan 20, 2013 Kirstin marked it as to-read

Jan 16, 2013 Darcy added it

Shelves: wishlist

Dec 31, 2012 Jean marked it as to-read

Shelves: fiction

Jan 20, 2013 Helen Crow marked it as general-to-read

Shelves: ebook

Dec 25, 2012 Xenia Okalibe marked it as to-read

Nov 03, 2012 Rita marked it as own-already-but-not-read · review of another edition

Oct 30, 2012 Nadia Tovar marked it as to-read

Oct 26, 2012 Chris marked it as to-read

Shelves: calibre

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About Margo Candela

Margo Candela is the author of five novels, The Brenda Diaries (SugarMissile, Oct. '11), Good-bye To All That (Touchstone, July '10), More Than This (Touchstone, Aug '08), Life Over Easy (Kensington, Oct '07), Underneath It All (Kensington, Jan '07) and the short story and essay collection, Life Observed (SugarMissile, June '11) and SweetSpots contemporary romance novellas and novelettes written e...more

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