**spoiler alert** You know, I read this book about five years ago and I loved it. Flat-out loved it. The book was recently handed back to me by a frie...more**spoiler alert** You know, I read this book about five years ago and I loved it. Flat-out loved it. The book was recently handed back to me by a friend (we trade bags of books as we finish; it beats having to go to the library or spending heaps on buying something new) and I thought hey, I'll reread this! I'll see if it's as awesome as I remember!
This was my reaction as I finished the book up today: lol.
I mean, I'm all for size-acceptance in fiction. I'm not what anyone would call Kate Hudson skinny and I would rather have a finger removed than give up my lifelong love for cheeseburgers. Therefore, size-acceptance in fiction is awesome because it tends to make you feel positive about the things you believe to be your 'flaws'. Let me make this really clear, though: this book is not a book about size-acceptance.
Jemima J is about a woman named, duh, Jemima J. She lives in London and she likes chocolate. She describes herself as overweight. She's unhappy about it. She's also in love with a hotter-than-god-and-the-sun office dreamboat who pays virtually no attention to her. One e-boyfriend later, Jemima is well on her way to Kate Hudson proportions much to the chagrin of her evil roommates (seriously - who the hell would live with bitches like that?) in preparation of a trip to LA.
Lo and behold, LA boyfriend is not all he's cracked up to be! He closets his love for larger ladies and cheats on his present buxom beauty with a newly-thin Jemima. This is not the first time you will say WTF, mate.
Naturally, things end with office crush encountering Jemima and only seeing her for who she is after she shrinks down to a size zero.
If this doesn't all put you off, please be informed that in one hilariously insulting scene, a coworker takes a picture of Jemima to an in-office photoshop guru to have her face planted on that of a thin woman. Yeah, it went there.
The only thing that keeps this book from blowing like a blowing thing is, perhaps, Jane Green's writing. That is if you can get past her bizarre writing - Green inexplicably shifts into narration in the middle of Jemima's headvoice. I don't get it, either. But guess who's going to have twinkies for dinner?(less)
**spoiler alert** Finally, I finished my first Sarah Addison Allen. Actually, I finished it days ago and have been much too lazy to write a review, bu...more**spoiler alert** Finally, I finished my first Sarah Addison Allen. Actually, I finished it days ago and have been much too lazy to write a review, but that's neither here nor there.
I picked up The Sugar Queen first because the plot of it appealed to me more than that of Garden Spells. I feel as though it's obligatory for me to read any novel that I can that's based in my home state of North Carolina (except for Nicholas Sparks - no one likes you, Nicholas Sparks), so I was tickled to learn that Allen writes most of her fiction based in this state.
What can I say? The Sugar Queen is about a girl named Josey. She is quintessentially a shut-in, seeming to exist only to do the domestic chores that her mother bids her to do. It speaks loudly of some whispers I've heard in the south - about how this state and presumably other states in the south used to be. Some people here believe that it's a biological imperative for women to marry early to an agreeable man and pop out as many children physiologically possible. Josey, sadly, is an example of what happens to the ugly ducklings; she is raised to believe she is imperfect by an insecure, unhappy mother and thereby shelters herself in her home, with the safety of hidden sweets in her closet.
It is the sweets that Josey is walking into her closet for the morning she discovers a new resident taking up space among the hanging clothes - Della Lee, a woman that is notorious in town. Della Lee becomes an instigator for Josey, ultimately becoming the impetus for her healing herself. Della Lee is responsible for Josey meeting up with a new friend, Chloe - an only friend, really.
This is a book about love and women and healing. There is a love story and it's charming without going overboard. The writing is simplistic, but superb. It's sweet without being cloying which - when taking into account the fact that each chapter is named after a sweet that somehow foreshadowed the content therein - is something that I almost anticipate.(less)
Katie Ellison is a moron. And that's the nicest thing that I can say about the so-called 'heroine' of this steaming load of crap.
The story is based ar...moreKatie Ellison is a moron. And that's the nicest thing that I can say about the so-called 'heroine' of this steaming load of crap.
The story is based around the lies and life of one girl that I can find no redeeming qualities in, even after her transition into truth-telling after living a life weaving stories for her own nefarious purposes. The entirety of the book reads like a thirteen year old girl's diary, evoking the me, me, me mindset of a spoiled brat for whom enough is never enough. Additionally, Katie is surrounded by a hive of like-minded, vapid friends who on more than one occasion justify her bad behavior and facilitate their own.
The resolution isn't much better. In true fashion of a person who truly believes that the world revolves around them, Katie comes out as a liar publicly, causing the ruin of a community event because she's too selfish to make peace with the people she's hurt privately, thus nullifying this bullshit martyr act of hers.
The love story. What can I say about the love story? Which love story are we talking about? In addition to being a liar, Katie is also a cheater. She cheats on the boyfriend that she lied to get, she cheats on the boyfriend that she's cheating on boyfriend number one with, which makes her transformation into a seemingly monogamous being for this new-old guy in her life totally unbelievable, essentially ruining any possible reason for anyone wanting to read this book.
If Meg Cabot had killed off every character in this book in a massive bus accident, I might have given it more than one star. Thanks, Meg, for teaching young girls that you can lie, cheat, and manipulate people and you can still have a perfect, happy ending.(less)
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