Entertaining and fun. This is only the second Jennifer Weiner book that I have read, but I can already say that Weiner's strong point is creating main characters that are easy to relate to -- I imagine most of her readers feel like they could be Kate Klein in Goodnight Nobody or Rose Feller in In Her Shoes. I could certainly relate to Kate's sense of inadequacy in her environment and her feeling of being so out of place in perfectly-staged Upchurch, Connecticut, having lived a large part of my own life in a town very much like the fictional Upchurch (and also mentioned in the book). I also completely identify with Kate's love of New York and her longing to return. Other characters veer the tiniest bit toward over-the-top, but they're written with a gentle enough touch that we accept them willingly (Kate's best friend Janie being a happy case-in-point).

In a departure from her other books, Weiner throws a curve into this story, in the form of a genuine murder mystery that begins with Kate actually discovering the body of one of the circle of wealthy suburban mothers in her neighborhood. Weiner handles the mystery plot extremely well -- she manages to weave it in a surprisingly seamless way throughout an otherwise comic, lighthearted story, without turning it into something farcical. I was especially pleased with how she handled the aftermath, how the fallout affects various family members and other key characters. Granted, it's light fiction and we're well prepared to accept a fantasy of reality, but it's nice to see a fictional story reflect (in an appropriately soft-touch way) the real trauma that would be experienced by people who faced such events in real life.

My main dissatisfaction with the book is that it left a central question unresolved. On one level, I suppose I can accept that, as the resolution of that mystery might well require a whole other book. And, if it wasn't going to be resolved, I do think that Weiner handled it the right way. Still, it did leave me wishing for more, and if I had my way, we'd be able to follow the story into the next chapter.