Kelsey's review

The Opposite of Love
by Julie Buxbaum (Goodreads author!)

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1848666.The_Opposite_of_Love?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Opposite of Love" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1206373026m/1848666.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1848666.The_Opposite_of_Love?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Opposite of Love</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/843820.Julie_Buxbaum">Julie Buxbaum</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9859153?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 2 of 5 stars Just finished reading this first novel and really wasn't that crazy about it. It's the story of a 29 year-old lawyer, Emily, struggling to find herself (fix her relationship, her job, her family).
 
 Best part of the book: First line of chapter 1: "Last night, I dreamt that I chopped Andrew up into a hundred little pieces, like a Benihana chef, and ate them, one by one." Also, I liked the cold relationship she has with her father.
 
 Worst parts of the book: The extensive use of cliches throughout the novel -- Emily's stuggle throughout the book to say "I love you;" Emily suddenly breaking up the relationship with her fiance for no apparent reason; the older, quirky Grandpa character; the one dimensional "evil" law firm she works for that represents chemical dumpers; the cute-as-all friends including a gorgeous southern guy at her law firm--these characters and plot lines feel so well-worn. Mostly movies come to mind (In Her Shoes, Because I Said So, Erin Brokovich). Books - maybe And now you can go. I read In the Drink by Kate Christensen a long time ago and really liked that book. It had an edge to it. A new take on white women stuggling in Manhattan...
 
 I thought maybe I'd get an insiders look at a big corporate law firm with this book but not a lot of attention is given to this. So I guess I just felt that the writing style, plot, characters, tone, voice -- were all so average and imitations of chick lit books we've seen before.
 
 This book reportedly received a huge advance somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million dollars so I guess that means two things: the publisher will be pushing the hell out of this book and they believe that there is a market for this book. For people who want light fare chick lit I suppose they'll like this book. 
 
 Also, I read somewhere that the author spent four months writing this book. Um, is that something you want to go around advertising? I'm not saying everyone should spend 10 years writing their first novel, but really, how can you write anything thoughtful and insightful and good in four months?
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/306391?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Kelsey's review
rating:

Just finished reading this first novel and really wasn't that crazy about it. It's the story of a 29 year-old lawyer, Emily, struggling to find herself (fix her relationship, her job, her family).

Best part of the book: First line of chapter 1: "Last night, I dreamt that I chopped Andrew up into a hundred little pieces, like a Benihana chef, and ate them, one by one." Also, I liked the cold relationship she has with her father.

Worst parts of the book: The extensive use of cliches throughout the novel -- Emily's stuggle throughout the book to say "I love you;" Emily suddenly breaking up the relationship with her fiance for no apparent reason; the older, quirky Grandpa character; the one dimensional "evil" law firm she works for that represents chemical dumpers; the cute-as-all friends including a gorgeous southern guy at her law firm--these characters and plot lines feel so well-worn. Mostly movies come to mind (In Her Shoes, Because I Said So, Erin ...more Just finished reading this first novel and really wasn't that crazy about it. It's the story of a 29 year-old lawyer, Emily, struggling to find herself (fix her relationship, her job, her family).

Best part of the book: First line of chapter 1: "Last night, I dreamt that I chopped Andrew up into a hundred little pieces, like a Benihana chef, and ate them, one by one." Also, I liked the cold relationship she has with her father.

Worst parts of the book: The extensive use of cliches throughout the novel -- Emily's stuggle throughout the book to say "I love you;" Emily suddenly breaking up the relationship with her fiance for no apparent reason; the older, quirky Grandpa character; the one dimensional "evil" law firm she works for that represents chemical dumpers; the cute-as-all friends including a gorgeous southern guy at her law firm--these characters and plot lines feel so well-worn. Mostly movies come to mind (In Her Shoes, Because I Said So, Erin Brokovich). Books - maybe And now you can go. I read In the Drink by Kate Christensen a long time ago and really liked that book. It had an edge to it. A new take on white women stuggling in Manhattan...

I thought maybe I'd get an insiders look at a big corporate law firm with this book but not a lot of attention is given to this. So I guess I just felt that the writing style, plot, characters, tone, voice -- were all so average and imitations of chick lit books we've seen before.

This book reportedly received a huge advance somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million dollars so I guess that means two things: the publisher will be pushing the hell out of this book and they believe that there is a market for this book. For people who want light fare chick lit I suppose they'll like this book.

Also, I read somewhere that the author spent four months writing this book. Um, is that something you want to go around advertising? I'm not saying everyone should spend 10 years writing their first novel, but really, how can you write anything thoughtful and insightful and good in four months?...less

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