Reviews

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

andotherworlds's review

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3.0

3 // This book was overall enjoyable! For some reason (likely my tendency to being rather dumb), I didn’t realize this was a Pride and Prejudice retelling until halfway through. However, the actual retelling starts to really work it’s way in towards the latter half anyways so I luckily didn’t miss any of those connections. That being said, at times this book was a bit repetitive and simply “meh”. The latter half was by far my favorite because everything became more fast paced and a bit less redundant. Honestly, I found Pride and Prejudice to be faster paced than this was so take that as you will. Nonetheless, this was quite the fun read and I would recommend it.

amanda1793's review against another edition

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3.0

This was cute. I enjoyed a lot of the book but thought there were things that could use some improvement. I didn't see the need to have such a focus on weight, being a huge fan of the movie (where weight is mentioned but not a focal point) kind of bothered me.

I do prefer the movie for some aspects but the book for others. The book was quite funny, I'm sure people must think I'm crazy in the cars next to me due to the constant laughter. And I'd recommend for that reason.

tegidemrys's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

katiebhastings's review

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funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

keira_r's review

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funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

jtheberge's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.25

justjacq's review

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challenging funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Womp womp. This stirred up soooo many feelings, and it was a little painful to get through. I truly had to start skipping the openings to her "diary entries," because it was ridiculously exhausting to hear her list her weight, alcohol intake, caloric intake, etc - and to rate each of them good or bad. Yikes. This movie was always a little bit of a guilty pleasure for me, and now, I'm not even sure if I'd enjoy it at all (besides 90's Colin Firth, obviously). In a sense, I get the hype - it was really witty, had good humor, and some good friends in it, but the bottom line is Bridget is pretty awful. And the saddest part is that this was sooo "relatable" when it came out - it still rings too true. Too many girls knew exactly what it felt like to be ruled by diet culture, questioned about their love life, reminded constantly about their "biological clocks," and bombarded by the media pushing tall, skinny women as the ideal attractive mate. Maybe our culture has changed a little bit, but not much, and there is so much room to improve the way we treat women and how we encourage them to look at and treat their bodies. A little part of me liked the nostalgia this had, whether good or bad, and I did still chuckle out loud at multiple points. I really wished there had been more time with Mark Darcy. It felt like the book really dragged out the Daniel Cleaver phase.

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

did not enjoy this very much. bridget was insufferable, spent the entire book complaining about being 9 STONE. do not read this is you have an eating disorder. there were the occasional bits that made me laugh, the person who recorded the audio was very good but the only good characters were tom and mark. i did enjoy though that hugh grant was mentioned and colin firth as me darcy in pride and prejudice was mentioned and they ended up playing the love interests in the film. also some of the plot was very boring
like the whole crime julio plot was a snoozefest

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namzuru's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

i really enjoyed reading this book, i had seen the movie first and didnt know there was a book till i found it in a little free library. 

since i saw the movie first i will compare it to it. Bridget in the book and movie are very similar despite the stories they go through mostly being different. i found that things that happened in the book were rearranged differently for the movie. also the plot line of julio and her mom being criminals was a very unexpected touch of the book. Since i know its based on pride and prejudice, i kinda like that her mom was set up to be like kitty from p&p. and oh my god did i hate her mom. Everytime she would be brought up it was just her gaslighting bridget and i couldnt handle it. I actually found all the characters (who were meant to be annoying) were so much more annoying in the book than the movie. 


since this book is supposed to be bridget's diary, i think the author did such a good job. there are so many entries throughout it that felt so personal and so relatable. In the beginning i found it a little annoying she found 130 pounds to be fat, but then i realized this is such a detailed and accurate representation of what goes through so many woman’s thoughts. we are reading her diary, it’s meant for her eyes only so she’s being vulnerable in it. and a lot of the hatred is towards herself, and that’s honestly relatable. It could be triggering for people to read it cause i think it was written really well. I also realized shes so me. making all these promises to improve herself and then rarely actually doing it. and even more so when she falls out of her new habit immediately. 

i found april 25 and june 10 to be really sad entries. The april one being about how she finally felt thin enough and went to a party where everyone told her she looked kinda dull and not herself. it was really sad to read as she thought she was the best version of herself but her friends saw how she looked sick being so thin, they did not put it very nicely tho. as for the june one, It was really sad to see how one of her "friends" kept purposely trying to say she looked old by comparing her to one of their other friends. it was really heartbreaking to read. looking back at the entry again, i see its the same girl who throws the christmas party in december and its really sad she still friends with her. 


also i think its fun they mention colin firth and hugh grant in the book and then they go on to play mark and daniel respectively. 

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viskustykki's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5