Scan barcode
stepharina's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just eh for me. It made no sense this woman was so engrossed in this woman’s life and wanted to investigate her murder. Kinda unbelievable for me it was okay.
veraann's review against another edition
4.0
This was better than I expected. Mystery, jealousy, a quest for knowledge of oneself. A woman finding out what she wants out of life after marriage and children. Figuring out if she was just settling. Though the children being that close in age is I think uneccessary to show an overwhelmed mother of three. Still I thought it was interesting and had a good pace.
bapit001's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-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
ultimatekate's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a very fast read--I finished it in two days--but it wasn't as good as "Little Earthquakes" or "In Her Shoes." I liked the murder mystery aspect of things, and I liked the open ending, but I didn't always really like the narrator. Maybe it's because I'm not a mom and I don't know what she's going through, but I thought Weiner tried a little too hard to make her main character sympathetic.
applegnreads's review against another edition
2.0
She was being whiny about rich, suburban moms but she was one. Whatever.
allisondenae's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic. Interesting, funny, and adorable. Loved this book.
cmarvs's review against another edition
3.0
Needed another mindless beach book- this was perfect as it was witty and a fast read.
labunnywtf's review against another edition
1.0
I've enjoyed Jennifer Weiner's books in the past. Her books are fluffy with absolutely zero nutritional content, kind of like whipped cream. Everybody needs some fluff in their life, especially for a palate cleanser between books where people die and are in comas and shit. So, when it came to "What to read next?", I slapped this on the iproduct and got to work.
You know how you can always tell real whipped cream, because it's super fluffy and holds shape so beautifully and you just know you're going to dig your spoon in and get a big mouthful of cloud?
And do you also know what it is to get the oily whipped cream, that couldn't hold a shape if you shellacked it with Aquanet? Where the idea of putting it anywhere near your mouth makes you want to eschew all desserts for life?
This. This is Jennifer Weiner's oil based whipped cream.
After glancing over the other GR reviews, I don't think I need to add to the mob of people screaming, "Mystery is not your forte" But seriously. Don't do this again. We beg of you. Never ever ever ever again. Ever.
But I find this book problematic even without the murder mystery plot.
Kate is the quintessential stereotype of a Bored Suburban Housewife Who Had Such Promise. Married a guy she kind of sort of could tolerate because The Love of Her Life (more on that guy later) friendzoned her. "Accidentally" had 3 kids, while kind of sort of tee hee ha ha inferring that possibly the conception of the set of twins was non consensual. Oh, what a card, that not actually liked husband of hers is.
The children are grabby and whiney, while her best friend lives the life of fabulosity in (of course) NYC, writing for the trashiest of trashy tabloid rags. Sweeping in and out of her life, redressing her (did we mention how poorly she dresses with no self maintenance because housewifedom?) and reminding her how Awful and Terrible Her Life Is.
You may miss it in the 317 times his name is mentioned within the first chapter, but Evan McKenna is the Twue Ours Is A Forever Love of her life. He was her neighbor when she and Best Friend lived in NYC, they bonded over her CD collection, she got all googly eyed, and then, lo and behold, he's engaged to a super model. A bitchy super model, of course.
But it's okay, because they'll be friends, and she'll pine from afar, and wait for him to notice her. Even before Suburbia Ruined Her Life, she was terribly plain. But he'll notice eventually, because again, as we have been reminded, THIS IS THE LOVE OF HER LIFE.
New Year's Eve. The fiance leaves him hanging, so he goes to the bar where Kate and BFFFFFF are karaoking the night away. Kate, ignoring BFFFFF's advice, "takes Evan home". Super sloppy drunk Evan makes out with Kate, then completely passes out on her bed fully dressed while she waits for him to roll over and "take me now, big boy."
He doesn't.
And in the morning, he apologizes, and says, "Yeah, we're buddies, right? Because I kind of have a fiance and am not an asshole."
So, she runs to London for two weeks, and marries Ben and she and Janie vow never to say his name and repeatedly talk about how they hope he'll get hit by a bus.
Um.
Are you fucking kidding me?
No, seriousfuckingly. What the fuck with the way Evan is portrayed at the start of the story, I thought he was going to pull a fuck and run, getting what he could from Kate before going back to Super Model. Nope. Apologizes profusely for drunkenly kissing her, and high tails it out of there, and he's an asshole? Are you....what?
The longer this review gets, the more stars I take away.
OILY WHIPPED CREAM.
I may be ruined for Weiner forever.
-----
Marked to-read in 2012.
Halfway through, I'm thinking I should've left it on that list.
You know how you can always tell real whipped cream, because it's super fluffy and holds shape so beautifully and you just know you're going to dig your spoon in and get a big mouthful of cloud?
And do you also know what it is to get the oily whipped cream, that couldn't hold a shape if you shellacked it with Aquanet? Where the idea of putting it anywhere near your mouth makes you want to eschew all desserts for life?
This. This is Jennifer Weiner's oil based whipped cream.
After glancing over the other GR reviews, I don't think I need to add to the mob of people screaming, "Mystery is not your forte" But seriously. Don't do this again. We beg of you. Never ever ever ever again. Ever.
But I find this book problematic even without the murder mystery plot.
Kate is the quintessential stereotype of a Bored Suburban Housewife Who Had Such Promise. Married a guy she kind of sort of could tolerate because The Love of Her Life (more on that guy later) friendzoned her. "Accidentally" had 3 kids, while kind of sort of tee hee ha ha inferring that possibly the conception of the set of twins was non consensual. Oh, what a card, that not actually liked husband of hers is.
The children are grabby and whiney, while her best friend lives the life of fabulosity in (of course) NYC, writing for the trashiest of trashy tabloid rags. Sweeping in and out of her life, redressing her (did we mention how poorly she dresses with no self maintenance because housewifedom?) and reminding her how Awful and Terrible Her Life Is.
You may miss it in the 317 times his name is mentioned within the first chapter, but Evan McKenna is the Twue Ours Is A Forever Love of her life. He was her neighbor when she and Best Friend lived in NYC, they bonded over her CD collection, she got all googly eyed, and then, lo and behold, he's engaged to a super model. A bitchy super model, of course.
But it's okay, because they'll be friends, and she'll pine from afar, and wait for him to notice her. Even before Suburbia Ruined Her Life, she was terribly plain. But he'll notice eventually, because again, as we have been reminded, THIS IS THE LOVE OF HER LIFE.
New Year's Eve. The fiance leaves him hanging, so he goes to the bar where Kate and BFFFFFF are karaoking the night away. Kate, ignoring BFFFFF's advice, "takes Evan home". Super sloppy drunk Evan makes out with Kate, then completely passes out on her bed fully dressed while she waits for him to roll over and "take me now, big boy."
He doesn't.
And in the morning, he apologizes, and says, "Yeah, we're buddies, right? Because I kind of have a fiance and am not an asshole."
So, she runs to London for two weeks, and marries Ben and she and Janie vow never to say his name and repeatedly talk about how they hope he'll get hit by a bus.
Um.
Are you fucking kidding me?
No, seriousfuckingly. What the fuck with the way Evan is portrayed at the start of the story, I thought he was going to pull a fuck and run, getting what he could from Kate before going back to Super Model. Nope. Apologizes profusely for drunkenly kissing her, and high tails it out of there, and he's an asshole? Are you....what?
The longer this review gets, the more stars I take away.
OILY WHIPPED CREAM.
I may be ruined for Weiner forever.
-----
Marked to-read in 2012.
Halfway through, I'm thinking I should've left it on that list.
saeflanagan's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75