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A review by ultimatekate
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
3.0
Like most of Weiner's novels, this one featured interesting and well-developed characters. The novel brings us back to Cannie, who was the heroine of "Good In Bed." It's twelve years later, and she's living happily with her husband Peter and her daughter Joy. She wrote a novel called "Big Girls Don't Cry" about her experiences, but switched her focus to science fiction after she realized that fame isn't all it's cracked up to be. Joy finds out about the novel and starts questioning a lot about her life--Did her parents even want her? Why doesn't she have a relationship with her grandfather? Why is her mom so weird?
The novel is told from both points of view, which is one of the things I really like about Weiner's writing. I think she does a good job getting into her character's heads and making them believable and relatable. There were times when I thought to myself, "Jeez, Cannie, Joy is right. Chill!" And there were other times when I wanted to smack Joy in the face and tell her that that uber-cool girl Amber didn't really like her and she shouldn't abandon her boyfriend. My issue with this book--which is kind of my issue with her fiction in general--is the huge twist ending. It felt forced. And, to be honest, I didn't like it. I thought it was just a little too much and that the novel was great when it was about the mother-daughter relationship. Why add additional drama?
The novel is told from both points of view, which is one of the things I really like about Weiner's writing. I think she does a good job getting into her character's heads and making them believable and relatable. There were times when I thought to myself, "Jeez, Cannie, Joy is right. Chill!" And there were other times when I wanted to smack Joy in the face and tell her that that uber-cool girl Amber didn't really like her and she shouldn't abandon her boyfriend. My issue with this book--which is kind of my issue with her fiction in general--is the huge twist ending. It felt forced. And, to be honest, I didn't like it. I thought it was just a little too much and that the novel was great when it was about the mother-daughter relationship. Why add additional drama?