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A review by kdryan
The Smart One by Jennifer Close
2.0
Jennifer Close has perfectly depicted the stress and chaos of returning to live at home as an adult. Written from the perspective of four different women, The Smart One removes readers from the comfort of rooting for a single protagonist and instead shifts constantly between college-going Cleo, the slightly neurotic Martha, over-worrying Weezy, and debt-ridden Claire.
The Smart One attempts to refuse stereotypes of mindless Chick Lit and focuses on more realistic issues than shopping and man-troubles. Their challenges still fall firmly in the ‘First World Problems’ category, but the shift from shopaholics and broken-hearted damsels is a welcome one. The characters, however, seem to lack the ability to think optimistically about anything and I found myself nearly burnt out from their constant complaints through the second part of the novel.
The solid writing and multiple characters with well-developed personalities does make the book an easy read – just don’t expect a fairy-tale or 300 pages of diamond rings and shiny things.
The Smart One attempts to refuse stereotypes of mindless Chick Lit and focuses on more realistic issues than shopping and man-troubles. Their challenges still fall firmly in the ‘First World Problems’ category, but the shift from shopaholics and broken-hearted damsels is a welcome one. The characters, however, seem to lack the ability to think optimistically about anything and I found myself nearly burnt out from their constant complaints through the second part of the novel.
The solid writing and multiple characters with well-developed personalities does make the book an easy read – just don’t expect a fairy-tale or 300 pages of diamond rings and shiny things.