Thursday, October 25, 2012

What I've Read This Week

What I've Read This Week . . .


I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella -- Women's Fiction

Poppy Wyatt is in big, big trouble. She's lost her engagement ring in the middle of a hotel fire drill. The ring wasn't just any old ring it was an heirloom, belonging to her fiance Magnus' family. He had to get it out of a special vault and everything. Trying not to panic, Poppy sends texts to all her friends who were with her what it happened. While checking her messages, Poppy's phone is stolen. Now she's in even more trouble but luck is on her side when she finds a mobile phone in the trash. Finders keepers! Now everyone can call her on the phone if the ring is found. Only one tiny problem - the phone belonged to a former PA at a consulting group and the boss, Sam Roxton, wants it back. Since Poppy does Sam a favor, he allows her to keep the phone if she forwards his messages. Meanwhile, Poppy is trying to keep up with her intellectual in-laws, hide the fact that she's lost the ring and give in to her wedding planner's crazy demands. Poppy can't help but noticing that so many people are trying to get in touch with Sam and he seldom replies. When he does, his messages are very brusque. Poppy has no business critiquing his e-mails, but she just can't help herself. She thinks she can help. Poppy's help only causes more chaos but it brings her a sort of bizarre friendship with Sam. Poppy has a lot to learn from Sam and he from her. When a potential scandal threatens the company and Poppy may be the only one who can help. This is a typical Sophie Kinsella novel. It's light and breezy and has a lot of funny moments, especially in the beginning. The characters are culled from Sophie Kinsella's previous novels. For example, Poppy is very immature and the story documents her growth. Some of the plot elements are also recycled from previous stories. There's a little bit of a darker element to the story that helps round out Poppy's character development. I appreciated the extra added element. The plot drags in the middle and then ends too quickly. I didn't have difficulty putting the book down at first but I wanted to see how it ended. Even though the ending seemed like it could be predictable, there was a plot twist that made me doubt the outcome I had envisioned. My biggest complaint is that the premise of the story could never happen because if your phone is stolen, the wireless carrier can transfer your account to a new phone right away. I can suspend disbelief though because Poppy was in a panic. The one thing I really hated about this book were Poppy's annoying footnotes. I hate footnotes to begin with and hate them even more in fiction. If you like Sophie Kinsella's other books, you'll love this one too.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale -- Austenesque Fiction

Charlotte is a thirty-something divorcee with two kids. Her kids and her business are her whole world now that her two-timing husband has left her. On a whim, Charlotte picks up a set of Jane Austen's novels and begins to read and becomes hooked on the simple and elegant world of the novels. Deciding she needs a break, Charlotte books a trip to Jane Austen's England - literally. Austenland is an all -inclusive immersion Regency experience typically geared towards women needing an Austen fantasy. The other guests include Miss Charming, a middle-aged romantic; Miss Gardenside, a young lady suffering from consumption (who, in the real world is a teenage pop star with a big secret) and Miss Gardenside's nurse, Mrs. Hatchet. The gentlemen, portrayed by actors, are there to woo the ladies. There's one for each of them: the charming and foppish one; the handsome, charming, lovable one and the brooding one. Charlotte is curious about the brooding Mr. Mallery, her assigned love interest. Is he playing a character or is he really brooding? She has misgivings about being assigned such a man as a love interest. Charlotte also wonders whether Col. Andrews' thrilling tale of murdered nuns is true or part of the script. She also wonders about Mr. Wattlesbrook appearing and disappearing. Charlotte's questions increase when she stumbles across a dead body in a secret room. Everyone else believes her imagination is running away with her. Charlotte is convinced the body was real but she has no proof. Is she more like Catherine Moorland than she thought? Is the body all part of the game? If not, then her life may be in deadly danger. Charlotte doesn't know what's real and what's not real. She even questions the feelings of one who would love her. She's been hurt before and she's not about to let it happen again. If she can solve the mystery and get home to her kids alive, she'll be content; or will she? I picked up this novel even though I didn't like Austenland very much but I decided to give this one a try because I thought it would be a fun read for this time of year. It seemed from the description on the dust jacket that the story would be a take on Northanger Abbey. If I had known the main character was a divorced mom, I probably wouldn't have read it. I really can't relate to Charlotte, never having been in her shoes. I found her very deeply scarred and needy. She's a bit of a doormat at first and spends most of the story worrying, especially about her kids, and fretting over what happened with her husband and what might have been; all of which makes her very annoying and unappealing. Slight spoiler alert: I had a problem with Charlotte falling in love because she was so deeply hurt. She fell in love with the safe option and I do not see their relationship as a healthy one at this point. The story chronicles her journey to truly becoming a well-adjusted adult and I think it should have been left at that, minus the romance. More spoilers ahead: The plot didn't develop at all like I expected it to. I thought this story would be an amusing update of Northanger Abbey and SPOILER ALERT it turned out to be a murder mystery! It was just weird and totally out of place for a Jane Austen wannabe novel. The writing was very good though. The story alternates between Charlotte's past and present. The transitions are not awkward at all; the story flows well. I liked the descriptions of pseudo Regency life. I liked that Charlotte didn't know anything about the Regency period so the author could explain things without stepping out of the story, however, I found Charlotte's lack of willingness to play along very irritating, especially her dialogue. Miss Charming is very stereotypical but at least she tries. This time around I was more interested in Austenland and the experience though I think it's weird and it seems to attract mainly sad, lonely women which I have a real problem with. I'd like to see a confident heroine visit Austenland and make the most of it. I would not recommend this book to someone looking for lighthearted fun. If you love Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre and Rebecca, then you might like this one. I found that it had far too many flaws and wasn't what I expected or wanted to read.


A Match for Melissa by Kathryn Kirkwood -- Regency Romance

This is a retelling of Cinderella, without magic and set in real life early 19th century London. This story is incredibly simple and light that it doesn't require any sort of thought. It's just the sort of pleasant thing I was looking for. I can't say that I enjoyed the story very much though. The characters were just TOO good and selfless. I found them all boring, especially Lissa. I wasn't attracted to the hero. I think he's an idiot and doesn't deserve Lissa at all. How could he fail to recognize her at the end? That part was forced to fit the Cinderella story and didn't fit with the rest of the plot. The writing is OK. There's quite a bit of period description, especially of food, which I really liked. I liked the depictions of the social life and customs of the era but the story just didn't feel realistic at all. I love a good fairy tale romance but there has to be more to the story than that. I'm just not into straight up fairy tales, as much as I try. Read this one only if you love fairy tales.

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