Geeky Friday; Book Review

I'm already slacking with my weekly book reviews as I didn't finish one last week. I had a lot of interviews and was getting ready for the sale so I apologise!

If you read my last review, I was disappointed with the novel for trying to be clever with the chick-lit genre. If I wanted clever, I'd read something that isn't the literary equivalent of a big box of sweets, non? Adele Parks 'Love Lies', however, definitely didn't disappoint; unapologetically girly, we follow the story of Fern; nearing thirty, she begins to wonder if her immature boyfriend will ever propose. 'Then a chance meeting with Scottie Taylor – the UK’s sexiest pop star – lights fireworks in Fern that won’t stop exploding. It’s mind-expanding love at first sight for them both so when he proposes in front of a sell-out crowd at Wembley Stadium, there’s only one answer. Yes, yes, yes! Before you know it, Fern is living the celebrity dream in LA and a wedding planner is arranging designer shoe fittings.'

Parks has successfully tapped into the daydream of millions of teenage girls everywhere. Haven't we all at some point imagine being whisked away from the mundane of reality and dropped straight into a modern fairy tale? (Mine were Jesse Lacey, Ville Valo and Adam Lazarra; who were yours?!) Undoubtedly this is not an original plotline, however Parks manages to do this with a scrap of integrity. Firstly, Fern is an extremely likeable, intelligent character, not a dumb wannabe WAG so overused in other tales of rags to riches. More importantly, however, Parks has made the story utterly believable. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say one of my pet hates within this type of novel is when the author makes up place names, band names, brand names; the list is endless. It's enough to make me not continue a book when I read that the leading lady favours 'Jinny Shoes and Hucci handbags'. How cringeworthy! I'm not entirely sure why some authors bother trying to create their own version of a fantasy world when there's a real life one that is so unattainable for the majority of us.

As with any good fairy tale, we end with a bucket of good morals, enough to leave a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I'd give this book 3 out of 5 and would recommend it if you wish to escape for a few hours, preferably with a glass of wine and a nice bubble bath.

Geeky Friday; Book Review

A horrendously long 6 hour trip to London last weekend combined with too much coffee meant that I read the entirety of the one book I had bought with me in the first half of my journey. It was ok, something about women who go to weight watchers and love affairs, and if I ever remember the title I'll no doubt do a review of it sometime soon. The best thing about the library is that you don't feel cheated out of £8+ for an ok book.

So on my return journey I found myself in WH Smith Victoria with only five minutes to chose a book. If I'd been more organised I would've gone through my amazon wishlist the night beforehand but I was far too busy having fun with my bestest. In my haste, I chose another by Cecilia Ahern; 'Where Rainbows End'. It was going to be between that and PS I Love You but I didn't want the film tainting my imagination of the book.

'Where Rainbows End' is a tale of two childhood friends whom 'fate and destiny can't help toying with...Rose and Alex have stuck by each other through thick and thin. But just as they're discovering the joys of teenage nights on the town, they're seperated. Alex's family move from Dublin to America - and Alex goes with them. Rosie's lost without her best friend. But on the eve of her deperture to follow Alex to Boston, she receives news that will change her life - forever.'

I suppose I picked the book because I was so pleasantly suprised with 'A Place Called Here' and assumed it would have the same touch of magic and warmth as both 'A Place Called Here' and the story of PS I Love you. How wrong I could be! And also what a coincidence that 'Where Rainbows End' was the follow up to PS I Love You. I found the storyline arduous, the characters irritating and the writing style; a collection of letters, text messages and emails from all the characters, decidedly cringeworthy. The text messages and emails especially so; reminiscent of the time my Pops sent me an email with 'ROFL' on the end; cringefest. Once the story finally suckered me in about 3/4 way through (given that I was sat on a smelly bus, next to a guy with the most annoying elbows and knees, for 7 hours; I didn't really have much of a choice but to force myself to enjoy it) the ending was so disappointingly abrupt I felt like shredding the thing. After you've read through fifty years of two people very nearly getting it on every five years or so, you want a little bit of poignant writing when they finally realise that they do actually love it each other. Instead, Ahern toys with you and leaves with a "and guess who was at my front door..." type of ending. I suppose in the world of Chick Lit she is to be commended for being a little different, but it was just plain irritating.

I think the characters felt annoying because it just seemed like there wasn't as much care and though put into them as the aforementioned novels. Which is why I comment that it is hardly coincidental that 'Where Rainbows End' was the follow up to 'PS I Love You'; one gets the feeling that Ahern was pushed by the publishers to churn out another best-seller before the wave of PS I Love You died down.

Amazon customer reviews astonishingly give this 4 1/2 stars, and I'd suggest those readers go and read Bridget Jones or suchlike. It gets half a star at best for me; it might've made one if I had borrowed it from the library instead of sending £8 of my hard earned dollar on it.

Geeky Friday; Book Review

Welcome to our new weekly section of the blog; Geeky Friday. One of my favourite things about finishing uni (and actually, I think it might be the only good thing so far) is having the time to read for fun. Final year made me feel guilty for even picking up a magazine when I could've spent the time reading Benjamin or Barthes, and the former years were spent in the pub. Novels and suchlike were reserved for holidays by the beach, but now I'm one of the many unemployed graduates taking a really long summer holiday I am a fully fledged member of my local library. (Old book smell, yay!)

Now, I have a bit of a guilty secret. Whilst I consider myself to be pretty well educated and have good taste when it comes to things like photography, art, music and films (ok...scratch music....I sometimes listen to The Saturdays...), one of my favourite things to read is Chick Lit. God, I hate that term, but basically; if reading the novel will make me drop a few brain cells by reading it, then sling it my way. This was especially true at the start of summer when my head was full of academia.

However, Cecilia Ahern's 'A Place Called Here' is not one of those books. You'd be forgiven for thinking that it is, with it's overtly girly cover (actually, the cover of this really irritates me as it doesn't do the story justice at all) and with Ahern's track record of producing a book every other minute after the success of PS I Love You, but this is a genuinely lovely book. And there is nothing wrong with lovely! The prose is very easy to read, and although the main character takes a little getting used to, its' pace quickens towards the end.

"Ever since the day her classmate Jenny-May Butler vanished, Sandy Shortt has been haunted by what happens when something -- or someone -- disappears. Finding has become her goal. Jack Ruttle is desperate to find his younger brother Donal who vanished into thin air a year ago. So then he spots an ad for Sandy's missing persons agency, he's certain that she will answer his prayers and find his missing brother. But then Sandy disappears too, stumbling upon a place that is a world away from the only one she has ever known. Now all she wants, more than anything, is to find her way home."

There are so truly poignant moments in here, tiny tit-bits of beautiful writing that on many occasion brought a lump to my throat. Although the setting could at first glance be described as far-fetched the prose is expert in that it makes the eventuality entirely believable. There are some delicious twists to the story toward the end (that I didn't see coming, but maybe I was being naive) but I haven't finished it yet so I'll have to let you know if the amazon reviews of 'rushed and thoughtless' at the end ring true to me as well.

I'd recommend it purely for the few moments of poignancy. It isn't one of the greatest novels of all time, but a pleasant read with a roller-coaster of emotion carrying along the tale.

Amazong reviewers gave it an average of 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, which I'd consider to be pretty fair.