Review: Big Girl

Meet Victoria Dawson, heroine of Big Girl by Danielle Steel. The firstborn child, she grows up feeling out of place in her family because of her fair hair and thicker build. While the rest of her family is dark haired and thin, Victoria is blond, blue-eyed and according to her father, has his grandmother’s ‘big’ build. Victoria puts up with her father’s thinly-veiled barbs while her mother constantly drops weight remarks. Meanwhile her parents dote on the younger sister Grace, as she is beautiful and thin. Victoria and Grace form a strong sisterly bond despite the family tension.

Victoria goes to college at Northwestern, then later becomes a private high school teacher in New York City. She is aware that she often overeats – especially when things go wrong – but she doesn’t know what to do about it. She tries therapy, hypnosis and one diet after another with little results other than gaining and losing the same weight over and over. Until finally she meets the man of her dreams and the weight starts coming off…

This was one of those classic “overweight girl tries to lose weight, is unsuccessful until she meets a man who makes her feel whole” kind of novels. It is at least mildly painful to read about Victoria’s constant dealings with ‘fat girl’ stereotypes and watch as her parents put her down constantly. Unfortunately (SPOILER ALERT!!!) she never stands up to them, although the love of her life does eventually. I was disappointed with the ending because it seems like she learned nothing other than that she is a great person only because she has a wonderful man to tell her so. (Seems like there is very little personal development for the character!)

The writing in this story is extremely redundant (the author repeats the same thing over and over) and the characters were seemingly one-dimensional. I would have rated this book 2 stars, however, I am a sucker for ‘dieting lit’ kind of chick lit novels and I did manage to get through the entire book.

Overall, Big Girl by Danielle Steel turned out to be a mostly ‘OK’ read. I would recommend waiting for it to come out in paperback or getting it at your local library, however, as the hardcover edition is pretty pricey.

3 Stars
Reviewed by Rian Montgomery

Review: The Frog Prince

Meet Holly Bishop. After the devastating break-up with the gorgeous and smart Jean-Marc – who was supposed to be the Prince Charming she was to spend the rest of her life with – she is struggling to accept that she is already divorced at 25. Holly now lives alone and works as an event planner in the bustling city of San Francisco. When her boss Olivia accosts her one day and says she must either do something about her personal life or think about getting another job, Holly has little choice but to join Olivia and her friends for drinks out. Although the night is somewhat uneventful but humiliating, it shows Holly that it’s time to take control of her life. (more…)

Review: Citizen Girl

After seeing all the bad reviews of this book, of course I was curious to read it! The main heroine of the story is Girl (yep, that’s her name). She is stuck in a job with a boss from hell and a tiny studio apartment in the city. However, her job doesn’t last long – after stealing a year’s worth of research from her, Girl’s boss Doris fires her unceremoniously. Girl enters the desperate world of job seeking, and through a series of accidental meetings she lands a job at My Company. (Yeah, that’s the name of the actual company.) Guy, her loud, obnoxious boss spends most of his time screaming obscenities into his cell phone, and doesn’t exactly make clear exactly what she’s supposed to do. As a result, she spends half of her time trying to figure that out, and the other half covering up her mistakes when she discovers her original assumptions were wrong. If that isn’t enough, the people she is subletting her apartment from notify her that she has to move immediately, as they need to take possession of it. (more…)

Review: Unbecoming Behavior

If you are looking for a novel filled with a sharp sense of humor, witty dialogue and very interesting characters, look no further – you’ve found it.

Meet Shannon McCormick, the witty and endearing main heroine. Much to the chagrin of her mother, she isn’t a lawyer, but does work at a law firm catering to the every whim of the interns. Trying to evade dismissal for the Unbecoming Behavior that the firm often let people go for, she slugs away at her thankless job, deals with rude interns, a demanding and ridiculous boss, and the knowledge that she is disappointing her mother. Her only reprieve is Van, the funny, friendly security guard in the lobby of her company’s building. Shannon knows she doesn’t want to become a lawyer, as she cannot stand them, but what other options does she have? She’s not happy in her job and she knows time is running out. (more…)

Review: The Go-To Girl

Louise Bagshawe has created a novel filled with vibrant characters and a suspenseful romantic plot, which I might add kept me reading far into the night.

Now, if you think YOU have a pathetic life, try out Anna’s, our main heroine: She is a self-admitted “ugly” girl, has an underpaid (albeit interesting, at times) job of reading slush movie scripts, complete with a horrible boss and a lazy, catty coworker who just got promoted over her. Anna also lives with two beautiful models (one of which is very stuck up) and who have no qualms in assuring Anna of how ugly she is. If all of that isn’t bad enough, she has just been dumped by her boyfriend Brian, who had suffered from halitosis and questionable body odor. The cherry on the pie is Anna’s personality. She is horribly acquiescent – to the point of being a complete pushover. (more…)

Review: See Jane Date

See Jane Date by Melissa Senate was one of the first books in the Red Dress Ink series that I read. Several years later, it remains one of my absolute favorite chick lit novels.

Meet Jane, a 20-something-year-old gal living, dating and working in Manhattan. Having been single for a while after her last boyfriend dumped her unceremoniously, Jane is in a slight pickle: she had to find a date for her cousin’s wedding, since everyone in her family was under the impression that she had a boyfriend. With both parents dead, it was understandable that Jane felt a lot of pressure in her family.

After a few disastrous (but fun to read!) dates, Jane thinks she may have found the perfect man. After a few amazing dates with a doctor who suddenly stops calling though, she realizes she may be back to square one. At the same time her job has become very stressful. She is forced to edit a memoir from childhood nemesis Natasha (fondly referred to as “the Gnat” out of earshot by Jane and her friends). At the same time she is trying to placate her Aunt Ina and various cousins that everything is fine in her life. (more…)

Review: Mim Warner’s Lost Her Cool

Expecting a light and glamorous read, I was surprised to discover that this book was actually pretty deep – if you can overcome the froth in the first part of the book.

Meet Meghan Resnick. Things are going OK for her – she is a “coolhunter” at Pravda, (a trend forecasting company), and has recently broken up with her last boyfriend Ian because he based a character in his novel (quite unflatteringly) on her. But lately her job seems to lack the excitement it once did for her. For one thing, Mim Warner, her boss and co-owner of the company, has lately been extremely careless. Her latest trend forecasts, which are outrageous and unlike her, have lost business for the company. As a matter of fact, she has horrified her fellow staff and colleagues enough for them to decide on a strategy to silence her for a while – until she “gets better”. After all, none of them will have jobs if they lose any more accounts! (more…)

Review: Shaking Her Assets

In the space of a month, our main heroine Rachel has lost both her job and her boyfriend of two years. Just when she thinks things can’t get much worse, her best friend Ben drops the bomb that he is getting married… to his Park Avenue girlfriend. That in itself isn’t so bad, but Rachel has always secretly wondered what would happen if she had ended up as his girlfriend, instead of just his friend. Now it seems she is too late. (more…)

Review: Emily Ever After

This is a classic “Single Girl Moves to the Big City” chick lit.

Our main heroine Emily Hinton has made the big move from a sleepy Southern California suburb to Manhattan. She is a church-going girl with morals, and she vows not to drink to much or get involved with the wrong man. Thanks to her generous uncle, she has a new job at a large publishing house. Emily knows immediately that things aren’t going to be quite as she’d imagined. First, her roommate (whom she’d met on the internet) was nothing like she’d hoped. Then she meets the totally eligible and handsome Bennett. He seems to be the last man in Manhattan that goes to church and has morals. They immediately hit it off, but it becomes clear that something isn’t quite right. He seems to keep trying to get her into bed, for one thing, although she’s made it clear that she doesn’t do that before marriage.

(more…)

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