Since November 2009Week In Review: 13th September
September 13th, 2010 by Leah
Week In Review is a new, weekly feature on Chick Lit Reviews where we write mini reviews on the books we’ve read over the past seven days.With so many books to read it gives us the chance to let authors know our thoughts on books, with short, magazine-style reviews. Do leave a comment, or write your own blog post (crediting chicklitreviews.com for the idea), and let us know what you’ve read this week! Enjoy!
Single in the City by Michele Gorman
Hannah Cummings has moved from the US to London on a bit of a whim and is looking forward to life in a brand new country. Hannah is soon regretting her rash move when she finds herself jobless, friendless and unable to understand any of the British people she meets. However eventually everything falls into place for Hannah: she gets herself a job at a party planners, makes a fantastic new best friend and even ends up falling for a man. There’s one problem, though, he’s married, so Hannah still finds herself searching for Mr Right. But is there such a thing? I was really looking forward to reading Michele Gorman’s debut novel Single In The City but it just lacked that magical spark as far as I was concerned. Instead of focusing on Hannah’s move to London, the book mainly revolved around Hannah’s many failed relationships as she jumped from man to man. The footnotes at the bottom of some pages added insult to injury as they explained Americanisms to us Brits despite the fact we already know what the NFL is and what dust bunnies are. Overall I thought the book was just really poor. The footnotes made me feel as if I’m stupid, the plot was too man-heavy and I just didn’t like Hannah. (Leah)
Homecoming by Cathy Kelly
Cathy Kelly’s previous 2 novels haven’t overly inspired me if I am honest, but luckily, Homecoming is a return to Kelly’s best and is certainly a great read. It tells the story of 4 women; Rae, Eleanor, Connie and Megan, all of whom are struggling with life in different circumstances, but all come together to help one another in times of need, and in the spirit of the community. I really loved the setting of a small Irish town, it adds a sense of intimacy and allows for the reader to get really involved in the lives of these characters completely, which makes a real change from Kelly’s previous 2 novels. It covers a couple of big issues, and these are very well handled in the book, very emotional but true to life and I enjoyed this part of the book very much. It kept me reading until the end, I wanted everything to work out for these 4 women, and the length of the story was just right. I really enjoyed this book and it makes me want to look out for more of Cathy Kelly’s books in future… a return to form! (Chloe)
Posted in Week In Review | 3 Comments »
I absolutely ADORE the Homecoming cover, it really makes me want to read this book, so I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
Hi Leah,
I haven’t read this book, but have to say I’d probably appreciate the footnotes. I have no idea what an NFL is and have never heard of dust bunnies!
These both sound great, I’m looking forward to them