The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes
Gemma is an event planner dealing with a crisis in her family. JoJo is a literary agent having an affair with her boss. Lily is an author who is represented by Jojo, and who just happened to steal her best friend Gemma's man. The three women's lives intersect as book deals are made, boyfriends are found and lost, and old hurts are revisited.
I almost ditched this book about 20 pages in, because I found myself completely uninterested in Gemma's troubles. Going against my usual rule - if it's not entertaining you, stop reading it - I decided to keep going. By the time I got to JoJo, it was better. When I reached Lily, I was committed, and made it through to the end. I'm not sure I can say that I enjoyed this book, though. There were parts that were entertaining, especially the sections with JoJo in the publishing world, but a lot of the time I thought the characters were just whiny. Poor Gemma, who has to take care of her mom. Poor Lily, who can't think up another book. Poor JoJo, who has to be in love with a married man. I don't think I was ever really able to sympathize with any of the characters, so I didn't really care what happened to them. I did find Keyes' style of writing entertaining - I think I would enjoy another book she has written if I was more engaged with the characters. I will probably give her another try at some point, but I won't be in a rush. Lots of other good stuff to read!
Finished: 5/21/08
Rating: 6/10
Source: public library
1 comment:
This is kind of how I felt about this book, too. The only character I liked at all was JoJo, and I still didn't feel connected enough with her to want to finish the book.
I did, but I haven't really been interested in looking at more Marian Keyes since. If you find one that's more appealing, do let me know. :-)
Post a Comment