Lamb has the potential to be a good writer. Her story, Such A Pretty Face, has an intricate plot, the character Stevie Barret is as likeable as the antagonist Herbert Barret is detestable. However, the book was merely a good rough draft. There was a lot of issues with the grammar and storytelling. At times her characters are one dimensional, and she relies to heavy on cliches and stereotypes. Herbert is the stereo-typical Republican, repugnant, and not believable if you are a Republican. In fact, other than when Lamb tells the readers that Herbert is a Republican he doesn't resemble one at all. His politics aside Herbert is a villain's villain, he is repugnant, a bully, and easy to dislike. His bullish behavior is believable but not the motivation behind it, Lamb wants the readers to believe that Herbert is a bully because all Republicans are bullies. She politicizes her characters more than the typical novel, good liberals against evil Republicans, and the reader is simply supposed to believe that the character is good or bad because of their political stance. Lamb also relies heavily on cuss words, instead of using other modes to show that her characters are disgusted by the action of the villains she cusses, and litters the book with random outbursts where the readers are supposed to believe that it is perfectly natural for a character to behave that way.The story follows Stevie Barret a young woman who because of her weight has a heart attack and then chooses bariatric surgery as a way to lose the weight and regain her health. Lamb assumes and wants the readers to assume that all overweight people are overweight because of some past tragedy. In Stevie's case, she had an eating problem because her mother had a mental illness, and her sister's murder. Lamb tells the readers this rather than showing them, the story is a lot of telling and not a lot of showing, readers are not left to discover things for themselves. It is not all bad though; there are parts that are laugh out loud funny. Stevie is a loveable character and her descriptions of the love interest, and their relationship are great. There isn't a lot of depth to the secondary characters, and there are a lot of secondary characters and secondary plot lines that are probably not necessary to the overall telling of the story. Lance, Stevie's cousin, has a blow-up doll business on the side, and Polly the other cousin is an anorexic tv personality, while these characters are important to the story line they could be fleshed out a little bit more. Overall I would give the book 2.5 stars out of five, and hope that Lamb continues to improve her craft because her novel idea was simply wonderful. A good story told at a good pace.The best part of the story is the understanding,pain and confusion that a child feels for her schizophrenic mother and the desire of the parents to provide the best.But I do wish the other characters in the book were not so black or white but be more realistic. And i would have like to know Jake more , see their relationship mature better rather than just happen 1 fine day.
What do You think about Şans Bilekliği (2013)?
I liked this one. Bits of it lost my interest but overall it was a good book.
—katie
It was just OK. The characters are exaggerated and it was very predictable.
—meg
Good read. Love the characters and the stories within the stories.
—lenka21en
This book has easily secured a spot on my top 5 favorite books.
—anneleen
great story.....similar to She's Come Undone
—Michelley
