I thought it was a good read. There were some inconsistencies, but I was able to let them go. This book is definitely chick-lit and is best read after a tough, hard and/or sad book. The ending was quite predictable. I think the only unpredictable thing about this book was the swiftness of the ending. I wasn't expecting the characters to be in the ending situation they were in (I don't want to give away anything). When all is said and done, I enjoyed this book. I recommend this book for anyone who is on vacation. There is not need to get over-involved in a book when you are lounging by the pool! Cute enough, but clumsily written*NOTE: I received a free review copy of this book.*Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS. Rating: 5/10PROS: - Some of Emma’s comments, both spoken and narrated, are funny. She’s cynical and snappish, but somehow she manages not to come off as a total jerk.- Brian is sweet and funny and likeable, in a boy-next-door sort of way. He’s not terribly exciting, but then Emma isn’t a terribly exciting girl either, so they fit well together.- Because I’m single and approximately the same age as the narrator, I sort of half-loved, half-hated reading about her dates. Braziel includes enough little horrifying details that I was able to compare the fictional dates in the story to actual dates I’ve been on, and Emma’s reactions in the book were very similar to my reactions in real life. CONS:- I wouldn’t call the writing BAD, but it’s not very smooth either. There’s quite a bit of telling (“I felt this way”) as opposed to showing (“Here’s what I did because of how I felt”), which makes for a read that’s clunky and slow overall. There are also stretches that essentially just describe Emma’s actions, one thing after another, without any in-depth exploration of her feelings: We went to this restaurant. The veal was excellent. We attended the opera. The music was wonderful. Etc.- There’s not a lot of depth to the story. Even when Emma is venting her frustration at being constantly asked why she’s still single or is recounting the emotional pain of having her heart broken, the comments are shallow and cliché: “I wanted to pull my hair out in frustration”; “my heart gave a yelp of pain.”- I found Emma’s mother to be about 5% endearing and 95% annoying. For one thing, she’s a hardcore meddler (and Emma simply lets her do it, which annoyed me further), and for another, I have a hard time sympathizing with a character who’s so sheltered/reserved that she considers someone who says the word “penis” to have a “potty mouth.” That’s the clinical term for the male reproductive organ; there are far worse words Emma could have used.- The ending, in addition to being abrupt and rather unbelievable, is so sappy that I almost couldn’t bring myself to read the final 6 pages.Overall comments: I think the blurb on the back of this book is slightly misleading: there’s nothing remotely sexual here, despite the blurb’s mention of “passion.” In fact, I’d classify this as religious romance. Emma is the typical angelic preacher’s kid, through and through. The story is cute enough; my main problems were the clumsy writing and the mother-daughter relationship, which made me want to stop reading entirely on more than one occasion.
What do You think about Declaring Spinsterhood (2000)?
Easy read! Great book to take to the beach!
—Dhruv
