I'll be honest. I had a hard time getting through this story and it took me two tries at it.First, I borrowed the book from the library. I read about a chapter and then it sat in my book bin unread...until I had to return it (still unread). But, I had started it, so I downloaded the audiobook from the library. I almost stopped listening to that as well. I found her voice annoying. Maybe it was the character - I can't separate the two - but I trudged on, primarily because I commute and spend quite some time sitting in the car for kid pickups. So....The main issue is that the main character is completely unlikeable. And while I've read books where I didn't love the main character, in a Chick Lit/Romance type novel, I think it's pretty important to want her to find true love, to root her on. And it wasn't until almost the last chapter or so that I started to feel a bit of sympathy for her. That means, for almost the entire book, I couldn't stand her. And I'm no squeaky-clean, polite, lovely girl myself. I've said snarky things in my day. I've been called materialistic in my teens as well. But this girl? She was unbelievable. And she was still this horrible person as an ADULT. Gah.Anyhow, I kept through it....and at the end, I felt like the story was straight from one of those ABC Family/Lifetime movies that are ripping off the Back to the Future or Christmas Carol stories. Don't get me wrong. I've watched all those horrible Lifetime/ABC Family Christmas Carol movies - and most of the time, like this time, I'm sitting there at the end, thinking, "WTF. That was the ending? How in the heck...? Why. Why?"That being said, it wasn't completely horrible. I mean, I did finish it. There were some pretty funny moments and some hilarious one-liners. But those things alone cannot save a book with a completely unlikeable character with a totally cheesy ending. I really liked this book! I thought the authors name sounded familiar when I picked it up, but I wasn't sure why...then I started reading the story, and there was no doubt that I knew that voice. I read all of Jen Lancasters memoirs several years ago, and found them hilarious. I mean, yes, she is definitely in an (obnoxious, self-centered, way narcissistic)class all her own...but who am I to judge. Either way, this book, fiction though it may be, showed a little more depth and compassion than I remember from her memoirs. Which is a relief, actually, because if her main character hadn't changed throughout the course of this story, I would have had to stop reading. It would have been unbearable, otherwise.So, here is the premise of the story- the super bitchy high school prom queen has made a mess of her grown up life by being a selfish asshole. She gets a chance to go back in time and make things right, but finds, by doing so, that things don't exactly turn out for the best. The moral is loud and clear- maybe we all needed high school to be a demoralizing cesspool of hideous cruelty in order to succeed in "real" life. You know, success being the best revenge and all. I'm not going to lie- there was a tiny part of me that wondered whether or not this novel was a way for the author to assuage her own guilty feelings over being a total dick in school. I can kind of see her being a mean girl (sorry, Jen) and it isn't too much of a stretch to envision her writing this to somehow illustrate to others how her bad behavior was actually helpful...But in the end, I really don't think it matters, because this was a fun and funny, interesting, and well written story. I can totally see it being a movie, by the way. Read it! You will like it!
What do You think about Here I Go Again (2013)?
Fun read for anyone who graduated high school in the early 90s. :)
—Ashwathy
Not thrilled with overall story line. Not hard to believe.
—shweta
For a silly very light read it was fine.
—missie321
