This book is fun, but fairly predictable and in places it borders on being...well, trite. It was given to me by a co-worker who warned me that it wasn't exactly intellectual, but she thought I needed a friendly reminder of certain life lessons contained within..The set-up in the first chapter was fairly obvious. The main character clearly is incapable of having her own opinion about anything and instead defers to her fiancee, subjugating her own opinions, wants, and needs to his. This is shown to us in a very blunt and stereotypical way. The complete lack of subtlety makes the entire plot of the story easily guessable within the first few pages. You just know the fiancee is going to leave and the rest of the book will be about the main character learning how to stand up to all the bullies in her life....so that she'll find a new man by the end of the book. Ugh. The characters are also pretty stereotypical. The nice girl who lets everyone walk all over her. The obnoxious bossy friend who bulldozes over everyone. The militant anti-feminist who insists that all single girls are sad and pathetic because the only "real" way to have a fulfilling life is to be a wife and mother, but secretly she despises her husband and children. The overbearing boyfriend who can't stand that you might actually have thoughts of your own, but who also then dumps you because he can't respect a girl who has no thoughts of her own. The "perfect" guy who won't have anything to do with you until you get your life together.That being said, I'm still reading it...and all my predictions have come true. Nary a plot twist in sight. I'm guessing there won't be, but I'll keep reading because you never know. I'm fairly certain the only reason I'm still reading it is that I'm struggling with a similar "No more Miss Nice-Guy" scenario in my own life. Which is precisely why the book was lent to me.Being able to empathize with the stereotypical situation and the stereotypical characters is pretty much the only reason to keep reading the book. I would like to believe that I'm the kind of person who only reads smart books, but let's face it...sometimes you just need to read overly sentimental crap chick lit. It's the literary equivalent to stuffing your face with pounds of chocolate. Something to be done in secret...late at night under the covers with a flashlight.
The story has already been described - Minty gets dumped on her wedding day, and the book covers how she gets over that hurt. Right from the beginning, Wolfe had me hooked. She used flashbacks in the initial chapter to introduce me to the main character, so I was better able to empathize with her situation. Anyone who gets dumped like that deserves empathy, but in a more 'global' way. By the time Dom dumps Minty, I had a sense of 'knowing' her, so I cared more. I was invested in the outcome. I loved that Minty did grow as the book progressed, and that her growth didn't occur too quickly.The secondary characters were hilarious, and more effectively fleshed out than in some books of this nature. I genuinely was interested in the people Minty worked with. Her family was hilarious, too. The subplots worked, in that they were there to flesh out Minty's character, without taking away from the main story. They helped show who Minty is, and why she behaves as she does. I found myself laughing out loud quite often, which I haven't been able to say about a novel of this sort in quite a while. There were a few things I didn't like about the book - for example, I didn't think Joe was particularly well defined. I actually thought Wolfe may have rushed with the Minty/Joe relationship at some points. But overall, the book was so funny (I absolutely adored the last quarter), that those complaints were minor. If you like chick lit, light summer reading and/or British fiction, you definitely want to read this book
What do You think about Making Minty Malone (2000)?
It was an amusing read, reasonably diverting, but overall not the best book of it's kind. I preferred "Behaving Badly" more (also by Wolff).This book is a reasonable stab at character development but I found the romantic interest a little unbelievable. The hero isn't given much "face time" in this book, much more of it is focussed on the emotional journal of the heroine Minty.I guess that in a romance novel I am principally looking for romance, and this book does not really let that take centre stage. Minty as a character is a little limp, and in places unconvincing, but generally likeable. The only other thing that annoyed me about this book is Wolff's occaisional use of completely bizarre words that really jarred with the rest of her writing style. For example, she describes a pavement as "refulgent" (?!) and there were a few examples of this sort of odd word choice. To me it seemed as though she were trying to make this book seem more literary than it really is. At the end of the day this is pulp chick-lit and it only seems pretentious to suggest otherwise.Altogether I would rate this book as OK, but not one to rush out and read.
—Heather Dalgarno
The Making of Minty Malone was written by Isabel Wolff in 1999, this is the story of Minty Malone who is really a very nice person, hates conflict and finds it hard to say no to her domineering boyfriend and pushy work colleagues who constantly take advantage of her good nature. When she is jilted at the alter on her wedding day in front of 280 guests, Minty is in shock and is persuaded to go on her what was to be honeymoon with her bridesmaid instead. That fateful trip to Paris is the beginning of what is to become an epic year long journey of discovery which takes Minty on the road to find herself.
—Kim
