I enjoyed this book. It was a light and easy read. Sometimes you just need to read a book without having to put alot of thought into it. It was written from four different POVs and the author did a good job of relaying the different characters personalities.Kimmie spent most of the book wallowing in self-pity and low self-esteem. She was selfish and immature. I, at time, had trouble remembering that she was in grad school and not an undergrad. Her lack of knowledge about the classes she is taking at business school was a bit WTH at time. Who doesn't know the phrase "she phoned it in"? She was more concerned with getting an MRS degree rather than an MBA. Her only motivation for taking the GMAT and applying to business school was because it was what her boyfriend wanted. She went after Russ knowing he was in a relationship). Granted she did make the required turn around. She realized that business school was where she belonged and she wasn't as "dumb" as she thought she was in the classes. There is a scene with her father that does a good job explaining why she doesn't feel worthy of an MBA and really doing anything beyond getting married and having children.Jamie is another character that you aren't sure if he really wants to be there or not. He spends his whole time joking and slacking. Eventually his motivation is revealed and you think "oh wow, ok that will work". I didn't have any real problems with this character or how his chapters were written. He starts of as slightly smarmy and that cheesy older guy that always makes you want to go Ewww when he starts his lines. Once you get to know him though his lines aren't as slimey. Russ started out motivated and that guy everyone wants to sigh over. He has a personal dilemma (or dilemna as I was originally taught)in that he left his girlfriend behind in Canada and he is very attracted to Kimmie. He gives in to his desire and juggles both girls. Kimmie allows him to do this but Sharon (girlfriend) has no clue. His motivation and character takes a downhill slide fast over the book. He gets to the point where he has to smoke pot every night to sleep and stops even studying. In the end he almost ruins Kimmie's chances at school but mans up in the end. His chapters start off as really fast read (it is how his mind is working) and slows down toward the end of the book.Layla's narration reminded me of Elle from Legally Blonde. I'm not sure why because she is not a social butterfly. I think it is because Elle dressed to perfection and walked really fast and that is how I see Layla. She starts out uptight and very rigid. The problem I have is that her sexuality did not mesh with her germaphobic student side. She also has her epiphany and realized that her Mr. Perfect is not so right for her. Of course, this book was predictable. You can figure it out but it was an easy read and like I said before, sometimes that is what you need. The only other thing that confused me was the way the characters called grad school B-school. Is that a regional thing? I have never heard that and kept associating B-school with a second tier school.
`MONKEY BUSINESS' is the second book by Sarah Mylnowski that I have read, the first being `AS SEEN ON TV', and while I didn't love `AS SEEN ON TV' I did really enjoy her writing style. Now her fourth novel, `MONKEY BUSINESS' brings that same style to the table but with what is in my opinion a better story line and more likeable characters.In her fourth novel Sarah takes us to the competitive world of a top ten business school with four very distinct and interesting characters:First you have Kimmy who has no idea how she even got accepted to this prestigious business school much less what she is doing there. But one thing she knows for sure is that with the ratio of men to women she should definitely be able to snag a husband.Then there's Jamie the one with the natural knack for all that is business, so why bother buying the books? Far from the ladies man, funny man Jamie never misses an opportunity to flirt with the ladies even if he only gets laughed at in return.Next is Russ the former geek turned hottie with the loyal girlfriend back home. A few years ago he would have never dreamed of getting the attention of one of the schools most attractive women but now that he's got it what's a guy to do? Oh man!And last but not least there is Layla, miss perfect. Layla has always prided herself on being as close to perfect as humanly possible, or so she thought. But now with a group of new friends she is beginning to see that perfection is not all that it is cut out to be.I said in my review of `AS SEEN ON TV' that I was not giving up on Mylnowski yet and I am sure glad that I didn't. `MONKEY BUSINESS' had me looking forward to putting my son to bed so that I could curl up with it and stay up way past my own bedtime! =)
What do You think about Monkey Business (2004)?
Ugh. This was a real stinker. The book was clearly written by a Canadian trying to write an American novel. The phrasing was off and aspects of the story were clearly not researched. I actually checked to author's bio to confirm that she was Canadian. She describes people getting their MBA as going to "B-school" and living in a dorm like 18 year olds. Not in this country, sorry. Most 27 year olds don't stay on campus and play spin the bottle; they're working their actual jobs while going to school at night. Totally unbelievable.
—Tina
