Pieces Of Happily Ever After (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
I don't know how to rate this book. I think I'd give it 3 and a half stars. It's not bad, but it's outside my usual genres, so I may not be the best judge here.Poor Alice Hirsh is completely stressed out. She's got a demanding job, a demanding 5 year old, a husband who's never around, a mother with dementia, a new house they can barely afford and she's just had a miscarriage. While she's recovering she finds out hubby is having a torrid and somewhat public affair with a Hollywood access.There are some good bits here. The mansion next door being used as a movie set for porn flicks is one. Alice's friendship with an ex-porn star is another and I could really feel for her dealing with a parent who's going through death in slow motion.What I didn't like: This is fiction not real life. Yes, it was extremely mature of Alice not to run off to a dinner to chat with a bunch of other women who's husbands have had affairs with the same Hollywood actress -- but as a reader I felt cheated. I really wanted to hear what those women had to say.I didn't like Gabby, Alice's 5 year old daughter. I have the feeling Zutell tried to present the kid as 'cute' but Gabby came off as unrealistic and bratty. Half the time she's a princess obsessed freak throwing tantrums, the other half she's spouting off criticism of her mother in words more appropriate to a teenager with an attitude problem. "I think our house looks like the Christmas aisle at Target," the little kindergartener sniffs when her mother's holiday decorations don't meet her standards. Excuse me but this kid spends her day waltzing around in cheap costumes and playing 'let's pretend' with a wand and all of a sudden she's a fashion expert?But there were some good parts to this book and overall it was very readable. Plus I got it for free so I probably shouldn't complain too much. Ugh. I did not love this book at all. I grabbed it from a secondhand store on vacation because I had nothing else to read. I trudged through it but should have abandoned. The writing is fine but the characters are shallow - especially Alice who we are supposed to empathize with the most. The dialogue from the five year old is absurd - the manner of speaking/structure/grammar is far too correct for the age. (I have kiddos and have taught countless five year olds.) I don't usually write a review if I loathe a book but I am stunned at how many good reviews it has. I am glad others loved it, wish I could get on that ride.
What do You think about Pieces Of Happily Ever After (2009)?
kind of enjoyed this one. quick read on morning i woke up early. 7:30am to 11:56am on feb 10, 2011
—silverhand
3 1/2 stars actually. Fast read, good characters, predictable plot.
—eli75
