How stupid. If you're going to fictionalize your life, at least be creative about it. But everything was so thinly veiled, so blandly referential that I was speed-reading my way to the end just to move on to something else. If this were satire, or a Saturday Night Live skit, it might be forgivable. But as it stands, Part One is like a poorly done Jackie Collins rip-off and Part Two amounts to little more than reading a transcript of a reality show. It's packed to the gills with one scene after another where almost nothing happens; this story could have easily been told in a book half this length. Instead of streamlining her story, Bethenny (and her ghost/co-writer) blather on endlessly about the challenges on the Martha Stew... Sybil Hunter show, how many guys Faith can cocktease, dieting, baking, and BLAH BLAH KILL ME. It's not even well written, which I find shocking considering how well-spoken Bethenny seems to be. Just one example: when Faith's reality show debuts, she gets a bunch of texts from her friends who are watching in New York and LA. Except the show wouldn't be airing in LA yet because it's in a different time zone. Stupid mistakes like that irk me, and since there isn't much else here to challenge my mind, they took over. Insufferable at times and never more than mildly entertaining.... so disappointing. I've followed Bethenny Frankel from Housewives on, so I do know her backstory -- and all of it is pretty much laid out in this novel. A little more imagination would have gone a long way since I felt like I always knew what would happen next, and that took away from the enjoyment for me.The writing is OK (nothing spectacular but also not horrible), but the story is disjointed from LA to NYC -- if this hadn't been based on someone's life, this never would have made it as the plot of a book. Skinnydipping would have been much stronger, IMHO, had the authors veered more from Bethenny's life, cut out the entire LA section, and replaced it with more of the protagonist's struggles in NYC and with her family -- and also even more of the reality show, which was the strongest part of the narrative.Overall though, a fast, fairly enjoyable read that would be good for the beach or other vacation.
What do You think about Skinnydipping (2012)?
I thought it was a cute story. It's set in a way that it sounds like Bethenny is talking to you.
—natasha0112
It was so bad I couldn't finish reading. I love Bethenny but this was not good.
—TJ39
Funny. Makes you laugh out loud at times. Predictable ending though.
—Tracy
