What do You think about Venus Envy (1998)?
Started this book thinking it was time for a good dose of chick lit. I was wrong. I've read some of Louise Bagshawe's books previously and enjoyed them in that sort of light hearted, not much thinking involved sort of way. But this one was different. Maybe my mood wasn't right for it, or maybe it was something else, but I really didn't enjoy this. I disliked it so much that I didn't even make it a quarter of the way through it, not even close in fact. The main character, whose name I can't even remember, seems to me a lazy, over-eating, self-pitying sort of person. She went to Art college, and now can't find a job, so her rich loving parents decide to force her to move to London to live with her beautiful, successful, hippy, popular sister, who everybody loves and everybody wishes that the other sister could be more like. She gets a job, isn't very good at it, falls for the married good looking boss, and he manages to convince her that he want's her. She spends the night with him after a romantic dinner in his "Flat" in the city, and then he proceeds to treat her like crap, she has to rush off in the morning back to her sister's place to have a shower because he can't be bothered to let her have a shower there. Who saw this coming? Me....a mile off, I just couldn't bear to read any more after that.She wasn't a likeable character, the story was cringeworthy. Maybe if I'd given it time, I would have seen more depth to the main character and maybe even her boss, but I just didn't care enough about either of them to find out.
—Laini
I'm a fan of Louise bagshawes other books but like others before he I found this book incredibly predictable.The main character Alex was a moany, self criticising character. Not only the way she spoke to herself was downgrading but how the hell could she let other people speak to her like that. I wanted to give up on this book so many times but refused too due to my own stubbornness and also my previous experience of books from this author.The minute the main love interest came in you could see where the story was going a mile away.Definitely a book I would not even give one star too if it was an option.
—Susan
