Me vs. Me

Me vs. Me
written by Sarah Mlynowski



Just like Milkrun, the problem with this book was that it seemed extremely pointless. It feels like it could have been written well as a short story, but it doesn't work. Mlynowski tries to be Sophie Kinsella, but she's not. The main character acts like an immature child at times, which makes for a very flat story. Everything is ridiculously predictable and the ultimate solution is even mentioned, not just hinted at, flat out mentioned, in an earlier chapter. I think there was so much potential for a twist, such as Cam continuing a relationship with Gabby's friend, or maybe Cam having parallel lives as well as Gabby. Some of the characters and plot threads were unnecessary to begin with, given too much emphasis for no apparent reason. There is just too much pointlessness, and it's not a very interesting read.

Rating: 1.5/5

Milkrun

I'm so sorry for the lack of reviews lately. It's exam week, and despite a lovely and random burst of snow, postponing a few exams, it's still been a lot of studying (and a lot of procrastination while telling my parents that yes, indeed, of course I'm still studying).
It should get better soon, although I'm off to Pittsburgh for a college visit next week, so we'll just have to see!

Anyways.
Milkrun
written by Sarah Mlynowski



I hate to post yet another negative review (It really may seem like I take pleasure in it--but I really don't) but there's, again, not much positive to say. I figured I should give Mlynowski a try--her collaboration with E. Lockhart and Lauren Myracle (How to Be Bad) was a pretty good book. I thought Milkrun had an interesting premise and would also be interesting, but...there really wasn't a hook. Standard 20-something, living with a roommate, working at a boring office, looking for love. Nothing new, nothing special. The only difference with this book and any other in the stereotypical chick-lit genre is that this one actually had no resolution, while other chick-lit books have the huge romantic ending. Not good. If anything, it just really makes the main character, Jackie, appear like a serial-dater, to put it kindly. It's really bad, melodramatic writing for really bad, melodramatic characters. (And I still haven't been able to figure out the title. Is it a British thing?) All in all, very pointless, I do not recommend it. Stick to YA, Ms. Mlynowski.

Rating: 2/5

Queen of Babble Re-Reads

Queen of Babble
by Meg Cabot

Are books always different the second time through? Having read the entire series, it just makes the first book stick out like a sore thumb. While the writing seems somehow fresher, the plot doesn't seem planned out--makes me wonder if the two books that came after really were just an afterthought. There was no foreshadowing about Lizzie's eventual love, none at all. Just a vicious cycle of "ooh! perfect (cute) boy!" ending with "ooh! perfect cute boy = not so perfect after all!". I remember certainly liking Chaz as a character, but never would have seen him as a potential love interest for Lizzie at all. So very random. It would have done well as a stand-alone...or should have had more hints along the way. The way it worked out led to little continuity, which results in much confusion and a general feeling of blah. The characters are somewhat flat in the first book. They get their much needed development in the next two, but at a cost of less page-time, with all the new characters that are later introduced.
As for the second book, like I said before, the hints begin to show up. To understand the Sherri thing (and see the hint dropping begin), I would read the first book, as it is a total shock in the second one. But then, the Chaz thing...you can see it coming. Maybe it's not a sure thing, but there are some subtle hints here and there, the biggest one being the fact that he is mentioned and discussed at length at all, as opposed to simply being the background character he was in the first book. The pattern of break-ups is painfully annoying, and feels like Andrew (and by extension, Luke) should never have even been mentioned, that maybe the story should have just been about Lizzie, Sherri, and Chaz to start from, instead of complicating things and as a result, making it repetitive and boring.
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, however, seems to take all those missteps and leads the reader simply to forget them, as none of it seems to matter. The drama in this one is just addicting, leading to a fully satisfying ending, although I wish we had an actual wedding, or rather, an elopement, as opposed to just a certificate. Chaz and Lizzie together are so much better than her and Luke. Chaz's character seems more developed, and Luke (much like Andrew) comes out the flat character here. And speaking of annoying & flat characters, the character of Ava Geck was the most annoying thing in the universe. Gran's death, although sad, was rather predictable. I just think that with all this stuff about marriage, she at least deserved a wedding. I suppose Meg might have done it like this for the irony, but I don't think it worked all that well. Lizzie needed her own wedding, darn it! It is because of this that I dislike the title. She DOESN'T get hitched, at least not through the course of the book. Meg really should have picked a more fitting title, more about choice than marriage. Nevertheless, loved this one overall, and I definitely think the least it deserved was an epilogue to see what marriage was like for Lizzie and Chaz, and more importantly, to see if this one lasted.

Ratings:
#1: 3.5/5
#2: 4/5
#3: 5/5

Remember Me?

reading next: Possibly rereading QoB #2

Remember Me?
written by Sophie Kinsella



Kudos to Sophie Kinsella for taking a soap-operatic topic like memory loss and turning it into a fully non-cliched book! Not only that, she takes the usually flat genre of chick-lit and brings in a massive dose of suspense, leaving the reader positively on their toes trying to find out what happens next. While many chick-lit books may have interesting plots and plot twists, none of them really brings in an element of mystery, from what I've read so far, at least. It was slightly difficult, although necessary to the plot, to read about the snobbery of life as a high-upper, but again, that was the entire point of the book, to make the reader feel as uncomfortable as Lexi must have been. The ending was great--I'm sure everyone expected, particularly by the misleading summary on the book cover, Lexi to regain her memory. Kinsella brings her memory back, but only a flash, and the subject of the tiny flash is what makes it so poignant. The novel would have been destroyed had Kinsella brought her entire memory back, it would nullify the point of the whole book--Lexi finding herself. The most notable aspect of the book to me was the abundance of amazing references that, for once, I actually understood. I think this contained the most amazing HP reference ever, as well as good ones to The West Wing, Coldplay, and 'Bad Day' (it really truly WAS the song everyone was singing back then!)

Rating: 4.5/5