Finished this in just one sitting—not that I couldn’t put it down, but the pace was very fast and the prose was light and easy to read. It was a pleasant way to pass a lazy Sunday evening. It was just very easy to read until it was done. Though the constructions of the omniscient narrative are sometimes very bizarre, using “we” as in “I wish we could tell you that Ben Williams is standing but ten feet away” and in addition to slipping between first person and 3rd omniscient (with the reader included as the mysterious “we”) it also slips between present and past tenses which was the most jarring for me—the present was used for setting the scene which just seemed lazy more than anything. The back of the book said that it has a ”...surprise ending no reader will see coming.” But unless the only readers that are supposed to read this book have never ever seen a romance movie… or better yet have no frontal lobe, you pretty much get the first conclusion that springs to mind.

As with most chick lit I’ve read I have a problem with the moralization that the ending gives us—what lesson did the protagonist really learn anyway? As in most of the books I’ve read she didn’t really learn her lesson (she learned A lesson maybe, one the author clearly thinks is the right one, but as a reader I’m left thinking that the protagonist is still confused and just as flawed as at the beginning) but she received her happy ending anyway. Puts me greatly in mind of the Shopaholic book I read.

People with eating disorders lots of times may wrongly believe that their entire life will suddenly and miraculously be alright and perfect if they could only lose the right amount of weight and be the right size. The truly strange thing is that in this protagonist’s case, she was absolutely RIGHT!!!

Nothing more than mindless fluff… at least it was kinda fun to read though.

I was in the mood for a light read after reading Orwell’s 1984, and I certainly got what I was after. But unfortunately, it wasn’t a particularly well written book. My biggest hangup was the continual switching between first and third person—I had a really hard time getting into the book because of that. I also didn’t quite believe some of the key elements of the plot (for example, the part with the guy in LA and what he’s truly after, for those of you who’ve read it). I have a very hard time not finishing a book once I’ve started it, but I did seriously consider it with this one.

Yet another chicklit book where the main character has absolutely no confidence in herself and has no personality. At first we’re led to believe that Jemima Jones is overweight because she has an obsession with food. That’s not quite the case. She has an addictive personality and is always obsessed with something. When she discovers the Internet, she no longer cares about eating. When she discovers the joys of working out, she no longer cares about the Internet. And the cycle goes on and on.

I suppose this book was designed to make women feel good about themselves, but I don’t know how with such mindless characters. Always doing what they do for the sake of men.

To top off the poor plot, the writing is atrocious. I felt like I was reading a book for a person with a limited vocabulary – say a nine year old. I’ve seen online journals with much better writing than this.

Jane Green also keeps switching from first-person to third-person, but it isn’t well done as with Perfect Match. She seems to switch back and forth from first person to third because she can’t write well enough to tell the story through Jemima’s eyes alone. And several places throughout the book, she makes reference to what will happen later. “As you’ll soon find out” and “For and ” are probably the two most commonly used phrases in the book. Please don’t tell me what to think. The proper way to indicate what will happen later in the story is called foreshadowing. Jane Green, please learn something about it!

I’ve read several reviews of this book and many people thought it was great, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.

it was ok. read fast. more like a beach book for me.

Eh.

Double eh.

Cute enough, but I wish my problems in life could be solved with the man of my dreams miraculously falling in love with me, having the money for a glamorous makeover, and exercising myself to death. Whee!

(Eh.)