Rating: 
Summary: Life Imitates Art
Review: Although I've never reviewed a book on Amazon, I'm a really prolific reader. But I would feel like I'm letting Marian Keyes down if I didn't post something on Amazon after reading "The Other Side of the Story." Reading her books is pure fun (and I never feel like I'm slipping over to the dark side of mass marketed trashy novels), and this read was no exception. I simply can't wait until she comes out with her next novel. If only authors could write as quickly as readers read, but then instant gratification isn't always what it's cracked up to be... There, how's that for a positive reader review!?
Rating: 
Summary: the other side of the story
Review: Although it started a bit (and I mean teeny, tiny bit) slow, I loved it, loved it! I laughed, I cried, I loved it! Very smart book.
Rating:
Summary: Espectacular como siempre!!!!!!!
Review: Esta novela, asi como todo los otros libros que he leido de Marian son definitivamente recomendables.
Si disfrutas de la buena lectura y del buen humor compra este libro (o cualquier otro de Marian, son todos espectaculares) y a entretenerse!
Rating: 
Summary: Save Your Keyes for Another
Review: I am a great fan of Marian Keyes' ability as a writer but was disappointed with this attempt. A thread of a story line and overly dependent on a few witty remarks.
Save your Keyes for Lucy Sulivan Gets married or Last Chance Salloon.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun, great author...
Review: I have cherished each of Marian Keyes' works ever since finding "Watermelon" on the discount shelf at a local bookstore. Thankfully, her career didn't flounder as Gemma's did. I've always loved her honest, witty style, and how she always has a new and unique way to express what other authors might express using a tired cliche.I enjoyed how this book alternated between three different points of view, which become so intertwined that even when we were in one's "world" we were learning events of one of the others. And I'm wondering if Marian Keyes herself won't be reading this review. After all, her characters seem to jump onto Amazon to check out what people are saying about them. Well, Marian, if you're looking at this, it seems to be nothing but praise. I chuckled at how much of this book seemed to be biographical (especially the fan who went mad on Lily when the book she'd made Lily submit to her editor didn't get published)! If anyone's wondering which of her novels to try next, "Rachel's Holiday" was my personal favorite. It unfolds in such a cool way, gradually telling more and more of the story through flashbacks and revelations on the part of the main character. Ooh, I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!
Rating: 
Summary: I enjoyed it...but
Review: I have read several of Marian Keyes' novels, notably Last Chance Saloon and Angels, and enjoyed them immensely, so I was really looking forward to The Other Side of the Story. However, I found the first section of the book, which focuses on Gemma, to be very slow and tedious - and I didn't see how Gemma's e-mails to Susan were all that hilarious. I had to force myself to stick with it.
Once Keyes moved on to Jojo's character and started providing insight into the publishing industry, I found myself much more engaged. Jojo was the best developed of the three characters, and although involved with a married man, the most sympathetic, in my opinion. I found Lily's procrastination and insecurity tiresome and annoying, and Gemma was just a little bit _itchy. The novel did pick up toward the middle as the stories started to intertwine and ended up a satisfying read.
I did find it curious however, and as some other reviewers have noted, that the book bashed its own "chick lit" genre. I also found the plot line about the potential value of product placements within novels interesting, seeing as at least three skin care product lines were mentioned within the novel repeatedly (Clinique, Jo Malone, and La Mer)! On both those counts, I think Marion Keyes had her tongue planted firmly in her cheek and is laughing all the way to the bank!
Rating:
Summary: A fun and diverting novel!
Review: If you're looking for a great beach read ~~ this one is it! Just be sure to have enough suntan/sunscreen lotion nearby because once you open the first page, you won't be able to put it down! There is JoJo, a literary agent/ex-policewoman. There is Gemma, a party planner in Ireland and there's Lily who Gemma claims that she "stole" her true love from. JoJo is the common denominator between the three characters ~~ she is Lily's agent and who got her first book to sell. Then Gemma's best friend sent JoJo her emails ~~ the ones Gemma wrote after her dad left her mom. All three of them falls in love and their love lives are just as interesting as their literary lives. And this is the story of three women over the course of a single year. It's funny and sweet, nice and comfy and just a perfect Keyes book as to be expected! I can honestly say that I have read every single one of her books and love them all. She's one of my absolute favorite authors! This is a not-to-be-missed read of the summer! Pick it up and have fun reading! 4-19-04
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs Up!
Review: Imagine losing the love of your life to a trusted friend. Now imagine that "friend" becoming an overnight sensation in the literary world. Next, imagine while in the midst of your pity party, your dad just ups and leaves your mom for a younger woman and your mom refuses to get out of bed until he returns. These are just a few of the catastrophies that occur in Gemma's life.
Meanwhile, Lily (the man-stealing fiend) is not having as great a time as Gemma imagines. For one thing...she's losing her hair. Yes, premature female balding--on the crown of her head. She's also made a very bad investment on a home and the man she snagged can't earn a decent living. But, the reader does get to hear Lily's side of the story.
So where's the humor? There's thigh-slapping (wake up your sleeping hubby) bursts of laughter on practically every page. The Other Side Of The Story is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Marian Keyes!
Review: In Marian Keyes' latest novel, we see the lives of three women whose lives are intertwined. What I like about Keyes' style is the way she carefully connects the stories without them seeming forced or unbelieveable.
The three women, Lily, Gemma, and JoJo, are all modern women who are going through some very real circumstances. Lily is coping with new motherhood and writer's block, Gemma is trying to help her mother and herself cope after her father leaves for a younger woman, and JoJo is trying to remain successful and feminine in a world not especially conducive to both.
Keyes' prose is beautifully written and she smacks of truth. ("All men are cowards" for example!) You will get caught up in the story almost immediately and won't want to put the book down even for a second.
I've read all of Keyes' books and this one is a sure-fire winner: a great book by a great author.
Rating:
Summary: This story is told from THREE sides
Review: In this new novel, Marian Keyes has made a slight divergence from her usual style: instead of one female main character, there are three, and at first, their stories seem completely unrelated. The book opens with Gemma, a young event planner whose life turns upside down when her father suddenly announces that he is having an affair. Gemma struggles to cope with her hysterical mother while still nursing her own broken heart: two years before, her boyfriend, Anton, began dating her best friend, Lily. Just as the reader has become thoroughly engrossed in Gemma's life (about 75 pages into the book), the story abruptly shifts to JoJo, an up-and-coming literary agent. JoJo is a beautiful, strong woman who leads an ideal life, with one exception: she is having an affair with her married boss. JoJo's tale leads us finally to one of her clients, Lily, Gemma's former friend. Although Lily is still happily partnered with Anton and is the proud mother of young Ema, she is also consumed by guilt about Gemma. When a little novel she wrote becomes a best seller, Lily lives life as if in a dream, certain that the happiness she has found will not last. Initially, I didn't enjoy reading the book from three different perspectives: I was dismayed to leave Gemma behind in the midst of her crisis, especially given that it was unclear how her path and JoJo's would intersect. In addition, I found it a little odd that both Gemma's and JoJo's stories were narrated in the third person while Lily spoke in the first person, and I'm still uncertain about the significance of this literary device. As the book continued, however, I began to enjoy the shifts amongst the three women, especially when the connections between them became more apparent. Although some parts of the story dragged a bit, towards the end of the novel, Keyes picks up the pace, and the more frequent changes in viewpoint make for an exciting finish. If you enjoy reading British/Irish fiction or Marian Keyes in particular, you will definitely like this book.
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