Bookends : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Bookended
Review: Jane Green presents a flawed look at love in all its forms in "Bookends," a tale of friendship and relationships. It's an entertaining light read, written in a brisk fashion with some interesting character conflicts, but the lead character never develops any spark of life.

They were all pals at college: glamourous Portia, mousy Cath, lovable gay Simon, and low-key Simon (whom Portia seduced to keep him "in her thrall"). Except for Portia, they have all stayed friends. But now Cath has been burned by a bad relationship and shies away from men. Josh is married to everywoman Lucy and has a hellspawn child and an icy nanny. And Si is desperately seeking his soulmate, only to ensnare himself with a vicious philanderer.

Reenter Portia, more glamourous and beautiful than ever, and a successful TV producer... of a soap that closely mirrors her pals' lives. An elaborate dance of suspicion begins, as Cath and Simon believe that Lucy and Sim's marriage hits a rough spot, and that Simon is straying back to Portia. When Si is diagnosed with HIV, friendships are strained and secrets come unravelled -- with surprising results.

There's nothing new or unexpected about "Bookends," except for a throwaway subplot that Green tacks in late in the book. Perhaps the most intriguing thing is Portia's true nature -- is she a heartless manipulator? A glamorous slut? A sweet woman with devilish allure? Green keeps you guessing right up to the end.

Her writing is pretty snappy and quick, and she weaves the subplots together without a lot of fuss or plot holes. Cath's sort-of-romance is underdeveloped, though, the identity of Portia's lover is obvious, and the HIV story feels contrived. But it is pretty entertaining to watch what is essentially a small-scale soap opera unfold, complete with marital strife, unfaithful lovers, bratty kids, sexy nannies and a Dark Exotic Mystery Woman.

The one flaw in an otherwise good cast is Cath herself -- she's too timid and annoying to be likable. Si is an excellent character though, and adds extra depth and poignancy to the cliched lovable gay pal. His struggles and longing for true love make you want to hug him. Josh and Lucy are good as the ideal marrieds who hit a rough patch.

An almost-perfect cast redeems a by-the-numbers novel about friendship and relationships. Not to mention a veiled lesson about not jumping to conclusions. "Bookends" is a fun guilty pleasure, if a lightweight one.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the first Jane Green book I read
Review: Cath,Si,Josh and Portia were first at University until then there was a falling out and Portia left the group. A few year later, Cath is working at job that she no longers likes. Spirited on by Josh's wife Lucy, Cath decides to open her own bookstore. Along with this life changing event, Portia is back in the group, but what are her motives?
I have admit that the first book that I read by Jane Green "Jemima J" I could not stand. But I have to say that I did really like "Bookends." Ms. Green gave her characters real emotions. The only reason that I didn't give 5 stars is that the HIV story line should have been brought earlier in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Fun light read but.....
Review: ..... fun an light but then suddenly becomes so serious and depressing. Gotta say I just wasn't thrilled with the sad ending....

However, I did love the characters and the overall concept of the story. It is always a shock when an old friend (possibly one you may envy) comes back into your life, and this story follows a few friends as they experience just that.

I love this authors writing style, and I really felt the narrator Cath was a close friend of mine throughout. I will seek more of this authors writing in the furtue.

Rating:
Summary: Weak Start but worth sticking out.
Review: When I first started reading this book, which is my first Jane Green Novel, I found it weak and somewhat unbelievable. I was amazed at how this close group of college friends adored, upheld, and worshipped the 'hot' friend. I don't think many people do that and tend to see their friends for who they are. Anyway by the middle of the novel I was more involved and there were some unexpecting twists and turns and a great ending making the read worth it. I recommend borrowing the book and skimming the first few chapters until they areo ut of college.

Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: This book is why "chick lit" has such a bad name. It's full of cliches, boring characters and has a ridiculous plot. It's as if the author was asleep when she wrote it. If she was,though, maybe she would've come up with an original idea. The main character, "Cath", is heartless and self-absorbed. Then you have the obligatory "gay man", the happily married couple,the glamorous bitchy friend, and the "perfect" boyfriend. It's chick lit by numbers and is absolutely awful. And the "AIDS" lecture at the end is insulting and out of place in a supposedly romantic novel.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: I can't believe I spent 4 hours reading a truly horrendous book. Bookends, by Jane Green. Terrrrrible. Even more amazing is that there was 350 pages of this drivel. I can't believe I bought that stupid book. I want my 10 dollars back, dammit. Spoilers ahead, so beware.

Here's why it sucked: It was about 5 college friends, four of them stay together after college and one of they lose touch with. It's clear that it was meant to be about the one friend, Portia, coming back and having significant changes on their lives. I know this because the narrator keeps telling me how Portia has "changed the dynamics of the group" and has "changed the balance." Over. And. Over. Which would be understandable if it weren't for the fact that Portia coming back had NOTHING to do with the changes that occured. One of the changes is that Si gets AIDS cause of his jackass boyfriend. Oookay. Nothing to do with Portia. The last hundred pages of the book are about his disease and everything else is ignored. It would be fine if it all came together somehow, but I dunno. It felt like she had finished the book and then edited that part in because there was some word limit she didn't hit.

Another change she attributes to Portia is Josh cheating on his wife with Portia (or so she believes). This would understandable if it weren't for the fact that Josh wasn't cheating with Portia. However, despite being best friends with Josh for ten years, instead of asking him about it, she just decides to be mean to Portia and Josh. Later, she realizes that Josh ISN'T cheating with Portia and instead she believes he's cheating with the maid. Holy crap. More meaness towards Josh. Of course, it turns out Josh was completely faithful all along and in reality our lovely narrator is a verifiable nutjob. Oh, and she apologizes to Josh and Portia for being mean and they're like "hmm...okay. I was wondering what was up with that." I don't know what kind of long-lasting friendships this author had, but I feel sorry for her.

Of course, no book is complete without the narrator, Cathy, finding her true love. Insert James. Insert James, Cathy's bitch. James is a hunky, artistically talented, and somewhat wealthy to boot. Why is this guy single at 36? For some reason, he's attracted to Cathy who's not all that good looking, can't dress, and admittedly slept with any guy at university that feigned any amount of interest. WTF? The only thing that makes this digestible is that fact that this book is supposed to be "romance" and that genre tends to go hand in hand with "delusional" so, okay. Fine. BUT. (There's always a but.) The "romance" factor isn't even that great. Cathy basically ignores James for the majority of the book because she's dealing with Portia's "changes." He gets annoyed, but she smiles at him and is forgiven. She goes out on one real date with him and they proceed to have sex. Sooo romantic.

Oh, and the sex. HA. Holy crap. Here are two quotes:
"I start to cry. Crying this time with pleasure. With forgotten memories."
"It is exactly like riding a bicycle, and everything I thought I'd forgotten comes back in a flash, and it feels wonderful."

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS DRIVEL!??! I actually laughed out loud. The narrator seems to be not so much a "lovably imperfect protagonist" but rather a "self-centered shallow nutjob." A little boy doesn't like her. She refers to this little 7-year old boy as the devil, etc. etc. Even though he likes others who are nice to him and treat him as an adult instead of complete idiot, there is NO WAY his dislike could be HER fault. No. The little boy MUST be evil. Yes.

Terrible book. Terrible. I want my money back.

Rating:
Summary: I love it!
Review: I like Bookends more than Jemima J. Both are good; Bookends is just more realistic. If Jemima J. is a fairy tale, Bookends is a real world. Everybody in Bookends is believable. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book. Jane Green always does a very good job when compose a story. Well, actually, I wish she could write more about beautiful Portia. Portia has disappeared in Cath's life for 10 years. After she came back, I was eager to find out what happened in her past and current life. But Jane Green wrote too much about Cath. This is a bit disapponting for me. After I finished the last page of the book, I feel I haven't read enought about Portia. Why she became a lesbian; why she hangs out with Josh in a restaurant without notifying other friends, what they were doing there. Just every other character's life is clear to readers, Portia remain ambiguous to me.