Rating: 
Summary: Good but not as good as "Rachel's Holiday"
Review: I have read all of Marian Keyes's books and was eagerly awaiting the third installment about the Walsh family. "Angels" is about the sister the others all call "the brown-noser," Margaret and her universally hated husband, Paul (otherwise known as Maggie and Garv). The portions of the book that deal with Maggie and Garv's relationship, particularly with that of their loss, are beautifully done. However, much of the book takes place in L.A. where Maggie's friend Emily, a screenwriter, lives, and that's where the book (in my opinion) drags a bit--much of Maggie being gobsmacked over those Angelenos and their strange ways. But all in all, Keyes is as entertaining and perceptive as always. She employs the literary device of slowly letting the character reveal things about herself the more you, the reader, get to know her, and it is effective and holds your interest. Plus, it's always wonderful to read more about the Walsh family (especially Helen)!
Rating:
Summary: Not for women only
Review: Are the novels of Marian Keyes assumed to be for women and lightweight? Ha, I'm a guy and couldn't tell a sandal from a mule. I read Marian Keyes and I don't go to the beach and I don't like things simple. Although not intellectually challenging, this book tells a great story with wit and intelligence. I had a weekend to myself and wanted something I could read which would entertain me, transport me and allow me to leave my so-called thinking brain somewhere else so I could relax. In other words, I just wanted a good book and not a Pulitzer Prize winner. I was happy to find it in ANGELS.Maggie lives in Dublin and finds out her husband is involved with someone else. She leaves him, and after vegetating for a few weeks with her parents and sisters, splits for Los Angeles to visit her best friend Emily. There she encounters Hollywood types and hijinks, and the weird but really entertaining world of the movie industry. Emily's best friends, her neighbors and her script-writing career drive this story into high gear as Maggie discovers a new world and herself. As we go along on this fun ride we learn why Maggie and her husband have reached an impasse and why pain can be a touchstone for growth. The Hollywood setting and Maggie's Irish family (who show up in Los Angeles and add to the frivolity) make this a lot of fun but there's an unexpected punch here when Maggie reviews her two miscarriages and teenage abortion and their influence on her marriage. These are handled by Marian Keyes with so much depth that I was taken aback by being so suddenly immersed in another world of pain, loss and confusion. Not all of this book is comedy and not all of it can be dismissed as simple entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: A quick fun beach read
Review: I've just gotten hooked on Marian Keyes after reading a short essay of hers in "Irish Girls About Town." I love the 'chick lit' genre, and Keyes's work is a wonderful example. In "Angels," we meet Maggie, one of the four Walsh sisters (Claire having been introduced in "Watermelon") from Dublin, Ireland. Maggie's marriage is just about to fall apart--everything from her weeping excema and grinding teeth tell her so. One night of miscues brings on Maggie's worst fear--something is terribly wrong here. Maggie leaves her husband, Garv, and goes to lick her wounds in sunny Los Angeles, where her friend, Emily, works as a writer. As Maggie moves through the film world, she meets the predictable characters (smarmy studio execs, hippy/New Age neighbors, ultra-chic lesbians, etc.). She holds her own, though, and decides to try out her wild side a bit. When visitors from Ireland descend, though, things get messy. While the main story line is a bit predictable, there are a few subplots that were interesting and made the book quite readable. "Angels" is the perfect book to pop into your beach or pool bag and laze about reading. It won't give you an intellectual workout, but who wants that all the time?
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to snuff
Review: Marian Keyes is probably my favorite writer and I looked forward to reading her newest offering, Angels, for sometime. Its not that it was a bad read per se, I just expected more from the woman who gave me such great reads as Rachel's Holiday and Last Chance Saloon. What I got instead was a regurgitation of Watermelon but told about Maggie, the least interesting of the Walsh sisters, set in LA instead of Ireland. The characters had different names, drive different cars and lived in different countries, but to me it was essentially the same story - husband and wife split up, wife runs home to kooky family (then on to friends in this case) to lick her wounds, has a few new adventures, and finds out what she wants from life just as hubby returns for a reunion attempt. The endings differ but the whole premise to me was the same. I had already read this story once and I was looking forward to something new. The most redeeming aspect of this book was the return to print of the two Walsh sisters who haven't gotten their own books yet, Helen and Anna. I love these two (although Anna was a bit lackluster this go round too) and I hope that we are treated with books dedicated to each of these characters. Mum and Dad Walsh are also a joy to read about and I hope that Keyes continues to add them into her future work. Again, this wasn't a bad read, it just didn't meet the standards Keyes has set for herself. She can and has done much better in the past. Hopefully she will dazzle us again with her next effort.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not as good as "Rachel's Holiday"
Review: I have read all of Marian Keyes's books and was eagerly awaiting the third installment about the Walsh family. "Angels" is about the sister the others all call "the brown-noser," Margaret and her universally hated husband, Paul (otherwise known as Maggie and Garv). The portions of the book that deal with Maggie and Garv's relationship, particularly with that of their loss, are beautifully done. However, much of the book takes place in L.A. where Maggie's friend Emily, a screenwriter, lives, and that's where the book (in my opinion) drags a bit--much of Maggie being gobsmacked over those Angelenos and their strange ways. But all in all, Keyes is as entertaining and perceptive as always. She employs the literary device of slowly letting the character reveal things about herself the more you, the reader, get to know her, and it is effective and holds your interest. Plus, it's always wonderful to read more about the Walsh family (especially Helen)!
Rating:
Summary: A quick fun beach read
Review: I've just gotten hooked on Marian Keyes after reading a short essay of hers in "Irish Girls About Town." I love the 'chick lit' genre, and Keyes's work is a wonderful example. In "Angels," we meet Maggie, one of the four Walsh sisters (Claire having been introduced in "Watermelon") from Dublin, Ireland. Maggie's marriage is just about to fall apart--everything from her weeping excema and grinding teeth tell her so. One night of miscues brings on Maggie's worst fear--something is terribly wrong here. Maggie leaves her husband, Garv, and goes to lick her wounds in sunny Los Angeles, where her friend, Emily, works as a writer. As Maggie moves through the film world, she meets the predictable characters (smarmy studio execs, hippy/New Age neighbors, ultra-chic lesbians, etc.). She holds her own, though, and decides to try out her wild side a bit. When visitors from Ireland descend, though, things get messy. While the main story line is a bit predictable, there are a few subplots that were interesting and made the book quite readable. "Angels" is the perfect book to pop into your beach or pool bag and laze about reading. It won't give you an intellectual workout, but who wants that all the time?
Rating: 
Summary: Laugh out loud funny
Review: Fired from her job and with her marriage in shambles, Maggie Garvin decides to leave Dublin and visit her best friend Emily in Los Angeles, where she hopes the endless sunshine, white sand beaches, and the warmth of her friend's unconditional love will heal her broken heart. What she finds is that her friend is
having her own crisis--her burgeoning career as a screenwriter is about to crash and burn. The two women comfort each other and offer (usually bad) advice as they try to extract themselves from an emotional quagmire with mindless sex, irresponsible shopping and "complicated martinis." As Maggie floats along in the plastic world that is La-La land, the reader learns through flashbacks the tragedies thatled to the break-up of her marriage. This was one of the funniest books I've read in a long time, with passages that had me hooting with laughter and following my husband around the house reading scenes out loud so he could appreciate them. But it also brought a tear to my eye. And though this book broke several rules of good storytelling (the heroine, for example, is not the driving force of her own story
and has no goals to speak of) I still loved it. The conclusion was very satisfying as Maggie finally figures out what she wants--and gets it.
Rating:
Summary: Cute, Fun Read
Review: Not as good as "Sushi for Beginners," "Angels" is nevertheless a fast and fun read, even for this reviewer, who makes it a point NEVER to read "Hollywood novels." Keyes' bubbly Irish humor and her loveable characters translate to La La Land without a hitch, and the adventures of newly separated Maggie Walsh and her best friend Emily, now a scriptwriter in LA, are hilarious. Maggie has her Irish eyes opened wide by the antics in Los Angeles, which include everything from eyebrow waxing (a procedure she is painfully forced to submit to) to bleaching unmentionable parts of the posterior. What Maggie really wants, deep inside, is her husband back, but she doesn't quite realize that--as she sorts through her hurt feelings and the story of her marriage, we know it before she does. Along the way, there are some eye-opening experiences, and not just with her eyebrows. This is just a fun book--not memorable, but very enjoyable indeed, and very good for someone who is in between heavy reads and just wants an enjoyable piece of well-written fluff.
Rating:
Summary: Trust this author
Review: Initially, I had difficulty getting into this story. Little was revealed about Maggie's relationship with her soon to be estranged husband. The flight to LA seemed precipitous given what little we knew about Maggie. This scenes in LA were a bit overdue, especially all the trite dialogue with superficial characters. Fortunately, the story emerged beneath the fluff. Keyes writing is honest and deep. She is at her best when she juxtaposes humor with dark, psychological element to expose her characters' nature.
Rating:
Summary: Another look into the lives of the Walsh sisters
Review: After featuring eldest sister Claire in her book Watermelon, in Angels, author Keyes turns to the story of Maggie, the "good" sister who has never given her parents any trouble. As the book opens, however, Maggie is experiencing difficulties with her husband, and a surprising revealation causes her to make the suddent decision to leave him and return home. Rather than remain there, she decides to spend some time in LA with her Irish friend, Emily, an aspiring screenwriter, and it is there that the trouble REALLY starts. Although I found Maggie's LA adventures to be somewhat unrealistic at times, I enjoyed her story more than Claire's, mainly because it was much less predicable. Throughout the book, the author alludes to secrets in Maggie's past; all is revealed through occasional flashbacks which are woven into the story, but the reader must be patient: Maggie's full history is not told until well over halfway through the book. This is an engaging tale for all who enjoy "chick lit"--or, in other words, the struggles of young women in their romantic lives.
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