Rating: 
Summary: Worth the Read
Review: Haven't we all gone through a list of our boyfriends and/or crushes, to figure out why we were attracted to them in the first place? Lucinda Rosenfield has based her book on just that element of a woman's life, from the first crush to the latest man. While Phoebe does have issues of her own to deal with, it is quite interesting and humorous to see each man described by her.This was a first novel for Lucinda Rosenfield, and a good one at that. Looking forward to future works!
Rating: 
Summary: What Did She See? Nothing, apparently.
Review: I could get more from watching an episode of Beverly Hills 90210 than reading this trite trash. In a free-form babble Ms. Rosenfeld with one swipe spills observations from her uninteresting past romantic life, and blends self indulgence, insecurity and narcissism together into a heroine that one can only assume is a melee of the author's own pathetic truths. Novelists like this give good women writers a bad name. If you're looking for interesting writing, witty observations and even a little depth, a sitcom script would be more enlightening. I'm even wasting my time writing this, but do it in the hopes I will save others from losing precious hours of their life. I hope this is her first and last book.
Rating: 
Summary: This and That
Review: I decided, after reading Lucinda Rosenfeld's hatchet job on Molly Jong-Fast's 'Normal Girl,' in the New York Times, to check out 'What She Saw.' Surprisingly, the books weren't all that different. Why is it everyone writes like they're from Southern California?
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment!
Review: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I've read all of the other reviews here, and one recurring theme I see, that I agree with completely, is that this book DRAGGED at times....really....s l o w l y. The first couple of chapters were good. I completely related to Phoebe until she reached her junior year of college -- things just went downhill from there. She slowly became someone that I didn't like. Then I got to the chapter about Arnold Allen. *Sigh* Where do I start? When the book described him as a "light-skinned black man," I got excited. I thought to myself, "Oh good, she's going to try an interracial relationship." Boy, was I mistaken. Turns out Phoebe doesn't have the sense of a gnat and that this character was a con man. (I might have bought in to her being conned by this guy if she was 16, but not when she had already graduated COLLEGE! This chapter was just preposterous!) Anyway, Arnold Allen is the only black character in the book, and, OF COURSE, he has to be a criminal. This kind of crap continues to feed into the stereotype that black men aren't to be trusted. I was REALLY disappointed by that chapter. So much so, I stopped reading. I didn't care what happened to Phoebe...she wasn't improving her life in any way, and I couldn't bear to spend another minute with her character. As someone wrote elsewhere on this site, I was wishing she'd be hit by a bus. A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!
Rating:
Summary: What did she see?
Review: I had to read the book for a book club, and not a single one of us liked it. We are all women in our 20's, consider ourselves "normal" and could not relate to the character of Phoebe at all! Phoebe, the main character of this book, suffers from low self-esteem, eating disorders, other self-destructive behavior, pathetically poor choices and mentally-abusive relationships. On top of all this, Phoebe doesn't have a single TRUE friend throughout the entire book! Not only are the boyfriends in this book completely pathetic, but Phoebe's few, temporary friends turn out to be cruel and selfish as well. This book is incredibly depressing. It's also unbelievable that Phoebe could have so MANY "issues" when she did not appear to have suffered any major trauma during her life. It is very confusing that there doesn't seem to be an apparent reason for Phoebe's laundry list of neurotic troubles. The book club member who suggested this book did so because she had heard that it was "funny". Unless you think self-destruction is humorous, you will not find this book "funny"!
Rating:
Summary: what I saw - I didn't like
Review: I hated this book so those in search of objective viewpoints should look elsewhere. I'm a twentysomething woman who could not "identify" with the protagonist at all. I know plenty of women for whom having a romantic relationship is important, but none my age for whom it is the only source of self-esteem. I'm tired of this Reviving Ophelia assumption all young women are bundles of insecurity, afraid to take control of their lives, and hopelessly reliant on other people to define them. Some happen to be using their talents and achieving career success rather than waiting for the phone to ring. When will we see more books about them?
Rating:
Summary: A Depressing Experience!
Review: I heard a positive review of this novel on National Public Radio. I was excited by the first few chapters of this book--It made me smile with remembrance of growing up on the East Coast in the 80s and the character of Phoebe was funny to observe, but as time went on her character became a miserable mess. It was all I could do to finish this book. Phoebe's story begins to arc, but then plummets, never to rise again. What can I learn from a character who has no strength or does not want to change herself? Two thirds into the novel, I couldn't have cared less what happened to Phoebe. I kind of hoped she would get hit by a bus and put both herself and me of our misery. Maybe I would have been more sympathetic to her pyschological problems if the author had established a real cause for them stemming from Phoebe's childhood. The reasons for her eating disorder and bad relationship choices were not made clear. The tidy ending was completely contrived. I would not recommend this book to a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, but not seamless
Review: I read Lucinda Rosenfeld's "What She Saw..." in one night, and it was like riding a roller coaster. At times, it was exhilirating and refreshing, funny and insightful, at other times it dragged beyond belief, and I couldn't wait to move on to the next chapter/guy. Not surprisingly, the characters and stories Rosenfeld clearly spent more time and thought developing (Spitty Clark, Humphrey Fung, Bruce Bledstone -especially Spitty Clark!) were the best and most interesting aspects of the book. The others (i.e., Kevin McFeeley, Arnold Allen) should have been left out completely; instead, they were brushed over in perfunctory, seemingly obligatory fashion. Certainly a better read would have been one that narrowed the list of ex-boyfriends to the few who played important roles in the character development of Rosenfeld's protagonist, Phoebe Fine. That way, their interrelation could have been explored and examined in greater detail. Nevertheless, Rosenfeld is a terrific writer, and I found myself laughing out loud at times. She just has to work on putting it all together in her next work, which I look forward to reading.
Rating:
Summary: Not Everyone Will Like This Book - I Did
Review: I read reviews of this book before I started it - and actually almost put it down after reading some of the negative comments. I thought the basis of the novel was really brilliant, a girl tracing her life through all the men she's loved, from fourth grade until age 24. I think, perhaps, you have to relate to this book to enjoy it, and I certainly did. I can see how a middle-aged-man might find it a little bit ridiculous and self-indulgant, but as a 22-year-old, I saw a little bit of my self or someone I dated in every chapter. A fast, interesting read. Keep in mind that the first chapter doesn't carry through the rest of the novel b/c this isn't a start-to-finish straight narrative. The style is different.
Rating:
Summary: A wild ride...
Review: I really enjoyed What She Saw.... I thought it was a very well-written piece of work, despite the fact that the main character, Phoebe, has serious issues. Lucinda Rosenfeld has done a wonderful job with this novel, and I will be sure to look out for her next offering. Phoebe Fine begins her story in the late 70s during her fifth grade year in school. The boy's name is Roger "Stinky" Mancuso, and Phoebe has a crush on him that won't quit. However, Stinky becomes more than just a dream for Phoebe, in ways both good and bad, and this experience becomes the stepping stone for a long and twisted journey. What She Saw... takes the reader through the odyssey that is Phoebe's love life. It is interesting to watch Phoebe grow up before our eyes, beginning with a sweet, curious kid to a messed-up adult still in search of love and fulfillment. The men that come into Phoebe's life sometimes stay, most often go, but always leave behind a piece of themselves that Phoebe carries with her. It is also interesting to see how each relationship develops and how, ultimately, they crumble. By the book's end, readers are left wondering about Phoebe -- does she make it; does she find true love; does she finally mature and realize that she is more than just the other half of a man? I recommend this novel with confidence. However, it won't be for everyone. Phoebe is not a wholly likeable character. She is quite frustrating at times. But she is also human with the most basic of desires -- to find love and be loved in return. I could relate to Phoebe on this level, and I think that is the part that cinched the book for me. What She Saw... is indeed a wild ride, but definitely one worth taking.
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