Babe in Toyland

Rating:
Summary: This is FICTION, people!
Review: As an admitted chick lit addict, I figured this book would be a fun read. The combination of the neurotic pinings of a twenty-something woman with a crush/obsession and the work environment of a toy company seemed ideal for some bit of humor and entertainment. How could Olsen get it wrong?

This book epitomizes that devastating habit of writers, who come up with some great ideas and then fail miserably in the follow-through.

I truly feel as though I had a day stolen from my life due to the time wasted reading it.

The main character, Toby, is the antithesis of a strong, female character. I have no idea what my fellow reviewers are saying in describing her in such a way. Her life is comprised of an obsession with soaps and bath gels, an total of approximately three friends, a job she seems indifferent about and incapable of taking seriously, a twisted fixation on her roommate's girlfriend, a complete lack of self-awareness and an unhealthy habit of stalking the local weatherman.

How is this woman strong?

Beyond the glaring shortcomings in Toby, I felt Olsen was lying to me, in trying to garner my respect and catharsis for a character, who reminded me of someone I would pity, having caught them drowning their sorrows in a box of Twinkies and a romance novel. Olsen's attempt to mask this woman's ineptitude socially/professionally and tediously dull life, by tossing in a variety of cliched chick-lit plot enhancers, was merely insulting to her readers.

Highly flawed main characters are fantastic, so long as the writer is not in denial of those flaws. Toby could have been entertaining if Olsen had sought out the humor in her shortcomings. If she was going to create a mildly neurotic young woman with a pretty mundane life, she could have made her funny.

I kept envisioning Toby hitting 40 and finding herself 50 pounds heavier, in an unhappy marriage, with her only life joy being her addiction to collecting Beanie Babies and cherub figurines off of Ebay.

I was bored reading it and now I'm just frustrated that I kept giving it the benefit of the doubt, all the while expecting something positive to pop up and redeem it

Rating:
Summary: Making the world safe for Chick-Lit
Review: Chick lit is much maligned, and a sometimes deservedly embarrassing moniker for books peppered with irritating baby obsessed/marriage obsessed/expensive shoe obsessed neurotics who make one feel embarassed to be sharing a gender with said character. Thank God Babe in Toyland is not this kind of book.

The kind of book Babe *is* is a deftly written fun little read which leaves no bad aftertaste in your mouth about your gender or the plot. Characters are complex, interesting, funny and believable and the prose is conciously peppered with clever writing rather than falling back on stereotypes and hackneyed phrases. As we follow the main character Toby through her world of kooky friends (chain smoking best friend working at goody two shoes healthy company implores her doctor beau to practice blood draws on her arm so co-workers will believe she is a drug addict), wacky ideas (main character decides to court a TV weatherman by mailing him hokey, anonymous poems), and goofy mishaps (lead character paralell parks blindfolded to reduce stress) I found myself wanting a sequel so I could hear more about what happens with all the secondary characters and locations we only get glimpses of here.

I've read a dozen paperbacks since this one which aren't half so well written and aren't nearly so fun as this little romp. Why I don't read more about this book in the press I'll never know. It's one of the nicest paperbacks of the year, and damn it would fit in your beach bag so perfectly.

Rating:
Summary: Chick lit with a twist
Review: I picked up this book out of desperation (could not find anything else to purchase at the bookstore). The cover was fun and I admit, I do buy books based on their covers sometimes.

What a joy! This book was such fun to read. Not too silly and not too serious - a good blend of the two. I even liked all the characters,which is nice and rare in chick lit books these days.

The writing is fun and breezy and although I must admit that I did not really find there was a huge plot going on, the end completely caught me by surprise!!!

If you like chick lit, this is a good one. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Better books out there
Review: I was really surprised that this book received so many good reviews. I agree with the people who said this is a waste of time. I enjoy all kinds of books, chick lit included and feel that this one is mediocre. Better books are out there.



Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing!
Review: I've just proven that the cliche "don't judge a book by its cover" is very true especially in this book. I've bought this book because of its cute cover and interesting plot. When I've finished reading it, I was really disappointed. Toby is not funny, she's weird. I think some scenes were written just to increase the book's pages. The twist was ok but not satisfying. I would rather have Toby end up with the other guy.

In short, I have had better.

Rating:
Summary: Not just another pretty cover!
Review: This book was recommended to me by a Borders salesperson and I was not steered wrong! The behind-the-scenes look at the Toy Biz left me wanting to know more. The characters were great - especially Toby (the main character) - just the right mix of happy-go-lucky and realistic - I really wanted things to work out for her (and they did)! Pick up this book and you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: This is FICTION, people!
Review: You know, every once in a while, someone comes along who misses the point of something so thoroughly that you just want to...well, let's say you just want to explain it to them so they can understand the world a bit better.

This is ROMANTIC FICTION, people. It's supposed to entertain. But you know what? Before I get off on some diatribe, ranting and raving, let me stop myself: you don't have to take my word for it. The entire first chapter of the book is available online, at www.readeugenie.com ... you can check out Ms. Seifer's witty, entertaining prose there. If you hate it, fine, but I'm betting you won't.

I quite liked it, actually, and I'm a GUY. You know, the gender that this type of fiction is not supposed to be for. But I can truthfully say that the real joy of _Babe in Toyland_ is in the small details--the little filigrees on her prose, the added (admittedly unnecessary) figures of speech, references, one-sentence-stories that just pop out all over the place.

I loved the character of Toby, but I think that I've also developed my skill of reading where I can tell the difference between liking a character as a fictional character, whose exploits are written for my amusement, and liking (or disliking) a character because I wouldn't like her if she were a real person. Novelwriting is not the craft of jotting down the people and experiences of your life; that's called living. Novelwriting is storytelling, and this story is a charming one, and well-told.

Not being able to make the distinction between life and fiction can be a source of great frustration as a reader, because instead of trying to enjoy the STORY of what happens to (let's say) Hester Prynne, you are busily trying to decide if Hester would like to have lunch at that cozy new lunch place across town, and if she would, would you really enjoy hanging out with her, because you can always invite someone you liked more, maybe even have lunch the three of you.

To summarize: if you look to your novels to tell you interesting stories, and tell them well, then read this book. As I said, you don't have to take my word for it--go read the first chapter at www.readeugenie.com ! But if you're looking to your novels to fill some social void in your life, and give you imaginary friends to hang out with, well, I guess you could always join Eric Cartman for his fantasy tea parties with his stuffed animals.

But spare the rest of us your vitriol.