Eating the Cheshire Cat: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Bravo
Review: Bravo Helen Ellis! I sat down with this book on a Saturday afternoon and by 9:00pm that evening I had the phone turned off and was so engrosed in the book that I did not put it down until I had reached the end. It has been a very long time since I have been grabbed like that. I grew up in Tuscaloosa and I can tell you that Eating The Cheshire Cat is a painfully acurate portrayel of what Lynard Skynard is talking about when he sings "The Souths Gonna Do IT Again." I'd like to say to anyone who says this book is unbeievable or overdone...Its fiction. On the otherhand, its also a comedy, and I believe comedy comes from truth. What Helen Ellis has done is take a very real slice of life from a very colorful Southern town and given it some gusto. However, I know its fiction, but I knew several girls like Sarina and Nicole, and a lot of Mothers like the ones in this book. This first book by Ellis is hilarious. I recommended it to my friends and they have all reacted in the same manner. Please read this book and just enjoy it. On a side note, a friend of mine gave a copy of the book to his sister for Christmas. He told me later that she had read it in three days and loved it. He commented that she was not an avid reader, but has recently started asking him and their mother for other recommendations. I think this speaks highly of Helen Ellis' ability to not only captivate her readers for her own book, but her ability to stimulate their interest in a love affair with literature.

Rating:
Summary: For Mr.Powell's English 11 class
Review: Eating the Cheshire Cat is an original, fiction novel of stereotypical life in the South and of how three girls lives intertwined throughout the years from childhood to college. It is a story of growing up and of doing whatever it takes to become comfortable with yourself. Whether it is through your job, your boyfriend, or your need to hide out from the world surrounding you, Sarina, Nicole, and Bitty Jack are willing to do it. As the race for guys, Homecoming Queen, and acceptance gets closer you can see these three girls begin to unravel.
The three main characters in the book are very realistic and most any teenage girl can relate in some degree to the experiences and problems they face. Sarina Summers grew up the little miss perfect in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and with the help of her mother, she fully intends to remain on the top no matter what it takes. She is obsessed with her physical appearance and often uses it to get anything she wants especially from a guy. By putting on the façade of a sweet and innocent beauty queen, she traps her disturbed friend, Nicole Hicks, under her spell and ruins any chance of poor Bitty Jack Carlson escaping the lies Sarina brings upon her family. Nicole is basically obsessed with Sarina and does not have the mental strength and stability to stand up for herself. As she lives her life through Sarina, she increasingly humiliates her strong willed mother, which eventually pushes her farther and farther away from reality.

The last main character is Bitty Jack Carlson an average girl who grew up in the backwoods and lived a very unfortunate life. Although she grew up as the nerd at the camp her parents maintained, she was strong and was determined to make something of herself. With the support of her parents she tried to escape her past by going off to the University of Alabama but when she encounters Sarina again memories of the past began to haunt her. As I read about these girls, I noticed a pattern developing through all their lives. They were all trying to be something they were not. By masking their true selves they were really falling more and more into the southern mold they were all trying so desperately to escape.
The author, Helen Ellis, wrote in a very clear and concise manner, which made it a very easy book to follow and read. The setting of a small southern town and the University of Alabama allowed me to relate to the surroundings and to the feelings of the girls and their families. Although the book went out on a few tangents that were useless and a little odd, it was altogether a delightful and humorous novel.

Rating:
Summary: Dark and Disturbingly Funny - I couldn't put this one down!
Review: Have you ever read a book that you can't take your eyes off of, that makes you laugh out loud, repeatedly? This book was certainly very dark, but it is also one of the funniest reads ever. I recommend this book to anyone who has a sick sense of humor.

Rating:
Summary: Cheshire Cat ends with a big, boring bang
Review: Helen Ellis writes a fun first novel, but lacks a sophisticated style.

When Sarina, Nicole and Bitty Jack are together, no good can come. The hatred, greed and, most dangerous of all, love the three have result in teasing, backstabbing and life ruining attacks.

The characters in Eating the Cheshire Cat are well developed in an unusual way, and depict almost every stereotype one may have of southern young ladies. Ellis amplifies the eccentric side people can possess in this attempt at a Carrie imitation gone terribly wrong.

The novel begins with Sarina Summers drunk in the emergency room. Her mother is by her side, worried not about the alcohol poisoning the doctor is concerned with, but about her daughter's pinky fingers, the one imperfection on the beautiful and popular sixteen-year-old. This is the first of many attempts Sarina and her mother make for Sarina to be perfect, date the perfect guy, live the perfect life. The Summers stop at nothing for what they think will bring them happiness. The two trust only each other, and don't really care about anyone else.

Nicole Hicks is a friend of Sarina's and lives across the street. Her obsession with Sarina is an immense obstacle for Mrs. Hick's attempts at making her daughter a mirror image of herself. Nicole sacrifices all she has for Sarina - grades, dreams, reputation - yet Sarina only manipulates Nicole to get what she wants. Nicole's obsession with Sarina and Mrs. Hicks's obsession with Nicole's success lead to Nicole going crazy, cutting herself after the slightest stressful situation, chopping off her mother's ring finger at a Tri-delt social event and disappearing.

Bitty Jack Carlson's attempts at making something out of her destitute past is always crushed by Sarina's, sometimes not deliberate, acts to stomp everyone down. The two met at an exclusive summer camp where well-to-do Southern families send their children. Bitty Jack's father was caretaker of the facility and she was forced to bunk with the snobs who thought of her as second-class. Her hatred of Sarina began with the teasing thirteen-year-olds often do, escalated when Sarina falsely accused Jack Carlson of spying on her in the bathroom, and peaked when Sarina used that lie to get Bitty Jack's boyfriend and a bid for homecoming queen.

The storyline is unique and entertaining but is ruined by the outlandish ending. Ellis's book is an argument that fun reading cannot be well written. It's not a literary masterpiece but can provide mindless entertainment on a lazy afternoon.

(But I just have to like a book that quotes the Bama fight song.)

Rating:
Summary: Yes, there are people like this in the south
Review: I have lived in Alabama my entire life, and I graduated from Auburn University. I have many friends who went to Bama, and I have visited there many times. There was always a strange feeling there. And Helen Ellis, even though it is fiction, brought that feeling to the pages. It is a fresh bold bloody first novel. I respect her for consistantly raising the stakes higher and higher each page. The book leaves you wanting more, sort of like most of Sarina's boyfriend's. It left me unable to sleep. I kept thinking about it all night. She is brave for dragging out those girls that many of us have inside, or know someone like. It is disturbing to know that the greek system was portrayed not so very far from the truth. It is Southern Gothic. It is fiction. But there is enough truth involved for you to suspend everything you know for a few hours, and believe Helen Ellis. Go down into the rabbit hole. I bet this will upset our states sorority girls. Well, come to think of it-I bet they don't read much anyway. Sorry, I had to say that.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of Jumping Around......
Review: I would have given this book 5 stars had it not jumped around so much, also a few scenario's could have been written differently, not to mention the way Nicole's character was presented as mentally ill.

From beginning to end, I really hated Sarina's character. I also felt that Nicole's character was pretty stupid to hang around with Sarina. Helen's image of Nicole didn't come off as a mentally ill person, just stupid for continuing to wanting to be Sarina's friend when Sarina would only have anything to do with Nicole when she wanted something.

Another thing that would have made the book better would have been to have had Bitty Jack growing up more attractive than what Sarina remembered, same for Bitty's boyfriend. Not to mention, When Bitty was in Sarina's house, Bitty should have clobbered Sarina when she started saying things about her dad. Another thing I would have changed would have been when Sarina seduced Bitty's boyfriend, he should have thrown her out of his house, told her what a horrible person she was, and should have made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with her.

Other than the minor changes that I suggested, it did make a really good read. It was very twisted. I did like the ending, although, I think it should have shown more of what happened between Bitty and her boyfriend after the "incident" (I don't want to spoil it for those that have not yet had the chance to read it), and if things settled down for her father.

Rating:
Summary: Impossible to like
Review: It is hard to like a book when all of the characters are unlikeable, the writing is mundane, and there isn't a shred of humor in it. Helen Ellis is no Lisa Alther. I spared myself by quitting after four chapters but I still want that 20 minutes of my life back.

Rating:
Summary: Campy. Dark. Stereotypical - hey, it's FICTION, folks!
Review: Oh, the joys of being a Southern sorority alumna! You are the women everyone loves to hate. Thanks! ;) Even in a couple of the reviews on here, I've read some catty remarks. But, as a good lady does, I'll just smile my Cheshire Cat smile and read on... :D

Anyway, "Eating the Cheshire Cat" was one of my summer reads this season. Sure, it was a fun, easy read...total fiction of course. This is in the same genre as Heathers or Jawbreaker, except I didn't really shed any tears reading this book. (Not that I remember crying at those movies, either.)

This certainly is no literary masterpiece - like I said, it's just a fun read. If you were in a sorority (esp. Tri Delt) or went to college in the South (esp. Bama), then you will get an extra shudder of joy/familiarity/embarrassment? because you can relate to the setting of this story.

Rating:
Summary: 3 girls. 3 lives.
Review: The intertwining tales of three girls whose lives continually meet up and affect each other in the deepest of ways. Unlike many other people who might read this book, I have no idea about how life is like in the southern community and in reading this, Ellis opened and painted another world for me to experience. Granted, this story is rather dark, with people who go through tremendous sacrifices for beauty, the workings behind a freak show at a circus, the complexities involved in a sexual harrasment scandel, and the reasons behind the mind of a obsessive stalker, just to name a few. This novel is definitely worth the time to get to know.

Rating:
Summary: Very dark comedy
Review: This is hands down one of the most amazing books I have ever read! It is such a twisted sugar free novel. It goes into the life of 3 very different girls Sarina, Nicole, and Bitty Jack. Their lives are all VERY diffrent while somehow connecting on one level or another. Ellis does a great job in detail and she really makes the book come alive. Some actions in this book just jump out at you and make you say "I can't believe she did that" or "OH MY GOD!!" This book is definitely my guilty pleasure and I can't wait to finish the last chapter to see how it all ends up.