Home :: Books :: Romance  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance

Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Thin Pink Line (Red Dress Ink)

The Thin Pink Line (Red Dress Ink)

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $9.71
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Really not worth your time
Review: Humourless, lacklustre and pretty much one of the worst novels of this kind I have ever encountered. The author gets so caught up in her own delusion that she is funny that she creates the thinnest of plots, subplots and characters. Despite her best efforts to sell herself as a born and bred Londoner, if this were truly the case I would be very surprised. This book is not only insulting to one's intelligence but also to any decent sense of humour. It is peppered with so many Americanisms and misquoted British slang that I just winced.
In true Bridget Jones fashion we have our heroine working in a publishing house, suffering an intolerable mother, living in Knightsbridge of course, throw in the gay best friend for good measure and there you have it, the combination for the perfect novel. Only it's not.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny! Great fun for anyone who's even considered pregnancy
Review: I admit it, I picked up The Thin Pink Line because I was trying to conceive at the time and anything with a bright pink home pregnancy test on it would catch my eye--but it was the bizarre, slightly twisted storyline that got me hooked. Ms. Baratz-Logsted has written a fine, funny story with a slightly dark twist, as main character Jane Taylor decides to fake a pregnancy for all the "perks." As main characters go, Jane walks that fine line between being an adorably scatterbrained gal and being an awful, horrendous person. At times you want her to succeed at her crazy scheme, at times you look forward to seeing her fail. She's kind of like a British Lucy Ricardo--only a little less "zany" and a little more "insane" (and of course, sans the Cuban hubby and the bright red hair.)

The novel is by turns hysterically funny, slightly over-the-top and quite satirical. Jane's awful relationship with her mother and sister was as biting as her relationship with her gay friend David (pronounced Duh-VEED) was sweet and wonderul--too bad the most perfect man in her life is gay! I also found the scenes at the publishing house to be particularly funny, especially when Jane tries to deal with unfavorable reviews of a novel set in the USA written by a British author (and Jane's only remaining client). Considering this is a novel set in the UK but written by an American, it seemed like a bit of tongue-in-cheek self-deprecating humor, and it does elicit a good knowing laugh.

Yes *spoiler alert* the ending was a bit too simplistic, at least for my taste (though I hear there are far more twists and turns in the sequel "Crossing the Line")--but overall, watching Jane struggle through this made-up pregnancy and the weird and often scathing insights she gains into the world of mommies-to-be, makes this novel a great, fun and funny read. I highly recommend it to anyone who's even ever thought of pregnancy (guys included)!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: R.R. Writer/Reader Chicago
Review: I adored this book! It's the perfect choice to curl up with on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was milking the last 40 or so pages because I didn't want it to end. Bravo to Lauren Baratz-Logsted! She makes the writing look deceptively easy. She has acheived something with her character Jane that is extremely difficult. She has taken a character whose behavior is morally questionable and still manages to get the reader behind her all the way. Even if you disapprove of some of Jane's actions, you're still pulling for her and that is the sign of an extremely skillful writer.

This book will make you laugh, make you stop and think and make you want to share it with a friend! It's smart and clever and there are surprises right up until the very end. What an accomplishment and what luck for us that her second novel, Crossing the Line, is already out there waiting for us!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funnier Than Bridget Jones
Review: I loved The Thin Pink Line. Jane is the most self-centered and self-involved character that you'll ever meet but she does have her own logic and she will definitely make you laugh out loud. Who can argue that everyone deserves to be treated as well as a pregnant woman, Jane just wants to bask in the glow and live in the rosy world that pregnant women live in - what's wrong with that? You'll read right up to the last few pages as Jane approaches the end of her 9th month and you'll never guess how Baratz-Logsted can possibly end this crazy ride but she pulls it off with flair. A fun, silly, witty, take you out of your day to day doldrums kind of book - I give it 4 1/2 stars.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: well-written with a terrible story..
Review: i NEVER feel strongly enough about chick lit books to review them, but this book brought out some strong feelings in me. yes it's a bit witty, and well-written. but the protagonist is SO ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING that it's difficult to get through the book. she's a terrible cariacature of a decent person, and i worry that the author actually thought people might find her sympathetic. i kept waiting for something to happen to turn it around but unbelievably, the ending is worse than the rest of the book. don't waste your time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible Book
Review: I'd like to say that anyone who has ever tried to get pregnant would be offended by this book, but since this book was given to me by a friend from my son's playgroup, I guess I can't generalize. I didn't find the premise of this book funny at all. I thought it was a stretch and the prose annoying and simplistic. I dreaded picking it up to finish it. And I feel sorry for the poor soul who picks it out of my garbage can to read!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: entertaining but slightly whacked
Review: In the beginning, Jane honestly thinks she is pregnant and tells several people as well as her boyfriend Trevor. Then she gets her period and is despondent over losing out on how nice every one was to her when they thought she was "a preggo". So she decides to keep up the charade by faking a positive pregnancy test and then trying to become actually pregnant.

But it can't possibly be that smooth, and soon Jane is caugh tup in simulating a pregnancy for 9 months with no hope of having a baby to show for it at the end.

This isn't so " ha ha hee hee" as all other chicklit seems to be. I appreciate that Jane says you can't "turn around in a bookstore without seeing pink-covered books about the adventures of a twentysomething Londoner who works in publishing trying to meet Mr. Right." Except Jane has just described her own character in this book to a tee, and it's just not enough irony to offset the fact that you have probably read some variation of this book at least 12 times before.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So impossible to like that you'll love her
Review: Jane is a most unusual heroine, the kind of self-involved person who makes life tough even for her best friends. She's the kind of person you love to argue with, who does irritating, ridiculous things--but who somehow makes you happy when she retains her true character and doesn't reform herself in the end. This is a fun read, one which leaves you wondering what happens next--and waiting for the next book. Unforgettable!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The perfect gift of laughter for any woman on your list!
Review: Move over Bridget Jones. From the first pages I knew Lauren Baratz Logsted had written a jewel of chick lit. This hilarious fake pregnancy romp will make you hold your ribs with glee, even if you never considered having a baby.
The thin pink line is that of the home pregnancy test pictured on the cover. Jane, a cunning British editor, refuses to give up her pregnant status right away when she discovers she is not having a baby after all. But whenever she tries to end the charade, peer pressure, financial considerations, unexpected circumstances and clever plot twists trap her deeper into the lie. Dreading discovery, Jane leads a complicated double life and even falls in love, all the while brazenly fooling attentive co-workers, friends, and close family.
You want to laugh and you want to cry. You want to talk some sense into the misguided little darling. The story manipulates the reader into accepting the unbelievable. From fake sonograms to maternity clothes, padded tummy and baby showers, Jane makes her share of mistakes as well. On each page you expect the ticking bomb to explode, and you keep reading, to find out how Crazy Jane could possibly pull off this implausible stunt for yet another chapter. Is Jane mad? Certainly. Clever? Without a doubt. Human? Endearingly so.
Are pregnancy symptoms a thing of the mind? Very possibly, as Jane feels them all. Eventually she succeeds in bringing her fake pregnancy all the way to the ninth month. But in the process, Jane also learned about babies and mothers, she re-evaluated her life, her career, her relationships. She now recognizes the value of true love and is finally willing to sacrifice to its altar. Although somewhat contrived, the surprise ending still tastes of serendipity.
The perfect gift of laughter for any woman on your list.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A triple dose of satire over a scoop of inside-out cliche'.
Review: The Thin Pink Line

Lauren (Hyphe-Natal) Baratz-Logsted has written a wickedly funny satire that should even make members of the opposite sex read a book about pregnancy, and like it. In this case a fake pregnancy. The twists of storyline, wring out insight upon insight; revealing self absorbed behavior, that we have all dabbled in, now haven't we?

The reader is treated to several triple levels of life imitating art and vise versa. When your brain is not being twisted with unabashed orgies of logical incest, your gut will be wrenched with guilty laughter at yourself for enjoying this zany bit of fiction; cooked up by a writer, who was really pregnant when she wrote it.

Jane suckers her friends, fellow workers and boss, with a pregnancy gone awry and a hope people will treat her better; while her thought process, satirizes the society in which we all swim.

Now we couldn't miss a chance, to thread our needle wit with such a delightfully spun tale, now could we?

Read this at your own risk. Your ego could get skewered.

The only negative for me? I thought the smattering of rough language could have been left out, but then perhaps I'm a little old fashioned.

If you enjoyed "Auntie Mame", you will enjoy this book.

The ending will surprise you.

Men should love this book too.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates