Rating: Summary: Not Keyes' Best Review: Overall, this book is nothing but a light and fluffy summer read. While I found some parts quite enjoyable, I would not say this is one of Ms. Keyes' best novels. The main character, Lucy (although flawed like us all) became a bit overbearing as the story progressed, primarily through her ill treatment of her long-time friend, Daniel. Despite the author's attempts at making Daniel appear as a flirtatious and womanizing character, it wasn't carried off very well. Throughout the story, I felt increasingly sorry for Daniel and wondered why he was wasting his time with someone who insulted him and pushed him away during her time of need. As an avid reader, I was not "roped into" perceiving Daniel as a flirt or as a womanizer and seemed to feel his agony at not getting closer to Lucy, despite his failed attempts. Rather than understanding and sympathizing with Lucy (our supposed protagonist), I tended to lean more toward finding out how Daniel was holding up in the story. Gus, another character in the story I found annoying, seemed to just fill the pages with endless chatter and mindless thoughts. I,embarrassingly enough, flipped by some of the pages of the book just to avoid having to endure Gus' never-ending talk. Sad to say, I noticed that I didn't miss anything when I finally began steadily reading after skipping Gus' scenes. Although things get righted at the end of the story -- an ending I really did enjoy and found it well-written -- I felt the 600+ pages of story could have been shortened. Gus' ramblings appeared to have taken up a lot of unnecessary space. This is a fluffy summer read, nothing to keep on the bookshelf.
Rating: Summary: just i love this book Review: actuality i like fantasy books [by david & leigh eddings, margaret weis & tracy hickman, j.r.r. tolkien..etc] but the book is different... really different. and lucy is so sympathic!
Rating: Summary: perfect beach reading Review: Just finished this book over the 4th of july holiday...read it entirely at the beach...i loved that it was completely indulgent, fun and funny. You really get to know the characters, I felt like I knew some of them already...and although Lucy did some things that made me groan, i was completely involved in the book and the characters lives...I loved it. Definitely recommend it!
Rating: Summary: Junk food for the brain Review: I'm a full-time Mom who doesn't get much time to read these days, so I guess that makes me more critical of the books that I do pick up. But I didn't feel like this one was worth the effort. It wasn't that it was terrible - it's a quick read and amusing in parts - but it didn't stretch me in any way and I felt like it was too long and not amusing enough for the simplicity of the story. It started well but didn't keep the momentum up. I wouldn't recommend it. Life's short and there are too many better books out there.
Rating: Summary: Lucy needs a good kick in the [rear]! Review: I Love Keyes books and have read most of them and really enjoyed them. But Lucy got on my nerves so bad. Not only is she a whiny whimp who lets friedns and Gus walk right over here but she is also sooo "respectfull" towards her mother. I felt like slapping her so many times. I felt genuinly sorry for her mother. This was one of Keyes less good books, but still worth the read if you want to get annoyed at somebody. :)
Rating: Summary: What a Whiny Character! Review: I've never read a book before where I had to put it down because I was getting so annoyed with the character. Lucy Sullivan is weak. She lets her coworkers, her goldigging "boyfriend", her parents, and her roomates walk all over her. Then she whines about it the whole time. The only time in the whole book that I was happy with Lucy was when she walked out on her wretched pig of a blind date & left him with the restaurant's most expensive bottle of wine sent to him as she snuck out. Then just to annoy you, she calls the restaurant to try to pay for the bottle the next day because she felt bad for the man who insulted & belittled her. Give me a break! Lucy needs some balls.
Rating: Summary: Laugh out loud funny and touching at the same time Review: I absolutely loved this book. So many great lines had me laughing out loud - such as when Lucy avoids asking her roommates to keep it down late one night, lest she be drawn into drinking a half a bottle of vodka in a "If you can't beat them, join them" exercise, her descriptions of Tom, and the details of why she is reluctant when a man takes her hand and tells her to feel his heartbeat, just to name a few. Yet buried in this breezy prose are some hard realizations for the character of Lucy, such as those epiphanies she has while trying to hold her family together, or when she realizes the repeating pattern in all her relationships. . I have gotten so tired of "women's literature" that reads like the manuscript for a Lifetime TV movie: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (must we keep being tortured with books about unfit lunatic mothers and why it's OK that they have irreparably damaged their children?), The Girls Guide To Hunting and Fishing (this book was terrible and I'm not sure it even had a point), and We Were The Mulvaneys (don't even get me started on what kind of a twisted, repressed, wretched excuse for a mother would think sending her daughter away into exile after she got RAPED was a good solution), and on and on and on. . This book, as well as the other Marian Keyes books I've read, delievers a valid message without making you feel like you want to kill yourself after finishing the last page. Her dry and acerbic sense of humor keep the reader entertained from start to finish, and she always manages to endear the characters to the reader's heart. . I've seen this book advertised as a "beach read", and it is in many ways a light and easy read, but there is plenty of substance and insight to be found, so don't let the categorization fool you.
Rating: Summary: Liked better than Watermelon Review: After reading Watermelon, I decided I had to give Marion Keyes other books a try. I am not disappointed with Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married. In fact, I like it more. Keyes' at time monotonous first-person style in Watermelon is under control in Lucy Sullivan, and the characters are more fleshed out. For example, I did not quite believe that Claire's husband in Watermelon could really exist in real life but the object of Lucy's desire, the incredibly self-centered Gus, was entirely believable (I think I may have dated him myself). I found Lucy's depression and low self-esteem utterly realistic. At times I was exasperated with her-I wanted to shake her out of the poor choices she was making. However, it's been my experience that it's the characters I want to yell at most that I find the most endearing by the end. Definitely pick up this book this summer.
Rating: Summary: I Love Lucy Review: My mom, knowing how picky I am about the books I read, took a chance and bought LUCY SULLIVAN IS GETTING MARRIED for me. Unsure of any book I didn't hand-pick myself, I waited a couple weeks before submersing myself in the hilarious, intriguing, and touching life of Lucy Sullivan. Soon I was consumed by a multitude of feelings for this character, ranging from anger at her alcoholic father and dead-beat boyfriends, to complete empathy with her routine and boring job. Overall, the novel is one of the best I have ever read; endearing and sweet, suspenseful and maddening. I could not put it down and before I even finished I had another Marian Keyes novel already bought.
Rating: Summary: I Don't Know Why, But I Love Lucy Review: Lucy Sullivan can be very annoying. She's too lazy to do her laundry, too dumb to realize her father is an alcoholic, and too ungrateful to appreciate the people who treat her nicely. But there is something about this vulnerable Irish girl plugging away at a dead-end job in London, sharing alcoholic binges with workmates and roommates that touched me. Maybe it was her desperate need to be loved, her witty repartee with herself and others, or just the universal quest to find that special person that touched me, but by book's end I was screaming for it not to end. I wanted more of Lucy, Daniel, Karen, Meredia, Megan, Charlotte, and even Gus. . . well, maybe I'd had enough of Gus. We first meet Lucy when she and her co-workers are about to visit a fortune teller. One glance into her crystal ball and the fortune teller sees marriage for Lucy within 18 months. But Lucy has no prospects having just broken up with Stephen because he treats her too nice. At first skeptical, but becoming hopeful as her two workmates have their fortunes come true, Lucy eagerly picks up the first man she meets at a party and tags him the future Mr. Lucy Sullivan. Too bad he has no home, no money, no job, nothing but a loud mouth and lots of nerve. But Lucy is in love and defends the loathsome Gus to everyone including her best friend Daniel. When Gus disappears, Daniel becomes intimate with her roommate, and a new man comes into the office, things get even funnier. Light but touching, sensitive and emotional, LUCY SULLIVAN IS GETTING MARRIED is sure-fire entertainment for all lovers of British chick lit.
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