Rating: 
Summary: Wrong sized Shoes
Review: I must reluctantly agree that In Her Shoes is not quite the follow-up novel I had hoped for from Jennifer Weiner. This is not to say that I actually disliked _In Her Shoes_, just that I had hoped for more. To me, this book reads like a not yet final draft of what could become a truly good book, but one which was published too soon, and that is a disservice to both Jennifer Weiner and her readers. If a writer friend had given me this as a manuscript and asked for my commentary, I would have given it back to them with the basic judgement ¡§All characters need further development to be truly believable.¡¨ I also agree that this book feels too hurried in its pace. The plot too, needed further development. And a subtler touch, as well. One more draft might have done the trick. The contrast between Rose and Maggie provides good basic material. Rose, who is capable and successful in the practical sense, but who has been made to feel self-conscious about her body and unattractive by the brow-beating of Sydelle the Stepmother. And Maggie, whose focus has been on her physical self but who realizes it hasn¡¦t taken her where she wants to go, or brought her real love or security. This contrast between the sisters is never used to its best advantage It¡¦s not that I don¡¦t believe that painful and shocking betrayals can¡¦t happen between sisters in a book, but I don¡¦t feel that this one was particularly well or subtly handled. You could hear it coming from miles away, and therefor it didn¡¦t have the needed shock value. I actually feel that Maggie is more believable than Rose, but that¡¦s a very relative term. I liked Maggie best when she¡¦s learning to survive at Princeton, blending in where she doesn¡¦t really belong. We are rather hit over the head with her resourcefulness, but it¡¦s still one of the first truly positive qualities we see in her. Rose felt forced and not particularly likeable all the way through. If I were Maggie, I would not want a sister like Rose sitting in judgement on me, either. One of the chief weaknesses in _In Her Shoes_ are the secondary characters. The appear to have been drafted out of central casting, and really, there was no need for Cannie to appear in this book. If she was going to be brought in at all, she needed to be more instrumental to moving the plot forward. Jim the bad boyfriend, Simon Stein, the Geeky but Decent Second Choice, Sydelle the stepmother or Stepmonster were all walking cliches. I was most disappointed in Rose and Maggie¡¦s father. Weiner needs to work on portraying difficult father-daughter relationships. In _Good In Bed_, the father is irredeemably awful through his deliberate cruelty and then neglect of his children by his first marriage. But he¡¦s a force that moves the plot forward, however unbelievably. In In Her Shoes Weiner sins in the opposite direction. It¡¦s hard to get an idea of WHY this father cuts Ella Hirsch out of her granddaughter¡¦s lives, as he seems incapable of ordinary emotion, let alone passion. He¡¦s an ineffectual sad sack who leaves his daughters very much to the mercy of their stepmother. Sydelle herself is another character who seems too awful to be real¡Xthe archetypal Evil Stepmother. It was impossible for me to feel sympathy for her two thirds of the way through Shoes when she whines that she ¡§was always second best.¡¨ This is hardly a new theme in literature, or an unusual awkwardness in modern blended families. The grandmother, Ella Hirsch also needed work. She supposedly brings Maggie and Rose back together after their estrangement, but other than sheltering Maggie in her home, I couldn't see that she was really the catalyst through which Rose and Maggie can make up their differences.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, but not the worst
Review: After loving Good in Bed I couldn't wait to read her second book, but I felt that it lacked something in the story. The story did not make me want to feel like I care for the characters. Rose and Maggie are sister who are as different as night and day. Rose is the serious one who went to collage and got her degree and a job right out of college. Rose on the surface seems happy with her life, but deep down Rose knows that there is something that is not right. It is not until she and her sister find out something about life that it makes her want to change her life. Maggie on the other hand is the wandering butterfly; she has bounced from job to job, guy to guy and from place to place. She occasionally wonders if this is the best, it is going to get for her. When things happen with her sister and her she makes the choice to leave her life that she knew behind and go find out some truth about Rose and her family. Overall, this was a cute book, there were some sections I could have done without that would have made the book move at faster pace, but even though this was not anything like Good in Bed, I will still pick up the next book that the author writes.
Rating:
Summary: Bitter Weiner
Review: Let me start by saying that I loved the first 180 pages of Good in Bed; Weiners' first effort. The conclusion however, left something to be desired. So I had great expectations for "In Her Shoes", a second novel by a "matured" writer. I found this sophmore effort to be absolutely disturbing. The manner in which the main character Rose(aka Jennifer Weiner, I'm assuming) holds herself upon some sort of self-rightous pedestal of judgement is downright transparent and creepy. The depiction of the younger sister Maggie, is awful. It's not so much what Maggie does or says, it's Roses' bizarre interpretation of these things that is deeply disturbing. I sincerely hope that Weiner has drawn a finer line in the sand with this novel than with good in bed; when it comes to fact and fiction. This book was more of a literary assault on the character of Maggie, than a good read. I suppose obese women with healthy younger sisters everywhere will enjoy the bashing of Maggie. A free spirited fox who struggles (like all of us) to find her place in the world, or as Weiner might see it, a call girl with a thirst for blood. After I forced my way through this book, I returned it, claiming I had gotten two for my birthday. Good riddance, I have a distinct feeling that somewhere out there, Philadelphia or wherever, Jennifer Weiner has a sister who has been defamed and betrayed. Shame on Jennifer Weiner, This novel is nothing more than a bitter attack on someone from her personal life, and it's amazing that she is trying to mask this as fiction. She would be better off settling her scores with the help of a good therapist, and not waste our time putting it in print.
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh!!
Review: I really enjoyed Good In Bed. The characters moved me and I couldn't put it down. I hoped for the same in Jennifer Weiner's newest book, In Her Shoes. Many people have written their opinions about the book and given summaries, so I will just get to why I am giving it One Star. There's a false note about the book. The characters don't seem "real", more like caricatures. Many times while reading, I said, "oh please!" I didn't care about the characters and I especially detested Maggie, which was too bad that the author made her so detestable. I had no sympathy for Maggie. Even in the first chapter I should've known better when Maggie is getting "done" from behind and she notes "with pleasure that her thighs - firmed from hours on the treadmill, smooth as plastic from a recent waxing - did not so much as quiver, no matter how violent Ted's ministrations got." Is this a joke? Was this supposed to be funny? If so, I didn't laugh, just merely rolled my eyes as I did often throughout the novel. One star because this is an author who can write (proof in point, read the first 1/3 of Good in Bed) and make characters that resonate, but her follow-up was a shallow attempt of being humorous yet touching. If you're curious as to the book because you loved Good In Bed, then borrow a copy from your local library.
Rating:
Summary: If this book came with a remote....
Review: I'd been hearing a lot of buzz about this author so I decided to buy her new book. Well, if this book had a remote, I'd be hitting the Mute button: bye bye, buzz. Somehow I made it to the ending, but this is distressingly shallow material, not at all the family drama I'd been led to expect. Such trite writing...for one thing, the dialogue is terrible, especially when characters are supposed to be witty. Weiner seems to draw all her ideas about conversation not from real life, but from TV (judging from the glance I took at her website, that's EXACTLY where Weiner must get her ideas). Nobody outside of sitcoms talks like this. The characters are from central casting (there's even the obligatory African-American best friend...you go, girl!) and Maggie seems to have been written just so the author could bat her around. She's so stupid she can't even succeed as a bimbo! Not to spoil the ending, but what kind of book tries to pass off as a triumph a scene where a 28-year-old woman manages to read a poem aloud without making a mistake? This is Maggie's high point? What contempt! And why would anyone be attracted to a man like Simon Stein? Simply because he knows what to order at every restaurant in town? We're supposed to think Maggie is the dumb one, but Rose is smart when she marries a ridiculous character like that? I think there's meant to be a Cinderella motif here (nasty stepmother, shoes) but it's very weak. This novel is like TV between hard covers. Anne Tyler and Zadie Smith have nothing to worry about.
Rating:
Summary: hasty follow-up
Review: IN HER SHOES revisits the themes that Weiner fleshed out so well in GOOD IN BED -- the trials and tribulations of "big girls," occupational happiness, troublesome family dynamics. Her solo effort was fun, but still felt complete and executed well. IN HER SHOES aims higher and falls shorter -- the plot is far more intricate yet isn't as tight and the characters are more cardboard-cutout-ish. This is a more ambitious work, to be sure. Weiner delves deep into the messiness of family dynamics -- most notably the competition and hurt feelings between two vastly different siblings. But she gets sidetracked a lot -- a doomed relationship with a boss, the long-lost grandmother, the love you find when/where you aren't looking. A lot of these are resolved too quickly and easily, or are developed with the subtlety and grace of a freight train. That said, Weiner's characters are still infinitely likable, and there is much here that people will readily identify with -- of course, these were also some of the strong points of GOOD IN BED. Weiner's thoughtful examination of the trials and tribulations of being a "big girl" are still welcome and refreshing. Nonetheless, she is clearly a better writer than this. She revisits old ground here and doesn't do it with the freshness and completeness of GOOD IN BED.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely disappointing
Review: It's hard to beleive that this book is even written by the same author as Good in Bed. The only thing I can figure, is that she was under the gun to get something out FAST in hopes that it would ride GIB's coattails. I was so annoyed with the characters by the end of the first chapter, that it's a wonder I went on. I'm so sorry I didn't wait for paperback. I won't even pass this one on to friends.
Rating:
Summary: Huge disappointment
Review: Did Publishers Weekly really call this book "witty and original...a must-read", as the book jacket says? I find that hard to believe. I liked Good in Bed, but this was a waste... Completely unbelievable and thoroughly unlikeable character of Maggie really doomed it. Ugh. The writing was much poorer than in the first book. Too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Another gem from Jennifer Weiner!
Review: I liked GOOD IN BED, but with IN HER SHOES, Jennifer Weiner has become one of my favorite writers. Yes, this book is not quite as light and frothy as GIB, but to me, that shows that Weiner is a versatile writer who's not going to keep writing the same book over and over again. Both of the main characters (Rose and Maggie) grew and changed during the course of the book, and learned a lot about themselves and about each other. Even though Maggie can be extremely unlikable at some points in the book, I thought Weiner did an excellent job of explaining what made her act out. Growing up without a mom AND in the shadow of a "perfect" big sister must be extremely difficult; I had a lot of sympathy for Maggie, even when she behaved badly. I also thought the older characters were very well-drawn. And if you're a dog lover, you'll be happy to know that dogs play an important role in this book (Nifkin, from GOOD IN BED, even turns up for a cameo!). Hooray for Jennifer Weiner -- she's obviously one of the most gifted young authors around.
Rating:
Summary: I'm surprised this isn't a Kelly Ripa pick -
Review: - and that's not a compliment.
I'm not a literary snob. I like chick fiction as much as the next twentysomething woman (my favorite: The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing). But I didn't enjoy Good in Bed. Still, with all the positive buzz In Her Shoes has received (this book was obviously a priority for her publisher's marketing and publicity departments), I decided to give Jennifer Weiner another chance. I was disappointed yet again - predictable plot, boring/annoying characters, a sister dynamic that doesn't ring true (it's hard to believe that Rose misses Maggie so much, because Maggie is so one-dimensionally awful).
Sorry, I just don't agree that we have some great new literary talent here - Weiner's writing is indistinguishible from that of any other author who has done a book for Red Dress Ink. But I gave this book two stars because it's a good beach or airplane book - admire the pretty cover, read it fast, and forget about it. And it's not the worst thing I've read recently (that prize goes to Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber).
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