Author: Lauren WeisbergerYear: 2013
Genre: Chick lit
Reading Level: Adult
Plot
Summary: Ten years after quitting her job at Runway and escaping the nightmare that was working for Miranda Priestly, Andrea Sachs has found job satisfaction and is about to marry the man of her dreams. Her happiness is short lived, as her personal life takes a turn for the unexpected. When Miranda Priestly enters her life again, Andrea isn't sure her career--or sanity--can survive another tenure under Miranda's thumb.
Red Flags: Language, some canoodling, an overabundance of descriptions
My Rating: C
I have this weird thing for Lauren Weisberger's books, in that I have to read all of them but I think they are almost all terrible. Well, her latest does not break this trend. The Devil Wears Prada was decent (and spawned a fun movie), but this follow-up is as disappointing as it is unnecessary. For one thing, Miranda is hardly in it and there is no revenge on anyone. In fact, I'm pretty sure the word "revenge" isn't even used in this book. It's really just an update on Andy's life and most of her life is not super interesting--at least not interesting enough to warrant nearly 400 pages. She spends most of her time mentally freaking out about things that happened ten years earlier.
It's not that Lauren Weisberger is the worst writer, but she's just not very good either. While I get that these books involve trendy fashion things, these books are going to be so painfully dated in just a few years. Along those lines, she is obsessed with useless details. Not just clothes (which makes sense), but even things like the types of food at a dinner and the unending name dropping. Must we list every item of food at a clam bake that happened years before the book's timeline? Must we mention that Andy gets weekly e-mails from Babycenter? Must we mention that her fiance has his own espresso machine? Must we?? I expected a certain amount of name dropping and fashion description from this book (and that does not bother me), but if you took out all of that it would be a slim book indeed.
I'm not against a fluffy book by any means, and honestly, I have never read any good chick lit. But still, I exercise my right to think this book is lame!
(I should say that I did kind of enjoy the last 50 pages or so, when things happened.)
"I have this weird thing for Lauren Weisberger's books, in that I have to read all of them but I think they are almost all terrible."
ReplyDeleteYou and I have this very much in common. I agree with your review 100%. I should have read the first few chapters and then the last 50 pages. That would have been better.
I got really tired of Andy in the first book, mainly because she seemed just as vapid as the people she disliked, but in a different way. I'll probably borrow this book from my library because, like you, I've read every book she's put out. In terms of chicklit, I like Jennifer Weiner much better (Good In Bed made me LOL a lot).
ReplyDeleteLucky for you, Andy is just as irritating! Actually, I think she's worse...
DeleteYour comment about reading things even though you know they're terrible is exactly how I feel about the Kingdom Keepers books. These crazy things we ridiculous readers do.
ReplyDelete