Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: Having lived in West LA for 6 years, including 4 years at USC, this book sounded a lot like many of the females I knew and loved in college and after. What a fun read. I read this book in a day because I just couldn't put it down. Clarissa is a total B**** and that is exactly why people love her. She says what others only think. Her outrageous lies, offset by Glazer by parentheses, bring all out belly laughts. The ending was a little "neat," but it was fitting that her true love ended up being a master manipulator just like herself. One of the reviewers asked, "What LA is this?" and I can answer that: it is the LA of Studio City, West Hollywood and South Beverly Hills. The wanna-be's who are so close but not quite good enough. The LA of social climbers and gold diggers. The girls who live north of Santa Monica Boulevard but are on the wrong side of Doheny. Or they live in the right area but in the guest quarters. If only....
I can't believe I didn't know this writer before now!
If you liked "Trading Up," "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan," or "Sex and the City (the novel)" you will love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Odd Book...
Review: I knew from page one that I wasn't going to finish reading this book but I forced myself to get to page 55 before deciding to stop for good. The main character, Clarissa, is an odd duck and certainly lacking values, class and common sense. When I read a book, I want to be able to relate to the main character in some way...I cannot relate to the "glam" lifestyle this girl leads of sleeping around, spending loads of money, and acting like spoiled brat with her little clan of friends. Another problem I had with the book was the crude language. I curse with the best of them at times, but I don't need to read things like "Clarissa's mom was taking a dump in Clarissa's own bathroom" (page 8). That's not something I want to read in a book I'm reading for fun. Come on, Ms. Grazer. Surely you can produce something that I will want to read all the way though and not have to force myself to get through 55 pages of torture. I'm only giving this one two stars because it seems unfair to give only one when I didn't read the whole thing....
I think it's quite obvious I do not recommend this title! Find something better to spend your precious reading time on instead!
Rating:
Summary: Good in a cheesy way
Review: This is a good read for traveling and a long weekend. It is very cliched, which makes it funny in some parts but the Southern stereotypes were very annoying and old and very untrue, obviously the author has never been to Atlanta.
Rating:
Summary: What LA is that?
Review: Whenever I read a book set in "LA" I ask myself-- who are these horrible, sick, twisted people??? As a Los Angeles native, I've never had the misfortune to meet anyone as disgusting as the Clarissa-types. While I knew the book wasn't exactly going to be literature, I got tired of the mean spirited, shallow, self-serving "humor" and profanity. A spoof or a satire might make an amusing short story, but page after page after page after page of the same snotty, rude and "not-funny jokes" are not only tiresome, but aren't a good substitute for a good, entertaining story. As I said-- what horrible, sick, twisted characters.
Rating:
Summary: "Maneater" spits it out
Review: Gigi Levangie Grazer's "Maneater" is the evil sister of "Sex and the City." It tries hard to turn into some sort of glitzy Hollywood morality tale wrapped in the story of a former "It" girl. But it's too strained, limp and irritating to be more than self-conscious urban chic-lit.Clarissa Alpert is twenty-eight (real age: thirty-one) and needs a husband. Since she has no skills, no independent income, and her dad may stop sending her money, she needs a rich husband before she hits her "marry by" date. She's slept with every rich'n'powerful guy in Hollywood, but the man she needs is rich producer Aaron Mason. She dates him. They get married very quickly. She uses a turkey baster on their wedding night to make sure that she gets pregnant. But the next morning he reveals that his incredibly wealthy parents have disowned him, and they're going to live at a struggling-actor apartment complex. Clarissa, being quite spoiled, is appalled. But she struggles to maintain her life in the dingy apartment... until she learns that Aaron has some weird secrets of his own. Hollywood is one of those places that just asks to be spoofed. And Grazer does a passable job. Her satire is over-the-top, but cute enough to be vaguely amusing. Not everybody there is like Clarissa and her cohorts, but there are enough that a book like "Maneater" is inevitable. So... whatever. Such satire is amusing in itself. What "Maneater" lacks is good writing. It drags on a lot longer than it should, and too little gets accomplished. Once Clarissa marries Aaron, the only semi-surprising development is that she actually lives in the dingy apartment. Name-dropping, sex-related talk and plenty of whining fill in the gaps between plot developments. (Of which there aren't many) Clarissa is a not-so-good character from the start. She's selfish, spoiled, vain, artificial and described as being sociopathic. So by the time she has a sudden change of heart, you may not care. You may want a Clarissa voodoo doll instead. Supporting characters are caricatures -- shallow pals, hunky ex-boyfriend, annoying quirky parents, and an equally annoying husband. "Maneater" is an overlong piece of froth. Like Clarissa's mother, it's too thin and weird to be much more than a failed satire.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Chic Lit
Review: I read this book in no time. A fun, smart chic lit story and I could picture the characters and their fun escapades and goings-on. Don't miss it for a fun ride!
Rating:
Summary: Four and 1/2 actually for this chick lit!
Review: With her curves and overall maneating charisma, Clarissa Alpert is woman who is a bit smarter than she comes off (much like Jessica Simpson). Going after what she wants with a selfish, but somehow innocent mentality, whether it be a handbag or a man, makes this character endearing. Yet despite everything she's got, Clarissa does not have Mr. Right, and the diamond encrusted biological clock is ticking.
Enter the man she sets her sights on. An up and coming Hollywood "it" producer. Clarissa knows that this man has everything...except her. As things progress Clarissa gets to shop for wedding gowns, rent halls, choose the food, basically plan a fantastic wedding with all the trimmings. Now all she has to do is convince the groom-to-be to marry her. And not only that, but she has to make him think it was all his idea.
Clarissa has her work cut out for her, but for once is it really she who is pulling a fast one? Will her and her Vera Wang dreams live happily ever after? Read this light, funny book to find out! I personally enjoyed this more than The Devil Wears Prada, and I think its just as good as the Shopaholic series.
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