Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Anna Maxted is incredible! This is a book I would read over and over again. Her honest style and wit kept every page turning, and made it hard to put it down. I've recommended it to many girlfriends who have felt the same. I cannot wait to read "Running in Heels." May can't come fast enough!
Rating: 
Summary: Another great British Singles Novel!!
Review: During the initial Bridget Jones craze, I was overwhelmed with the amount of single British women stories out there on the bookshelves. A lot of them were clones and many of them were so ridiculous, I put it down after 20 pages. But when I began Getting Over It, I knew this was different. Sure, the general plotline is there. But Helen was a character I could love! She was vulnerable but sassy. Slightly overeactive but understandable considering the stress she was under. Her father passed away, she'd been through several jerky boyfriends and keeping up with her tyrannical boss, Laetitia and her closest friends, Lizzy and Tina, was quite a chore! When Prince Charming in the form of the neighborhood veterinarian showed up, I knew Helen had met her match. This novel will make you laugh, make you cry and entertain beyond all of the other Bridget wanna-be's.
Rating: 
Summary: Actually 3 1/2 stars...
Review: Well, I think I might have reached capacity in the single gal in London lamenting over her family/body/job/lack of boyfriend genre. If you take a look at the other books I've reviewed, you'll see that I've been around the block with the likes of Marian Keyes, Isabel Wolff, Helen Fielding, and scads of other writers who want to cash in on the next Bridget Jones. Getting Over It, like many of its kin, is a relaxing, enjoyable read. Ms. Maxted is witty, and she tells an engrossing yarn. But, this can't hide the fact that the plot is ultimately yawningly predictable and the characters are more caricatures than representations of real, fleshed-out people. BUT WAIT! I _did_ like the book. I would simply warn readers to be sure that they know what they're getting into. It's not great literature; you won't sit around mulling over its moral implications for hours. It's a fun little story about a 20-something gal whose father dies, mom goes temporarily nuts, roommate kicks her out, cat pees in her underwear drawer, and friend is a victim of domestic abuse. And then there's the obligatory love interest who waxes and wanes throughout the course of the novel. Good fun, but I think my next choice will be a bit more substantial.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I expected something completely different. Instead I found it depressing. I didn't find any humor in what Helen's mother went through. I was completely bothered by the entire plot. I don't find death at all humorous. I don't think that dealing with a death of a father or a spouse is comical in anyway. If anything I felt sorrow for the character's mother and wished she had a better daughter to help her deal with her lose.
Rating:
Summary: Really Fun Read!
Review: Getting Over It was an extremely entertaining read with many laugh out loud moments. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: It's such a great book! I love it!
Rating:
Summary: Simply put, an absolutely fantabulous book!
Review: I loved this book. A lot. But what's so strange is that when I tried to convey exactly why, everything came out sort of negative... very long, very complicated and busy, the plot sounds like every other book these days - non-skinny single London woman with a kooky mother looking for love in all the wrong (and some right) places...when I wasn't thinking anything negative at all! In fact, all of these things are what makes Getting Over It so great - and it's a tribute to Anna Maxted's writing skills that she can make a book such as this so unique, original, powerful and downright funny.I really don't want to give anything away because I so enjoyed not knowing what exactly was going to happen next or, perhaps more to the point, what silly thing Helen would do next. The character are marvelous - living, breathing, fully-fleshed out creatures... even those who are, and are meant to be, caricatures or stereotypes (it's somehow like Maxted gives them more substance than they even know they have... that's a neat trick, but how does she do it?). Getting Over It also deals with complicated emotions - there's much more to Helen and her life than her mother or men, and we get to explore some of it. That's rare these days, as characters emotional lives are usually, um, rather simple? Best of all is the heroine, Helen. Sure, you could easily compare her to any of the other fictional single Londoners who populate the literary landscape these days, but that doesn't do her justice - she's smart, funny, insecure, impulsive, caring, emotional and real, and we witness a big chunk of her life (an inordinately long time in modern fiction) as she deals with a huge loss and other everyday disaster.... I was very sad to see her go when I finished the book - I almost didn't want to - but I HAD to find out what happened. At any rate, don't be turned off by the cosmetic similarities between this and others - Getting Over It and Helen are unique, and this book is simply too good to pass up. I cannot recommend it enough!
Rating: 
Summary: what a disappointment!
Review: I ordered this book thinking I was going to enjoy it as I did "Bridget Jones' Diary", but I was unpleasantly surprised. The heroine, Helen, is such a loser that every time something bad happened to her I thought "it serves you right". The author annoyed me by creating really lame plot situations to stretch out the romance between Helen and Tom, and after counting at least six grammatical or spelling errors I realized that the whole book seemed rushed and cheap.!!
Rating:
Summary: HILARIOUS- a very impressive first novel by Maxted!
Review: There are times I myself have thought of writing a novel. Then I read books like "Getting Over It" and I wonder how I could ever write something as fabulous. Anna Maxted is brilliant- in a word. Her novel involves Helen Bradshaw, a 20-something Brit who is forced to face some long-buried demons when her father suddenly dies of a massive heart attack. "How can this possibly be hilarious?", you say. Maxted cleverly weaves histerical situations between the serious ones, and very kindly lets us into Helen's psyche as she struggles to understand her relationship (or lack thereof) with her father, and co-dependency on her mother. Helen meets the wonderful Tom, who (through a mishap) offers to drive her to her fathers burial. He is keen on her from the start, and Helen is intrigued. But, her landlord Marcus (he of the hairy back species) decides to get in the way. Helen's trials with love, relationships, and mediocre jobs is pretty realistic, and made her feel like one of my girlfriends. Meanwhile, Helen's mother tries to superficially slit her wrists for some attention,and once again, Helen is forced to drop everything in her life and run to help her. Yeah, yeah, I know youre thinking "Geez, why don't I just rent a Bergman film, stick my head in the oven and it will be the same experience as reading this depressing novel". Don't be fooled by the serious overtones- I got home from work about 1 a.m. this weekend, exhausted, and ended up reading until 3:45a.m. because I simply had to read chapter after chapter, holding a washcloth over my mouth to keep my laughter from waking the rest of the household. If you're looking for a book to inspire you or bring you to your knees, turn on ABC and wait for Oprah to deem her "pick of the month". However, it you want a good old bellylaugh, which I recently found out burns quite a few calories, then get this book and start slimming away!!
Rating:
Summary: DySfUnCtIoNaL Relationships and a New Best Friend
Review: After reading GETTING OVER IT I now know two things: 1. Someone else's relationships are just as-if not more-dysfunctional than my own. 2. Helen Bradshaw is my new best friend. Anna Maxted's first hilarious novel is the story of Helen Bradshaw, a British 20-something who prefers "trousers" to skirts (her legs are stumpy) has a plump kitten named Fatboy who farts a lot, and most importantly has bad luck with men. Helen works as an assistant to the head honcho Laetitia at Girltime magazine along with her two very different friends Tina and Lizzy. Tina is sardonic and fashion hip, while Lizzy is sugary sweet and health conscious. Helen lives in a flat in London with her college buddies Luke(tactless, and goofy), and Marcus (attractive yet hairy). While reading this novel, I felt as if Helen was confiding her deepest darkest secrets to me. There wasn't a moment where I was bored. GETTING OVER IT is honest, hysterically funny, and hard to put down. There are some books where you can separate the genuine honest feelings of the author from literary embellishment. In this novel there was no trace of exaggeration, just pure honesty. GETTING OVER IT is truly an astonishing debut.
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