Rating:  Summary: Even better than I expected Review: I was expecting something light when I bought this book, something more along the lines of Thirty-Nothing and Bridget Jones. While the book is an easy read, it was heavier than I expected. The book is about Helen Bradshaw, whose father just died. Instead of dealing with her loss right away, she represses those feelings. The rest of the book is kind of a consequence for that. The lives of her friends and family are collapsing around her, and this actually pulls her at times out of her own self-absorbancy, and so does Tom, the gorgeous vet she met (she then promptly, again and again, makes a fool out of herself in front of him). Helen's casual self-deprecating remarks about herself and wry remarks about her flat mates and friends made me smile many, many times. I thouroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. I can't wait to read Running In Heels.
Rating:  Summary: GREAT READ Review: Getting Over It was a great book! It consumed my life for the 2 days it took to reach the last page...Relating to the antagonist, Helen, isnt difficult as she has many levels and diving deep into her psyche provides readers incredible insight into this kooky character. Very comical descriptions that were laugh-out-loud funny! A great, light summer read!
Rating:  Summary: GREAT READ Review: This was a great book! It consumed my life for the 2 days it took to reach the last page...Relating to the antagonist, Helen, isnt difficult as she has many levels and diving deep into her psyche provides readers incredible insight into this kooky character. Very comical descriptions that were laugh-out-loud funny! A great, light summer read!
Rating:  Summary: Hysterical! Review: A definite must-read. Sharp dialogue, sarcastic wit, enjoyable characters. A wonderful first novel. I did, however, find the domestic abuse situation a bit too graphically described and the ending a bit pat (once again, a la Bridget Jones). I had to laugh out loud at some of Helen's bitchier comments but found her animosity toward Marcus to be a bit unrealistic. She KNEW what he was like, so why all the hoopla over their brief, three-minute "affair"? Additionally, her behavior toward her friends is both hideously immature and unforgivable after a while. Helen's only saving grace from being a rather unlikable person is, in fact, her own human foibles. Had she not been so prone to embarrassing instances herself, I would have wanted to slap her. Toward the end, though, we see Helen starting to grow up a bit. She's not completely there, but at least she is making the effort to put the feelings of others into perspective and to "get over" her own me-me-me-me attitude. Maxted portrays this well and, having been in the same situation as Helen, I can honestly say that Maxted's portrayl of a woman confused over her sense of loss when her father - to whom she was "not close" - dies and her friends' subsequent confusion over her reaction is well written and very realistic. While not succumbing to complete sappiness, Maxted portrays Helen's loss well. Definitely a book worth reading.
Rating:  Summary: A Good Funny Book Review: This book was totally funny and made me laugh. Although sometimes the main character (Helen) can get kind of annoying, the other characters were really funny. I know alot of people have compared this book to Bridget Jones because it is english.. there is also that similar story line of girl meets boy, girl hooks up with boy, girl loses boy in a series of funny misunderstandings. This one is really entertaining. One of the only problems I had with it was that the time line was confusing.
Rating:  Summary: Laugh Out Loud but Crying on the Inside Review: Getting Over It, the story of Helen Bradshaw, late 20's Londoner, whose life slowly begins to crumble after the death of her father, will make you laugh out loud as you share the insights and escapades of Helen and her rowdy friends, while at the same time, it will make you cry as she, little by little, realizes how much her father meant to her. While Helen tries to deal with her grief-sticken mother and stoic grandmother, she negates her own feelings as she insists that she was just not that close to her father. Eventually she realizes that somewhere deep inside is a little girl who misses her father as she remembers her childhood and the daddy she adored. Catharsis is what she needs and finally gets, but it is a long and sad road to find it. Thanks to good friends and a special man, she does find that release. Under the hilarious situations that occur and cause laughter is the very serious subject of dealing with a parent's death and how you actually do get over it. A lovely Chinese custom helps Helen to find release, but there is food for thought here for all who have lost a parent and especially for those who perhaps need to reevaluate that relationship. In all, it is a thoughful and insightful book--also loaded with laughs.
Rating:  Summary: Getting Over It didn't Go Over Review: My sister loaned me her copy, which is the most favorable thing I can say about this book - I didn't have to pay for it.The book is totally derivative of Bridget Jones but without the charm. Not only did I NOT laugh, but I found Helen irritating and stupid. For me, this book was like all those sitcoms that are derivative of other sitcoms that are derivative of the good sitcoms. Three times removed from original is not good. I haven't read Running in Heels. I'll probably take a peek at it next time I'm in a bookstore, but as for Getting Over It, I think Miss Maxted needed reining in.
Rating:  Summary: Like Bridget Jones? Unlike Bridget Jones? Review: OK, let me get this straight first: If I hear the name "Bridget Jones" one more time, I'll start screaming! It seems that all romantic comedies that get written these days get an immediate comparison: Was it as good as Bridget Jones? Was it worse than Bridget Jones? Was it maybe even better than Bridget Jones? I'm starting to get seriously bored by the whole thing! Now that I got that out of my system, here's what I thought of "Getting over it": although it's Anna Maxted's debut novel, I came to it second, after reading (& not liking that much) "Running with heels". I think that if I'd read "Getting over it" before "Running with heels", in the order they were written, I would probably like Maxted's second novel even less. "Getting over it" is a very easy-to-read book, funny at times, quite emotional at others. Anna Maxted seems to have a tendency to "mix" the basic & essential romance in her books with real-life issues, such as death, abuse, anorexia, depression etc. She does this quite well, actually, & always stays within her genre, meaning that she never loses her humour & her light touch. As for the plot of the book, I won't go into details, but basically it's about a 20something woman, living in London (of course) who suddenly loses her father, & who gets over it, slowly & painfully, over a year. The plot is not so important though, the writing is: & Anna Maxted is a good writer, probably one of the best Bridget-Jones-type writers (I couldn't finish my review without mentioning the B word just once!!)
Rating:  Summary: Fun and Thoughtful Review: Anna Maxted has a wonderful touch with her characters and her experience as a sex agony aunt helps provide some hilarious moments in this great first novel. Helen Bradshaw is struggling through one of those periods in life we all go through, when nothing seems to be quite going right, especially her love life. Helen's particular brand of melancholy, misjudgment and bad luck offer great material to the writer (who no doubt draws heavily on personal experience) as well as many laughs and thoughts provoked for the reader. Helen, depressive and overly clumsy, slowly discovers what's what, who's who and what she's missed and it is easy to find yourself rooting for her along the way. Having lived in the London area recently, the characters are very recognizable and the settings appropriate to the story. Can't wait for more Maxted.
Rating:  Summary: Faked out by the ratings Review: We were looking for something funny to read in my book club, so when I read the reviews and looked at the ratings it seemed like a good bet. We're mostly 40+ so maybe that was it, but the concensus of 8-9 college educated working women was, "Thank god I'm not 25 any more, and why did I waste my time with this book?". It was painfull, not funny, watching Helen flounder through her life. All in all, next time I see 5 star ratings for a "hillarious" book, I'll walk the other way
|