Rating: 
Summary: been there
Review: Jemima J is a novel about a 'fat girl' unhappy with her life and the fun times that escape her. After pining for her co-worker Ben, and having a love/hate relationship with coworker Geraldine, she decides to have some fun on the internet. Finally, a place she can be anyone she wishes. In fact, she's already lost 10 lbs just by surfing and not snacking. She meets a handsome guy from LA, and that's when she decides to change her life. Having been 190 lbs myself, and dieting down to 130, i know it's possible. The weightloss becomes your obsession. The story follows Jemima's newfound social life, but we note she is still the unsure 'fat girl' inside at times. The author projects this aspect well, and we all have a 'hint' of Jemima in us. This is certainly not heavy reading, but it's a fun beach read that keeps your attention.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Enjoyable
Review: Now obviously, this is not the type of book that would be considered heavy reading, this is a seriously light and fun book that is ideal summer/beach reading. Being an avid reader of nearly everything, including most books about British singletons (such as this one), I found this novel to be a standout amongst the more current titles in this genre. Jemima is very likeable, and her situation is rather plausable in the beginning. True there are some sections that seem more fairy tale than realism, but who cares. This is a very cute, pleasant, and upbeat novel that is a perfect choice for those how enjoyed Bridget Jones, Trials of Tiffany Trott, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and other various awesome-ly amusing books about semi-spunky Brits in their 20's and 30's. The fact that this book isn't the greatest example of literature is no obstacle, I found this book surprisingly enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly atrocious
Review: This is perhaps the worst novel I've read in a very long time.The style was horrible-- the author kept switching from first person to a rather melodramatic third person, and every change left me disoriented. The text was trite and colorless. Beyond that, the content was unbelievably bad. Jemima is a "fat girl", who is 5'7" and weighs a bit over 200 pounds. While that may be chunky, it's far short of morbidly obese, and it's unlikely to prevent her from having a social life. In the novel, though, the author keeps her at home in her room all night, binging on comfort food. When she decides to lose weight, she does so in an entirely unbelievable manner. She doubles the workout routine recommended by her trainer, and halves the recommended food intake. While this causes her to lose about a pound a day in the book and feel great while doing it, in real life she would probably collapse from malnutrition. Every character in the book displayed superficiality to a degree that I've never before encountered in a person. There was a great deal of heavyhanded foreshadowing; every plot twist was clearly defined before it actually happened. By the time you got to the actual event, you know exactly what will happen, and the only suspense left is how. Leave this one on the virtual shelf.
Rating:
Summary: A funny, yet inspirational version of
Review: This was a delightful summer read, a break from the Kierkegaard's and Nabokov's. But don't dismiss it as just simple entertainment. Revelation does lie within the pages of Jemima J. Jemima J, in my opinion, is a book about self discovery! You don't have to be overwieght to experiance the feelings that J.Jones has. The loner, one who feels that they don't fit in anywhere, or who feels that happiness and good things are meant only for "other" people. This book, other than being entertaining, told how one person, with just those feelings, overcomes, and takes the steps necessary to make the conscious decision to bring change into her life. Basicly, Jemima Jones, overweight, but an absolute beauty inside, is befreinded by Ben, the deputy editor of the paper that she works at, and with whom she's madly in love, along with Geraldine, their top reporter, an absolutely georgous woman, and man expert. The three develope a close relationship. Jamima is totally excited, she's never had friends to speak of. The paper has announced that they will be going online, and a seminar is offered to introduce them to the in's and out's of surfing the web. Her friendship with Ben begins to unfold, as together they explore this new media. They enter into a cyber cafe' where Jemima starts chatting with Brad, a gym owner in California. He sends her his picture, which she can not believe. He's georgous, tall, blond hair, tanned, and totally fit! He then askes for her pic. Of course she's totally embarrassed by her apperance, and Geraldine takes Jemima's file photo to the companies computer expert. Where he slims her face, accents her hair and makeup, and pastes it on to the body of a super model from a magazine photo. This is what she sends to Brad. But it also serves as her inspiration, as she sees herself as what she could truly look like if she could ever shed the 100 pounds that she carries. Soon Jemima joins a gym, the conversations with Brad grow more comfortable and intimite. Before long, he's asked her to come to California, and she agrees to. From that point on, she becomes obsessed with eating next to nothing, and doubling her workouts at the gym. Now, as she looks in the mirror, she sees that she has indeed become the woman in the picture that she had sent to Brad. In two weeks, she'll cross the pond, and meet the man of her dreams, and she is ready! Next thing she knows, she's in California, swept up in the beauty of it all, along with the beauty of Brad. From their first night together, and her first orgasm, they become like rabbits in heat, she, no longer ashamed of her body, and seemingly making up for lost time in the sex department, mistakes lust for love. Always questioning it, but yet convincing herself that it's perfect, fate if you will. Slowly though, Brad spends more and more time away at work, and JJ is left alone in a strange place with no friends. Until while out shopping she meets Lauren. A fellow Londonar, with whom she becomes very close. Not knowing yet the saviour that Lauren is to become to her. When things go terribly wrong, in a weird hidden love triangle with Brad and his overweight assistant Jenny. JJ is crushed and moves in with Lauren. Where thoughts of Ben, and missing their friendship starts to plague her. Unbeknownst to her, Ben is in California doing an interview with a famous starlite. And it's not long before the odd brushes of fate between Jemima and Ben start to occur. You'll have to read this book to discover that fate, I won't give it away! All in all, a great, quick, summer read. Jane, you've done it yet again!
Rating: 
Summary: Unrealistic Fluff
Review: This would be a decent book if either borrowed from a friend or the library, but don't waste your cash on it. It's a fluffy, beachy, fast read, that while entertaining at times leaves you feeling extremely unsatisfied in the end. First off, the storyline is completely unrealistic: (1) One day Jemima wakes up and decides to lose nearly 100 pounds. She never cheats once, and all the cravings that were so detailed in the beginning of the book miraculously go away. And bing, bang, boom, next thing you know she's 120 lbs! Amazing.
(2) In her first chatroom, her first foray into the Internet, she finds a rich, extremely hot guy from Los Angeles. Right. And he actually looks like photo!
(3) She has no problems getting time off work to go to Los Angeles for months.
(4) She quickly meets a new friend from (*gasp*) London at the Broadway Deli! How amazingly lucky and convenient! Her new friend also (conveniently!) has a couch for her to sleep on and invites her to stay with her for two months!
(5) I wonder if the author has ever been to Santa Monica, because it seems as though she took what her image of Los Angeles was completely from the movies. Los Angeles is not nearly as cliched as in this book when you actually live there. However, beautiful women are a dime a dozen. Unless Jemima is supermodel gorgeous, she would hardly attract a second glance, not the oodles of attention she seemed to receive. The author seemed to be laying it on rather thick in that department. Also, the gym crazy/health food crazy lifestyle described as LAish was completely over the top.
(6) When Jemima does lose weight--omigod! She's beautiful! Drop dead gorgeous! Who would have thought?
(7) Jemima gets thin and jumps into bed with any man who will show her some attention. Unbelievable. Character development is weak. The point of view switches from first person (Jemima) to third person (viewing Jemima) to third person (viewing Ben). Totally annoying! Isn't this book about Jemima? Why so much about Ben? The book is also extremely predictable. I knew what was coming from a mile away. The theme of the book seems to be that if you lose a lot of weight, you will suddenly be a beautiful swan, and the gorgeous men will fall at your feet to be with you. Sorry, but not a theme that I particularly care to read about. If you can pick it up for free and need a quick read, you might consider reading this book, but don't bother buying it. It's really not worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money.
Review: Really horrible writing style. This alone, kills off any enjoyment of the book at all. Couldn't bring myself to finish it and regretted wasting my $. Plot is predictable and boring.
Rating:
Summary: ONE STAR IS TOO HIGH
Review: This book was awful. The twists and turns the title character went on -- simply ridiculous. Anyone with a weight issue -- forget that-- with a brain will be sorry they wasted their time. The character in ONE SECOND goes from being 100 pounds overweight to normal size... basically never to binge again and to proslytize to any one who will listen now that she is model pretty. I could go on and on about how bad this book was...(Switching first person to third person, "thin" plot lines, 1 dimensional characters.) I too, was deeply looking forward to a plus size heroine... but the fact that this was not the case was only one small (no pun intended) component of why this book is not worth your bucks.-- keep looking... pass this one!
Rating:
Summary: Gotta Love Her
Review: Jemima J is full of characters that I love to hate and hate to love. The characters were written about in a way that made me feel like I was walking down a street in London with them. While Jemima's drastic weight loss was hard to believe, the story stayed true to its characters. Jemima's character showed the readers that no although she was thin, things werent as perfect as she always expected they would be. Although the book seemed to have an awkward writing style, I found myself totally engrossed in her life and couldnt wait to turn the page to see what would happen next. A great brit girl novel!
Rating:
Summary: Beach Book
Review: This was a fun little book that will give you an easy summer read. Jemima Jones, overweight and dateless, takes on the perils of an internet romance, which changes her life and leads her to true love. I loved the way that Jane Green kept changing the narrative voice. It was a little disconcerting at first, but it was a refreshingly unique approach that kept the pace of the book moving at an upbeat tempo. Of course, as any summer beach book must, this book has a happy, if somewhat unrealistic ending. I'd recommend picking this one up and tossing it in your beach bag!
Rating:
Summary: Doubting Ms. Green was ever fat...
Review: I picked this book up because I had just finished reading Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (which was truly delightful) and I was enthusiastic to see another book with a larger female heroine. I myself have hovered around the 200 pound mark and love to see strong female characters who struggle with the same issues I have.
Jemima is not one of those characters. I was almost sympathetic at first, but I couldn't sympathize because her character is so stereotypical. She doesn't have any friends, she wears tunics and leggings, she has 3 chins. I have never encountered someone (myself included) who is that heavy but is also that socially awkward and that clueless. It made me wonder if Ms. Green even knew what a 200 pound woman looked like. Think models like Emme.
I also think that it is a little ridiculous that Jemima manages to get herself down to 120 pounds because it is unlikely that a woman as large as Jemima would be physically capable of being that thin without starving herself looking positively emaciated.
The novel sort of redeems itself in the end. The ending made me grin, but it's still a tad on the superficial side.
One of the reviewers here compared Jemima to Delores Price. I would say that, if you haven't, go and read She's Come Undone right now and forget about Jemima.
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