Rating: 
Summary: Deliciously entertaining!
Review: Reading this book is like eating a wonderful rich chocolate cake and enjoying it guilt free. I honestly couldn't put this book down. I found it to be wonderfully written, funny, and easy to read. If you are looking for something light and easy to read, this is the novel for you. What I love most about Jemima J is that it doesn't take itself seriously. This is not a politically correct book about how "fat" women should be, look, act ... this isn't some self-help guidebook for women who wants to be thin. It's just a light, funny story told to entertain and amuse. It does however have a message to give to its reader. And it is simply to believe in ourselves and embrace our flaws.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry, but I loved this book!
Review: Maybe it was reading this novel over Christmas vacation, maybe it was the fact that this novel was a change of pace from much heavier reading, but I found "Jemima J" an immensely entertaining story with intriguing characters, some of whom are nicely dynamic, changing as the story moves along. Take Geraldine, for instance. As Jemima seeks her insight, Geraldine is there to offer it. Would Geraldine offer such friendship to a fat Jemima? That's not the point. Jemima does lose weight (unrealistically quickly, I admit!)and perhaps it is the change in her own self-perception that makes people notice her. Yes, many overweight people live full, happy lives, but Jemima is not one of them and losing weight allows her to see herself as the talented, beautiful woman she had long kept hidden as she cut out pictures of models or read books or hid behind her weight. Ok, so there's a nice Hollywood, fairy-tale ending, but so what? Jemima learns to accept herself as she is, neither boyish nor obese. What better lesson (for those who insist on a lesson in light fiction) could be drawn from a fun, creatively-written novel?
Rating: 
Summary: Not all it is cracked up to be.....
Review: The book started out great-I thought I was in for another "Marian Keyes" type adventure. Quickly enough though it turned into a sappy Cinderella story. It just became so unbelievable that I could barely finish it. Sadly, Jane Green seems to have watched too many Baywatch episodes.
Rating: 
Summary: A travesty to women everywhere
Review: "Jemima J" is the most offensive book I've ever read. The characters were all one-dimensional stereotypes. As both an American and an overweight woman, I couldn't believe how ridiculously inaccurate Jane Green's book was! First off, being overweight is NOT the horrendous crime Green makes it out to be. Many fat women (and men) lead very satisfying lives, despite the authors blatant claims otherwise.Furthermore, the idea that Jemima could lose 100 pounds in 3 months (without suffering any health problems) is ludicrous! That would be losing more than a pound a day which is first off nearly impossible and second off, incredibly dangerous. The whole book seems like a veiled suggestion that all fat people ought to take up an eating disorder to rid themselves of their excess weight. Throughout the book, Green insists that Jemima doesn't have an eating disorder, that she's just obsessive. I'd like to know what a doctor would think about that. Has Green never heard of exercise bulimia? Furthermore, as a native Californian I'd have to question whether or not Green has ever been here. American's are not the the "thick" (read: stupid), brainless, image-obsessed people she makes us out to be. At any rate, the worst message of all this book sends out is that everything in the world revolves around physical appearance and that you'll never be anything unless you marry a wealthy, attractive man. This book is a travesty to all womankind.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: If you're looking to read something deep and meaningful, don't bother with this one. If you're more interested in reading something entertaining with a fairy-tale flavor to it, this book is it. I loved the fact that she starts out fat and insecure, loses the weight, and is still insecure despite the fact that she has "turned into a swan." It was definitely a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat entertaining but disappointing
Review: It seems as though so many books these days are trying to be, or at least bill themselves as, the next 'Bridget Jones.' Jemima J is no exception, at least from the perspective of a weight/man obsessed herione who tells about her life in the first person. In this case, a third-person, all-knowing narrator pops in at times to judge Jemima and foretell the future, a feature both off-putting and intrusive in some places. But the character of Jemima is fairly likable, her experiences are relatively interesting and the book does have some amusing bits. There are, unfortunately, enough flaws to undermine it's good points. The book starts out fairly well-grounded, telling about Jemima's life, work, etc. in London. But when it pops over to California, the story slowly beings to lose credibility, finally sinking into ridiculousness as events unfold. I think it would be easier to dismiss these shortcomings if they weren't so unnecessary - removing Jemima from London is one thing, yet putting her into such unbelievable circumstance totally detracts from the 'realism' the author tries initially to establish. That the book is populated with unlikable characters doesn't help either. Jemima's life is supposed to improve when she gets thin, but practically every slim woman in the novel is shallow, materialistic and rather dull, even the ones who are her 'friends.' The fact that one of them only starts to really like Jemima as she loses weight, giving her the opportunity to play dress up with Jemima as though she's a doll, doesn't help either. Jemima J. is missing the sharp wit behind 'Bridget Jones,' although it seems clear that that novel was quite an inspiration for this one. And it is a distracting, entertaining read at times. But as I got towards the end, the ludicrousness of the plot twists - not to mention some of Jemima's decisions/choices - totally undermined my enjoyment, and I finished more disappointed than anything. Well, not true - I was pretty perturbed that the author held Jemima up as a role model throughout, yet saw to it that circumstances made her anything but. It's these flaws that make Jemima J. a slight, moderately fun but ultimately very unsatisfying read.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining but offensive
Review: I agree with sparklegypsy. The book is entertaining in a silly sort of way but this author (and much of the general public) obviously have a distorted view of what being abnormally overweight is. People would not ridicule or feel sorry for a size 14, 5'7" woman. That size woman would also not need to shop in larger size stores. In fact, she would not even be wearing the largest size at most stores! As a size 14, 5'8", 200 pound woman I found this offensive. I think many people would be very surprised if they compared what I look to their mental picture of Jemima. This author should have done more thorough research!
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This book is truly amazing. It's for light reading and it's quirky. It's easy reading and I can't wait for Jane Green's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet & Tasty
Review: A 1996 runaway bestseller in Britain and later in the U.S., Bridget Jones's Diary has spawned a veritable genre of breezy, comic novels about the romantic and personal struggles of young single women. And Jemima Jones, heroine of Green's U.S. debut novel, might easily be taken for Bridget's overweight sister. A London journalist, Jemima feels trapped writing a household-tips column for a grubby, down-market London newspaper. And though smart and funny, she weighs nearly 100 lbs. more than she would like to. She secretly adores Ben, her Hugh Grant look alike colleague, but he doesn't see her as girlfriend material. Jemima's life undergoes a seismic shift, however, when she points and clicks her way into an online romance with Brad, a California fitness guru, reinventing herself as J.J., a buff, long-haired TV host, simply by morphing her face onto a fashion model's body and e-mailing the results to Brad. Now all she has to do is starve off 100 lbs. before meeting him. Like Diary, this sparkler from British journalist-turned-novelist Green (who confesses to being a veteran of yo-yo dieting herself) was also a bestseller in the U.K. It conveys with sass and humor both the invisibility of the overweight and the shallow perks that accrue to the thin and beautiful. Green has entertainingly updated the Cinderella story, though Jemima finds that even in the vastness of cyberspace, a charming prince is hard to find.
Rating:
Summary: Great Beach Read
Review: This is a perfect book to take on vacation and read while lounging on the beach. It can be read in a few days (hours if you're ambitious) and is a straight to the point, modern-day fairy tale. Which is not a bad thing, but if you're looking for a novel that makes you think about the purpose of life, this isn't the one for you. It's simply a nice little romance in which we root for the underdog, even though we know in our heart of hearts that she will most likely come out on top anyway. I gave this book three stars for 2 reasons, the first being that the book was a little TOO predictable and there weren't many surprises. The second being the way the author kept changing the point of view of the narrator. It would jump from character to character, first person to third person, and got a bit confusing at times. But all in all, it's a sweet "chick book" and I'm sure that the paperback version will fit neatly into your beachbag.
|
