Ralph's Party

Rating:
Summary: 90210 For Adults
Review: I read this book on the basis of its reviews on this site. I was utterly disappointed. I felt like I was watching a really bad episode of Beverly Hills 90210 set in England! I stuck with it, however, and at least read the only good part---Ralph's actual party.

Rating:
Summary: Hooray for Ralph's Party
Review: I was caught from page one. I love Lisa Jewell and had read Thirtynothing before reading this book, so I knew I was in for a treat.
Ralph is the man in love with Jem, who is in love with Smith, who happens to be secretly in love with Cheri, who has been having a sexual relationship with Karl, who lives with his girlfriend Siobhan. Jem feels fate has sent her to live with Smith and Ralph and fall in love with one of them. She thinks that Smith is the one, but is surprised when she has feelings for another.
It's all very twisted, but all comes together for the better and for the worse. A great read- one that belongs in a personal library and to share with others.

Rating:
Summary: A Fabulous Read!
Review: I am an avid reader of "chick books", but that is not how I would classify this one. I really like that you get to see things from both the male and female perspective. I fell in love with some of the characters, felt sorry for others, and was completely surprised by one. I felt like I really got to know the characters, and I felt like I had to say goodbye to my new friends when I read the last page.

Rating:
Summary: Boring, overly dramatic
Review: I first read Lisa Jewell's second book, "Thirty Nothing". I found it highly predictable and was about to give up on this author when I read so many positive reviews about "Ralph's Party", so I decided to give it a try. Well, I was definately disappointed. The characters are shallow, bitter, untrustworthy and unrealistic. Most scenes were overly dramatic, like a really bad soap opera.... by the time I got to the part where Ralph was organizing his party, I had to stop reading it. It was just too much garbage.

I don't know how people can compare this with Bridget Jones's Diary. It's not even in the same category! Bridget Jones is funny and witty. Lisa Jewell's novels are stupid, predictable and not even remotely funny. They are just a waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: cute, funny... albeit not too deep
Review: I quite enjoyed this book - I received it as part of a book exchange program and was told it was the "male Bridget-Jones's Diary"(BJD). While it is from more than just one person's view, it *is* quite like BJD and Pride & Prejudice.

I finished this book quite quickly - finding I just wanted to know what ended up happening to everyone. Easy-read and great book for a day at the beach or a holiday down South.

Rating:
Summary: A Great, Mindless Read!
Review: If you love the Brit romantic comedies then you will love this one. Because of my job, I have to do a lot of heavy reading; it is so refreshing to pick up an entertaining page-turner like this one!! It is on par with the Bridget Jones books and much better than Amanda's Wedding, Jemima J and Confessions of a Shopaholic. This book is light, fun and an easy-read. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Cute book!
Review: The title of this book is a bit of a misnomer- when I started reading, I thought that the book would begin with a party, and the rest of the book would be about how the events of that night changed everyone's lives.

It was quite refreshing to see that I was wrong! Acutally, most of the book describes the lives of six singles living in London, and the party is just where everything pans out.

The characters are very well developed. Sibohan, Jem and Ralph are the ones you learn the most about, but you still learn a great deal about Karl as well. The other two, Smith and Cheri, are not as well developed, but you don't really feel like you are missing any information about them.

The plot is fast moving and keeps you entertained. Everything is well thought out- all plot lines are followed through with to their completion.

This is the first Lisa Jewell book I've read, and I look forward to reading more!

Rating:
Summary: Good, satisfying, fun read
Review: After having read Thirty-Nothing, I decided I had to read everything Lisa Jewel has ever written. After having read Ralph's Party, I know I'm right.

The story of 6 not quite strangers who live and love in an apartment building should have been cheeky and rather like a bad sitcom. Instead, the story was quite convincing. Ralph and Smith are roommates/best friends, caught in an early thirties slump, so Smith finds a roommate, Jem, simply to break the monotany of their lives. Jem, motivated by a dream, is sure that Smith is THE ONE, but Ralph has figured otherwise. Smith, the most repulsive character of the bunch, has a dream-crush on the perfect, but mean as a snake Cheri. Karl and Siobhan, who live upstairs, have settled into a domestic life where neither of them are really going anywhere or improving their lives either.

Of course, someone has to get together with someone else. And of course someone is going to end up in the book with their heart broken. But guessing which one will be which is half the fun. My gripes about the book: Cheri is a bit one-dimensional, and I would have liked to have been in Smith's head a little more. But all in all, good stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone gets what they deserve!
Review: Ralph's party tells the tales of a group of people who all co-habitate in an apartment building in London. Smith and Ralph are roomates who bring in Jem as a third roomate. Even though Smith and Jem begin to date, Ralph is the one who really is in love with Jem. Smith cannot be in love with Jem because he is secretly in love with his upstairs neighbor Cheri. Cheri is sleeping with another neighbor, which would be ok except this neighbor has been living with his girlfriend for 15+ years. Did you get all that? In the book we see into their tortured love lives and get a good bit of comic relief. In the end Ralph throws a big party where all the bad guys get what they deserve and the good guys come out on top. This was a quick and highly entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, funny book
Review: I read this book in one sitting, restraining myself from peaking to the end to see what happened because I was so curious! It was an excellent book, one that my husband and I both enjoyed, so not just another "brit-chick" book! I found this book more fulfilling than the author's "Thirty Nothing", as the characters were more interesting in this one and much more was going on as there were several interweaving stories, making it impossible to put down. If you are looking for a quick, fun, interesting book, this will keep you turning the pages to the very end.