Ralph's Party

Rating:
Summary: A fun way to spend a few hours...
Review: I read Ms. Jewell's most recent book - Thirtynothing, which I enjoyed a lot - and picked this up primarily because I'd liked the other one. While I found it humorous, entertaining and interesting, I did not find it as much fun her second.

Ralph's Party revolves around the lives of several different people residing in the same apartment building in London. The basement flat has three tenants, the next floor houses a couple and the top a single woman. The novel traces the various experiences of each and the manner in which their paths cross and uncross, all of it leading to a climax at the eponymous party hosted by Ralph.

One of the central stories is a love triangle taking place in the basement flat between Jemima, her boyfriend/roommate and Ralph, the best friend who is besotted by Jemima. This line seems to take precedence in some ways, and while I liked Jemima and Ralph fine, the other party was so repugnant as to throw the whole story off balance. This seemed to recur at points as was the one thing that I disliked about the book - the interesting characters are counteracted by those that are less so or who, through the turn of events, wind up showing very unpleasant true colors.

Still, there was much to enjoy and laugh about, and I found myself tearing through it quickly. Ralph's Party, while not as good as some I've read, is definitely better than much contemporary fiction. Despite any reservations I may have, I give it a high rating because it's basically a fun, silly distraction - the flaws are minor annoyances that don't really detract from the entertainment value.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: This book will make you wonder about all the daydreams you ever had! Its light and funny and I did not want to put the book down. I have read it twice in the last 4 months. I can not want to read Ms. Jewell's next book.

Rating:
Summary: great read!
Review: what a great book! perfect for the beach, or just to relax with.
Really cute story of housemates. I loved this book and will recommend it to all my friends.
If you want a cute, well written story, this book is adorable.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but it's no "Thirty Nothing"
Review: I chose this book because I loved Lisa Jewell's "Thirty Nothing". "Ralph's Party" was full of different characters and story lines that all converge in the end - which was an aspect of the book which I enjoyed. But, like so many other books, the reviews called it funny, but I funny is not the way I would describe it. Poignant and sad, but not funny.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining male version of Bridget Jones
Review: "Ralph's Party" is very much in the style of the recent "Bridget Jones" school of contemporary British literature. Late twentyish-thirtyish singles coming to grips with their love lives, their careers, their friends. The twist is that in this book the focus is primarily on the male characters' early adulthood crisises, not the women's. This is an ensemble piece, and Lisa Jewell has created an interesting cast. There are two prinicipal story lines: Smith, Ralph and Jem, flatmates caught in an undeclared love triangle; and Karl and Siobhan, a long term couple struggling to discover if they have a future together. All the characters live in the same apartment building, and their lives become increasingly intertwined. Jewell has a wonderful command of both character development and plot, and this makes for a very entertaining, fast-paced read. It would be hard not to like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Really Likeable Book
Review: This book is so good! I really really really liked it. Yeah the writing can kind of get you feeling like 'umm yeah whatever' but the characters were totally interesting and I found myself hating to put the book down, I just had to find out what was going to happen next! A super good plot! Such a delicious mix of true love, destiny, betrayal, friendship, etc. Saying anything more than the basic plot would sort of ruin the book. But Jem moves in with Ralph and Smith... soon Ralph falls in love with Jem, who starts to date Smith, who is in love with Cheri, the homewrecker upstairs who is sleeping with Karl who also lives in the same building, who is living with his girlfriend Siobahn, who is dealing with gaining weight and becoming older and feeling less attractive because of her boyfriends unattentiveness.... WHOAH! I would definately recommend reading this book to find out what happens to them all.

Rating:
Summary: Average at best
Review: Perhaps I just don't click with Lisa Jewell. I didn't find this book particularly funny or touching. Her characters seem dryly typical and the storyline has been done. At least it felt like it has been done. I wouldn't really recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: I admit after reading Bridget Jones' Diary and the sequel, I kinda curious to see what other crazy character Brit's writer could write. And since this book has good reviews, I thought I would give it a try. And I ended up loving it. It was a romantic comedy, a light-hearted romantic comedy which I believe could easily be translated into a movie (with the right cast and director, of course)

Meet Smith and Ralph, two best-friend/flatmate who have been friends for 15 years. Then a woman named Jem comes along. She thinks that it's her destiny to be with one of the guys. And of course there's Karl and Siobhan from "upstairs" who also been together for years. What Siobhan doesn't know is that Karl has been secretly having affair with Cheri, the beautiful woman who at first can be catogerized as "bitchy". So, Ralph falls in love with Jem, who thinks her destiny is Smith, who secretly obsessed with Cheri, who secretly having affair with Karl, who lives with Siobhan for years. And all hell's break loose on Ralph's Party ...

I totally enjoy this book ... especially for some crazy-comic scenes. Like when Ralph and Jem having "Chili Challenge" (five each-raw ones) or Karl pouring his heart out on his radio program, Drive Time (Karl's a DJ). And of course the scenes at the Ralph's party, which were totally hilarious. It deserved 5 starts and I would love to read Ms. Jewell's "Thirtynothing."

Rating:
Summary: This one grew on me
Review: Despite its somewhat slow beginning, I was grinning like a fool at the end of Ralph's Party when the boy got the girl and the bad guy got his comeuppance. It's a predictable little treat of a novel, perfect for those who want some relaxing beach reading for the summer but have already read both Bridget Jones installments, perhaps even more than once! I enjoyed the premise of the book -- you follow along the lives of a few people who live in the same building, and they all meet at the end when everything falls together.

If you enjoy this genre of chick-lit, I also recommend Marian Keyes, especially Watermelon, her first novel, and Last Chance Saloon, which comes out in the States in August.

Rating:
Summary: What a Soap Opera!
Review: For some mistaken reason, I had thought that this book would be a comedy somewhat along the lines of the recent spate of Brit lit novels currently so popular. But I was in for a surprise - and a very pleasant one at that. This novel has 6 central characters, all of whom have secret desires which they, for varying reasons, are unable to be open and honest about and consequently spend a great deal of the book in and out of the wrong beds. This has all the drama of a first class soap opera which I found amazingly gripping and I found it hard to put down - in fact, I read it in less than a day. It would make a great movie and I wouldn't be surprised if there was already a plan to make one. All in all, an exciting read.