Rating: 
Summary: part mystery, part coming-of-age, all heart
Review: "One Hit Wonder" starts with the recent mysterious death of 36-year-old Bee Bearhorn, much-older half-sister of 25-year-old Ana Wills, who hasn't seen her in 12 years. Bee moved out of their mother's home, had a hit song in 1985, then disappeared from the public scene after her other songs failed. Ana is living in Devon with her agoraphobic mother Gay, who bullies her into caring for her, especially since Ana's father Bill died less than a year before. At the news of Bee's death, Ana is sent to London to gather her things from her apartment. Ana is afraid, yet goes because she is curious about the sister with whom she has had no relationship in so long. This is because of an incident Gay told her about, thus cutting the entire family off from Bee. Once in London, Ana meets Bee's friends, and it is discovered that Bee had a secret life from them as well. Together, they start to uncover the truth of why Bee was so unhappy and what she did when she was not with either of them. As the story goes on, Ana starts to discover things about herself as well as Bee, and discovers strengths she didn't know she had as she does one last thing for the sister she didn't know but apparently loved her anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very funny!
Review: "One-hit Wonder" by Lisa Jewell is a story of a young country woman whose life changed by an incident. That incident was the dead of her half-sister, an once famous pop singer. The young woman used to live with her unhealthy mother in the countryside. No boyfriend, no job, and being controlled by her mother, she found her life boring. Her self-esteem was very low and she was very afraid to leave home. When the shocking news of the dead of her half sister arrived, her mother ordered her to go to London to collect all her sister's stuff and come back in two days. However, when she came to London, she found out that the lifestyle in there did not rejected her like that in the small town. Also, she discovered some facts that led her to a conclusion that her siser had a secret life. With the help of her sister's best friend and butler, she finally found the secret.
After the incident, she grew up and was more confident than before. She decided to stay in London and started her career. Meanwhile, her mother became less demanding and found a companion.
The reason why I give this book 3 stars is it contains bad language. Usually, the author used some four-letter words as a part of the charaters's speech and somehow, she overused them. I felt annoyed when reading them. Moreover, the plot is guessable, which makes the story less interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting mix of fun, growing up, and sadness
Review: ... Although there are some bits about Anna finding her self confidence via clothes and dating, this is not a typical British "shallow party chick" book. During the process of learning about her sister and her life, Anna begins to grow up and find her own independence. There are parts of the book that are formulaic, but the loneliness of her sister's life is palpable and adroit handling of the sadness of her death and life redeems the rest of the book.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book....great read!
Review: I am not familiar with Lisa Jewell's other work. This book just 'found me.' I'm glad it did. Jewell tells the story of two sisters -- Bee is the one-hit wonder of the title and Ana is the ugly duckling forced to live in Bee's shadow. When Bee suddenly dies, Ana's mother sends her to London to collect Bee's belongings. Not content to just pack and go, Ana begins to unravel the mystery that was her sister. She tracks down Bee's friends, lovers (past and present) and she realizes what a sad and tragic life her sister led. I love Jewell's fresh take on the glitz and glamour of the 1980's rock scene. She has great storytelling abilities. Even though the love story was telegraphed way ahead of its final development, I enjoyed learning about Bee, Ana, Gay, Lolita, Flint, and Zander. This is an author to watch. She's got talent to let. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A jewel of a book
Review: A friend of mine leant me this book, and boy am I glad she did! This novel is well-written, the characters are descriptive and likeable and most importantly; the plot is an enthralling suspense story that keeps you interested as it unfolds. One Hit Wonder is based around a woman whose singer sister dies. After she travels to London to arrange her things, she begins to realize her sister had a secret life and she never really knew her at all. This book is an excellent journey you'll want to take.
Rating:
Summary: Lisa Jewell Finally Shines
Review: A while back I read Lisa Jewell's other books: "Ralph's Party" and "Thirtynothing" and I must say, I was really disapointed. In each book Jewll showed that somewhere inside of her was an author capable of creating likeable (or at least memorable) chracters and plots, but somewhere along te way, each book simply sagged. However, I can finally say that with the reading of "One hit wonder" that Jewell's talent as an author is recognizable. The plot is somewhat original but what it lacks in this area is made up by the mystery that Jewell keeps readers in and the well developed protagonist, Ana. However, if I gave this book four stars instead of five it's only because I thought that Bee's story took too much precedence over everything else. I would have liked to have seen a more in depth look at Flint and Ana's relationship. Also, wile Ana was well developed ad Bee became more so as the book progressed, I thought that other chracters were still a bit two-dimensional.
Despite this complaint I really enjyed the book and thouroughly recommend it. It had humor,tragic irony, satire and was an all around good time. If you liked this book I would recommend anything by Marian Keyes (especially "Lucy Sullivan is getting married").
Rating:
Summary: Lisa Jewell Finally Shines
Review: A while back I read Lisa Jewell's other books: "Ralph's Party" and "Thirtynothing" and I must say, I was really disapointed. In each book Jewll showed that somewhere inside of her was an author capable of creating likeable (or at least memorable) chracters and plots, but somewhere along te way, each book simply sagged. However, I can finally say that with the reading of "One hit wonder" that Jewell's talent as an author is recognizable. The plot is somewhat original but what it lacks in this area is made up by the mystery that Jewell keeps readers in and the well developed protagonist, Ana. However, if I gave this book four stars instead of five it's only because I thought that Bee's story took too much precedence over everything else. I would have liked to have seen a more in depth look at Flint and Ana's relationship. Also, wile Ana was well developed ad Bee became more so as the book progressed, I thought that other chracters were still a bit two-dimensional.
Despite this complaint I really enjyed the book and thouroughly recommend it. It had humor,tragic irony, satire and was an all around good time. If you liked this book I would recommend anything by Marian Keyes (especially "Lucy Sullivan is getting married").
Rating:
Summary: It's a jewell!
Review: An easily-digested, thoroughly enjoyable little gem of the so-called chick-lit genre. I read it in a day and was loath to put it down once I'd started. It's the adventures of Ana, the half-sister of Bea Bearhorn, 80s pop star. Ana comes to London after Bea's suicide, meeting her sister's friends and finding out about the one hit wonder's frequently unhappy life. The characters are likeable and if not they're always redeemable, and all's well that ends well. It's not literature and who cares? Lisa Jewell herself strikes me as a top chick, giving out practical advice on writing on her website, .... It's refreshing to come across someone who wants you to have a crack at what they've been successful at. Rather than someone who's up their own arse with the keys to the gate of the literati.
Rating:
Summary: Wonder-ful
Review: An easily-digested, thoroughly enjoyable little gem of the so-called chick-lit genre. I read it in a day and was loathe to put it down once I'd started. It's the adventures of Ana, the half-sister of Bea Bearhorn, '80s pop star. Ana comes to London after Bea's suicide, meeting her sister's friends and finding out about the one hit wonder's frequently unhappy life. The characters are likeable and if not they're always redeemable, and all's well that ends well. It's not literature and who cares? Lisa Jewell herself strikes me as a top chick, giving out practical advice on writing on her website, www.lisa-jewell.co.uk. It's refreshing to come across someone who wants you to have a crack at what they've been successful at, rather than someone who's up their own where-the-sun-don't-shine, jangling the Keys to the Gate of the Literati in one hand, London Review of Books in the other.
Rating:
Summary: Another hit by Lisa Jewell
Review: Ana Wills is 25 years old, living with her agoraphobic mother and has no job. When she receives a letter from her half-sister Bee, she starts to wonder what Bee's life might be like. However, as she is wondering her mother and her get a call that Bee has been found dead. Ana is not sure how to feel. She never knew her sister, but Ana's mother wants Ana to go to London to clear out Bee's flat and take care of any of Bee's life there. When Ana gets to London she feels like she will not fit in, all she wants to do is get Bee's stuff and get back on the train to Devon. When Ana starts going through Bee's personal articles she comes across more of Bee's life and wants to know more. After finding Bee's friend Lol who might know more about Bee's life. When she meets Lol she starts to realize that Bee had a very interesting and mysteries life. Lol introduces Ana to Flint who was also Bee's friend. The three of them start to look for clues into Bee's life. As they find more clues, some of them are more confusing then they expected. As time goes on Ana starts to become more of a young woman, starts to really like London and Bee's friends, and finds it hard to leave them. She also wants to put everything together about Bee. All she had known about Bee was she had a single in 1985 and after that her life became a bit of a mystery, but with Lol and Flint and some other people they put together Bee's life and it shows them more about Bee then they would have expected. This was a very good book; I love Lisa Jewell and am looking forward to more of her books in the future.
| 
