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Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Fantastic.
Review: I am amazed at the reviewers who panned this book. Can only wonder if they are unclear on the concept or simply take themselves too seriously.
For me, this was laugh-out-loud fun. Brilliant, wry and full of clever lines, even this old longtime married woman got plenty out of it.
But more than that, this is a tender-hearted, observant commentary on relationships and the whole merry-go-round of insecurities and joy therein.
I admire the author immensely for her ability to present fully-fleshed characters with such crisp, almost staccato phrasing. Anyone who has ever tried to write a novel should appreciate how difficult this is and what an accomplishment it is for a first-timer.
As an added bonus, being a San Francisco Bay Area resident for most of my life, I found the specifics of life in The City to be wonderfully engaging (pardon the pun), too.
Easy to read, hard to put down. Loved it. Want more.
Rating:
Summary: Thank God!!!!
Review: I am going to be married in four months. Assuming I'm not hit by a bus tomorrow or eat warm mayonnaise by accident. And I am going crazy. As a gift, my friend, Ann, gave me a copy of Otherwise Engaged, by Suzanne Finnamore. I was like, "you want me to READ???" She said, "Just read it." So I did.I would like my review to be a gigantic bullhorn to EVERY woman who is either engaged, about to be engaged, wanting to be engaged or wishing to be so. SOMEBODY FINALLY GETS IT.That's what I would shout. This book is absolutely important and wonderful. For the first time, SOMEBODY has come forward and talked about the anxiety that we feel when we are in a relationship. I mean the real stuff, the stuff we think but don't say and sometimes don't even admit we think. This is a very brave novel, and I am so personally grateful to the writer (Suzanne Finnamore) for writing it. Aside from being paralyzingly funny, it's all TRUE. She gets it. I have been going out of my mind thinking I am the only person who is feeling what I feel and then all of a sudden, SMACK. I read this book.I also saw New York Magazine recently because my husband-to-be is from NY and we subscribe, and there she was...except I didn't like one thing: they compared Otherwise Engaged to the Bridget Jones book and I read that (loved it) but this is really different...I almost want to say that BJ is about being single and Finnamore is about getting married, but that's not it. The difference is, to me, BJ is a really fun read. But Otherwise Engaged is astounding. Every word is perfect and you just read it and think, "I want to KNOW her..." There are so many good lines that I would wake up my boyfriend and say, "listen to this..." and he would say "what time is it?" and then I would say, "Just listen..." Because the thing is, it looks like a girl book, but it's really not. My guy was like, "This is really funny, who is this girl, this is great...that's so you..." This book gives me permission to feel what I feel. Validation, I guess is the term a shrink might use.Anyway, the only problem with the book is this: it goes from very funny to very deep and you have no idea when it comes. My copy of the book has ice cream stains on it because I laughed out loud and, well -splatt. So be forewarned. It IS this funny. Also, I hate the fact that the author had the nerve to end it. I NEED MORE!!! Don't borrow it, GET it...I know it's a little hard to get because everyone keeps selling out, but it's WORTH it. My advice is Amazon...only because all the bookstores in my area keep saying, "two more days" and they seem to be able to get books faster...Just don't combine it with food.
Rating: 
Summary: Four and 1/2 actually for this!
Review: I hesitate to call this chick lit because I believe it is a bit more serious than that. Which is a good thing! :) The book has a very serious vein in it, near the last third of the book. Which was very surpising to me, but the author made it work.Eve is an intelligent, together thirty something who has run the gauntlet of bad men and has still come out of it with not only a good man, but a good job and best friends. Yet she can still hear the biological clock ticking and, after over a year with Michael, belives engagement and marriage are not only the ONLY options, but the most logical ones. Bring on the bridal magazines, gorgeous rings, and wedding bells!
Yet, while she loves Michael, after engagement Eve fears losing herself. His sock on the floor is no longer a sock on the floor she says, its a sock on the floor for the rest of my life! She'll never get get to take home another man, never again be carefree and a "girl" in the sense that she is single. And then there are the pressures of the wedding, a nit picking mother-in-law, and a history of failed family relationships. Will she jump ship and swim for shore? After silly fights with Michael over chicken broth and garlic, long talks with her therapist Reuben, delving into her past, and comforting a dying best friend, Eve realizes what is really important: the man of your dreams, friends, and family. And that making a lifetime committment doesn't neccessarily mean selling your soul.
Rating:
Summary: Witty Wow
Review: I laughed out-loud reading this book. Finnamore's wit is wry, caustic, and, at times, dead on. Eve, our heroine, whines a bit much; even though her whining is part of the comedy of the book it does grate after a while. Other than that, a good read. Morbid and funny.
Rating:
Summary: Fun book for brides-to-be.
Review: Since my fiancé has taken to calling me "bridezilla," I thought I would check out this light-hearted novel. The first few pages had me laughing out loud, and I finished the entire short book (204 pp.) by the next day. The chapters are a month-by-month countdown to the wedding of the main charachter, Eve. When she gets engaged, Eve feels triumphant, especially given her age (she is 36 and has never been married; I'm 34 and in the same boat). Soon, however, she becomes overwhelmed by the entire wedding planning process as well as the "rest of my life" implication of marriage; she starts seeing a therapist and taking Valium (the way she saves each precious Valium for the especially bad moments of her life is hilarious). The story throws in a few unexpected twists involving Eve's assorted group of friends, but you can probably guess the ending. Overall, I found this to be a fun, amusing book, and I would highly recommended it as a great tension reliever for other brides-to-be.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Witty
Review: The cover was great, the title was great, so when a friend gave this to me and said that it was one of the first American chick lits, I decided to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. The story was entertaining, the character likeable for the most part (although she seemed to take herself a little too seriously some times), and it was very well written. I will be looking for more chick lit now that I've gotten a taste of these fun books.
Rating:
Summary: FUNNY AND TOUCHING
Review: This book was simply dreadful. I read it while I was on my honeymoon and promptly forgot I read it. Nothing about the book is memorable - plot development is slow, and character development is weak. I would love to give a more detailed review, but this novel just doesn't stay in your mind, and I can't remember any details from it. It was pessimistic, bitter, and disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fantastic.
Review: This one was passed on to me from a friend and has made its way to every woman I know...it is a hoot and touching as well. I haven't enjoyed a novel this much in years. I was sick to see it end. The heroine is a smart sassy babe who has her faults in spades and admits to every single one. Her love life is under the magnifying glass as she contemplates and lives through a year full of not only being engaged, but being alive and past 30. The world of advertising is delightfully sent up in this uproarious story of marriage and career for the modern woman. From the Ultimatum to the Walk down the aisle, you'll be entranced. Just wanting more now. More! More! More!!!
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