REVIEW for Feminista

A great big thank you goes out to Victoria at St-Martin's Press for sending me this wonderful read!




TITLE: Feminista

AUTHOR: Erica Kennedy

GENRE: Chick Lit

RATING: 4 Stars



The description of this book completely intrigued me - the main character Sydney is a strong-willed and fiercely independent woman! She has remade herself into the person she has always wanted to be, including getting the physique that she wanted. She is no-nonsense and she is tough. Yet, as time marches on, she is starting to feel as though something (or more specifically) someone is missing in her life and as luck would have it, her rich sister comes in and saves the day by paying for the services of well-known matchmaker Mitzi Berman (at the tune of $40K).

While Sydney is not averse to this arrangements, sexy Mac Cooper (of Harvey's Department Store fame) falls into Sydney's radar and the rest, as we say is what great novels are made of.

First of all, I have to admit that I loved the Sydney character - I have often been told that I am a tad too hard as nails myself and that I can be a little cold (even when I am not trying to be), so I had a personal stake in Sydney. On the other hand, I was also wondering what this novel would have been like had Sydney NOT wanted (truly not) to meet a guy? No matter - the author does a wonderful job of balancing out Sydney's true nature -vs- what she would like (i.e. romance).

This must not have been an easy thing to do, as in so many novels, the balance of career and "true to yourself" usually go by the wayside when the sexy guy enters the picture (come to think of it, it happens in real life also). Yes, the author does try to "mold" our Sydney into a girlie girl - which I believe is the one facet of the novel that is a little weak (although there are some great passages and the dialogues and exchanges were very funny).

What works best in this novel is when Sydney is true to herself in finding her own comfort level. As for Max Cooper, he sounds like one sexy dude, although I am not sure I would have picked him as a potential mate - but then again, nobody ever said that women were particuarly good at picking the right man.

This book is in turn uplifting, funny, a little sad and always, always entertaining.