Choosing which book would be the first chick lit for the Chick Lit Plus Reading Challenge 2011 was easy as I had been looking forward to the release of this one - which released on December 21, 2010. I completed the reading of it in 2011, so I am including it in the challenge.
TITLE: There's Cake in My Future
AUTHOR: Kim Gruenenfelder
GENRE: Chick Lit
RATING: 3 Stars
I had a lot of problems rating this book. It is an easy and breezy read. I mean, its a "true" chick lit release - something that is becoming more and more uncommon in this day of "supernatural" novels......so I am totally grateful for THAT!
Having said that, I think that the thing that bugs me the most about There's Cake in My Future is that I did not like ANY of the characters - in fact, for the most part, I found myself wanting to smack them at some point or another in the storyline.
Gruenenfelder chose to go the route of the 3 character perspective which, at the best of times, is not really a favorite method for me, still, I had high hopes.
The book started off great, with the 3 girls hoping (planning) their futures based on charms that will be found in Nic's shower cake. Except, that things don't quite go as planned and the entire rest of the book is basically based on the significance of the charms each of the girls did find. I thought this was a very cute and clever idea and I was immediately immersed in the storyline.
I think my least favorite character was Nicole - who is supposedly the "one" who has found Mr. Right and is soon getting married to, apparently, Jason AND his daughters. I have to say that this storyline felt as though it took over the book and I found it to be the most annoying of the three plots. Nicole is a writer who is out of a job with no apparent desire to really do anything except procrastinate AND be manipulated by her future husband, his ex wife and their two "adorable" daughters. I gritted my teeth everytime the story shifted to this character who had no backbone, no life and apparently very little self esteem.
Having said that, the other two characters were not that great either - somehow going through the entire book with only one goal - to find 'the" guy.
While I realize this is a central theme in chick lit and I usually enjoy it, I found these three women demeaning - to themselves and to the women they are 'representing'.
I did enjoy the breezy tone of the writing and the strong friendship these women share and I also liked the pace of the work, which is something this author is always very good at. I liked the dialogue, for the most part, although at times, it could sound a little over the top.
Nonetheless, I did read the entire book and was kind of sorry it ended, but I think that may have more to do with the fact that I just finished one of the only chick lits being released on the market than it was about coming to the end of a really great read.
1 comment:
Great review Tina!
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