Book Title: Here's Looking at You
Author: Mhairi McFarlene
Date Started: November 11th 2013
Date Completed: November 19th 2013
Genres: Romance, Comedy
Rating: Three stars
Review:
Here's Looking at You actually really surprised me. I got what I was expecting: a romantic adult chick-flick, however there was an extra bonus of some genuinely funny humour and a reasonably good storyline thrown in. I haven't had much experience with the genre, so I'm not too sure how original it is, but I definitely enjoyed it enough to finish it, and it was a nice change from my usual genre.
Anna had a hard time in school, like most of us do. Bullied for her talents, mocked for her looks and humiliated on a grand scale. But that was years ago. Now she’s got a job she loves and friends who don’t care about her unpleasant past. Even the weirdos who turn up to her blind dates aren’t fazing her. That is, until her friends force her to go to a school reunion and meet the tormentors of her childhood. But when no one recognises her, it’s time to try and start again. But is the secret of her identity really as well hidden as she hopes?
I can tell why McFarlene was so successful with her first novel. If it was anything like this, I can see how it appeals to so many people. She has quite a unique writing style: quirky and cheeky but also quite heartfelt. (I admit, sometimes a little too emotional, but I guess it’s quite hard to write a chick flick and hold in the cheese all of the time.)
It was also genuinely funny. I don’t usually find myself laughing out loud about a book, but actually some of the lines in here were quite witty, and I managed to understand quite a lot of the references, despite being younger than the target audience.
I’m not in love with the book’s style, but only because it isn’t the kind of book I love. It’s strange, but in a nice way. It was weird reading something that didn’t have my heart racing every other page (I’m afraid I don’t get that into lost love), but nonetheless, it was refreshing to read something a little different, with a writing style that is understandable relatable and worth reading.
The story didn’t amaze me as being completely different from anything I could have predicted. Of course, you can guess the ending before you even pick up the book, but it’s always the build-up that’s more exciting and engaging. (‘The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture.’)
I have to say, for the most part, I felt like there were lots of little necessary things that didn’t really need to be included because they distracted from the main plot, and just didn’t interest me. Other people might not be too bothered, but I just thought they weren’t really needed in order to get the story moving.
However, the story was cleverly choreographed to have several different stories going on at the same time as the main romance. For example, I loved Anna’s sister’s engagement and the drama surrounding those chapters, along with James’ divorce with his wife. It was all very real, but found ways to make the serious lighter and more funny.
The biggest issue I had with this book was the unrealistic extent of horrible things said and done to Anna. Especially (spoiler!) when her secret is revealed. I honestly can’t see someone reacting the way James did, and alongside making me extremely angry, I was also quite disappointed that a book that had previously been reasonably good at being believable failed at a climax in the story. This was rather quickly resolved, but I do feel that the character’s behavior at that time in the story is a weak point for the book.
(Spoiler ahead! Although, not really, because it’s kind of predictable.) Yeah, it was a cliche ending, but what was I expecting? At least I actually felt kind of happy for the couple and it was quite sweet.
The characters were all as funny and unique as the book’s style, and I could definitely see some of the author’s personality coming through in their actions and emotions.
Anna was quite fun to follow. Although she ends up only having about half of the chapters in the book, she is clearly the main character, and the person the reader feels closest to whilst reading the book. I think she’s a very relatable character, and has that headstrong ability that makes pretty much any situation either go her way or crumble down around her. She’s cheeky and funny and actually quite a nice person, so I was happy to listen to her story.
James annoyed me through pretty much the entire book. He had a very simplistic thinking pattern compared to the clearly intellectual Anna, and that stuck me as strange for such a book. I felt like a lot of the time he was being selfish, and although I understand his feelings towards his wife, I can’y help thinking that he does make himself suffer more through his actions. To be honest, in the end, I didn’t mind his happy ending, but I was more happy for his new partner than I was for him.
I started off liking Laurence, and then hating him. I think this is what was intended, although the swift change in personalities - from a reasonably laddish, but friendly boy to a snappy player - around half-way through caught me off guard a little.
Anna’s friends always had the funniest parts of the plot covered, and I especially loved Michelle.
Finally though, my favourite characters have to be Anna’s family. You can tell there’s lot of tension between them and more than enough reason for them not to get on, but they have this reinforced kind of bond that makes them stick up each other and accept them. I really liked the way that was portrayed, and I looked forward to the parts where Anna was with her sister and mother, since those were the best parts in my opinion: they had humour, drama, emotion and the most interesting conversations of the whole novel.
I have to admit, the pace did give me some issues. I hate to say it, but I did skim-read a lot of this book, merely because I got bored of certain chapters and wanted to get onto something that caught my attention. It was merely that the book is filled mostly with downplay to build up the character’s relationships and let the reader get to know them more. Unfortunately, I found it hard to stay interested in this, so I quickly read to the dramatic parts.
I don’t actually think this is a flaw so much with the writing, more that I’m used to much faster-paced stories and this just wasn’t getting my heart racing.
Despite my rather neutral star-rating of Here’s Looking at You, I do think it’s a good book and great for a nice light summer read. It’s funny and quirky and very sweet at times. I think you need to really like the genre to be able to stay fully focused throughout reading it, however if you have no qualms about taking your time, McFarlene’s novel is probably perfect for you.
I’d advise an older audience, just because there’s quite a lot of humorous references to things I don’t think many young people are aware of and this, obviously, lowers the enjoyment for the reader if they don’t always understand what the writer’s trying to get across.
Thank you to HarperFiction for supplying me with this advance copy for review.
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Here's Looking at You actually really surprised me. I got what I was expecting: a romantic adult chick-flick, however there was an extra bonus of some genuinely funny humour and a reasonably good storyline thrown in. I haven't had much experience with the genre, so I'm not too sure how original it is, but I definitely enjoyed it enough to finish it, and it was a nice change from my usual genre.
Anna had a hard time in school, like most of us do. Bullied for her talents, mocked for her looks and humiliated on a grand scale. But that was years ago. Now she’s got a job she loves and friends who don’t care about her unpleasant past. Even the weirdos who turn up to her blind dates aren’t fazing her. That is, until her friends force her to go to a school reunion and meet the tormentors of her childhood. But when no one recognises her, it’s time to try and start again. But is the secret of her identity really as well hidden as she hopes?
I can tell why McFarlene was so successful with her first novel. If it was anything like this, I can see how it appeals to so many people. She has quite a unique writing style: quirky and cheeky but also quite heartfelt. (I admit, sometimes a little too emotional, but I guess it’s quite hard to write a chick flick and hold in the cheese all of the time.)
It was also genuinely funny. I don’t usually find myself laughing out loud about a book, but actually some of the lines in here were quite witty, and I managed to understand quite a lot of the references, despite being younger than the target audience.
I’m not in love with the book’s style, but only because it isn’t the kind of book I love. It’s strange, but in a nice way. It was weird reading something that didn’t have my heart racing every other page (I’m afraid I don’t get that into lost love), but nonetheless, it was refreshing to read something a little different, with a writing style that is understandable relatable and worth reading.
The story didn’t amaze me as being completely different from anything I could have predicted. Of course, you can guess the ending before you even pick up the book, but it’s always the build-up that’s more exciting and engaging. (‘The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture.’)
I have to say, for the most part, I felt like there were lots of little necessary things that didn’t really need to be included because they distracted from the main plot, and just didn’t interest me. Other people might not be too bothered, but I just thought they weren’t really needed in order to get the story moving.
However, the story was cleverly choreographed to have several different stories going on at the same time as the main romance. For example, I loved Anna’s sister’s engagement and the drama surrounding those chapters, along with James’ divorce with his wife. It was all very real, but found ways to make the serious lighter and more funny.
The biggest issue I had with this book was the unrealistic extent of horrible things said and done to Anna. Especially (spoiler!) when her secret is revealed. I honestly can’t see someone reacting the way James did, and alongside making me extremely angry, I was also quite disappointed that a book that had previously been reasonably good at being believable failed at a climax in the story. This was rather quickly resolved, but I do feel that the character’s behavior at that time in the story is a weak point for the book.
(Spoiler ahead! Although, not really, because it’s kind of predictable.) Yeah, it was a cliche ending, but what was I expecting? At least I actually felt kind of happy for the couple and it was quite sweet.
The characters were all as funny and unique as the book’s style, and I could definitely see some of the author’s personality coming through in their actions and emotions.
Anna was quite fun to follow. Although she ends up only having about half of the chapters in the book, she is clearly the main character, and the person the reader feels closest to whilst reading the book. I think she’s a very relatable character, and has that headstrong ability that makes pretty much any situation either go her way or crumble down around her. She’s cheeky and funny and actually quite a nice person, so I was happy to listen to her story.
James annoyed me through pretty much the entire book. He had a very simplistic thinking pattern compared to the clearly intellectual Anna, and that stuck me as strange for such a book. I felt like a lot of the time he was being selfish, and although I understand his feelings towards his wife, I can’y help thinking that he does make himself suffer more through his actions. To be honest, in the end, I didn’t mind his happy ending, but I was more happy for his new partner than I was for him.
I started off liking Laurence, and then hating him. I think this is what was intended, although the swift change in personalities - from a reasonably laddish, but friendly boy to a snappy player - around half-way through caught me off guard a little.
Anna’s friends always had the funniest parts of the plot covered, and I especially loved Michelle.
Finally though, my favourite characters have to be Anna’s family. You can tell there’s lot of tension between them and more than enough reason for them not to get on, but they have this reinforced kind of bond that makes them stick up each other and accept them. I really liked the way that was portrayed, and I looked forward to the parts where Anna was with her sister and mother, since those were the best parts in my opinion: they had humour, drama, emotion and the most interesting conversations of the whole novel.
I have to admit, the pace did give me some issues. I hate to say it, but I did skim-read a lot of this book, merely because I got bored of certain chapters and wanted to get onto something that caught my attention. It was merely that the book is filled mostly with downplay to build up the character’s relationships and let the reader get to know them more. Unfortunately, I found it hard to stay interested in this, so I quickly read to the dramatic parts.
I don’t actually think this is a flaw so much with the writing, more that I’m used to much faster-paced stories and this just wasn’t getting my heart racing.
Despite my rather neutral star-rating of Here’s Looking at You, I do think it’s a good book and great for a nice light summer read. It’s funny and quirky and very sweet at times. I think you need to really like the genre to be able to stay fully focused throughout reading it, however if you have no qualms about taking your time, McFarlene’s novel is probably perfect for you.
I’d advise an older audience, just because there’s quite a lot of humorous references to things I don’t think many young people are aware of and this, obviously, lowers the enjoyment for the reader if they don’t always understand what the writer’s trying to get across.
Thank you to HarperFiction for supplying me with this advance copy for review.
Image Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AwxzHj7b9y4/UmAN_imaM7I/
AAAAAAAABvM/ne1ONTz4LSE/s1600/079718-FCT.tif
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