It almost feels like I'm doing a book report for school again! (ha, did you have to do those growing up??) And speaking of reading and growing up, did you get to do the Book-It program from Pizza Hut where you lived? It was such a fab thing! Basically, you had to read so many books/pages/whatever a month and if you did it, then your teacher would fill out the slip of paper and you'd take it to Pizza Hut where you'd get a free personal pan pizza! (delish!) AND you'd get this big Book-It button and each month you'd get a star to put on the button. Loved it. I was a big reader anyway, so regardless if the program existed or not, I still would've been reading everything! But what a great way to get rewarded--with pizza!!! (you can read more about the Book It Program on their website; it's probably explained better there anyway lol)
This was my first ever Jane Green book that I'd read. I actually picked it up at a magazine/book swap I'd gone to with my Meetup friends. It seemed like the usual type books I read (chick lit) and thought I'd give it a whirl. The story focuses around Jemima who is an overweight woman working for a newspaper in the UK. She fancies this guy at work, but of course, since he's hot and she's fat she realizes that he could never like her (typical). The internet is up and coming and she discovers chat rooms and realizes that she can be anyone she wants when she's talking to people online. She meets Brad who's this amazing American man and they hit it off right away! Jemima is determined to lose all the weight so that she can fly to the States and meet this man of her dreams!
The book then turns to following Jemima's journey to lose weight--she starts working out way too much, eating way too little, but the pounds come off and she eventually gets to the body she thinks she needs! (all this happens with some other drama going on in the background of the book; her roommates hitting on the hot guy from work she likes; her mother prying in to her life; the hot guy moving on to a new job at a TV show; his new boss trying to hook up with him.. on and on).
Anyway, JJ as she no long goes by her name of Jemima Jones, ends up in America and stays with Brad. Things go great at first and she's so excited that she lost all the weight and became what she thought she always wanted to be! Brad's assistant is really kinda mean to JJ and she can never seem to figure out why.
There's kind of a twist near the end, and of course everyone ended up "happiily ever after." It was a fun read, but I felt at times that it was just very busy. A lot of details added to the book as filler or fluff and not actually a part of the real story.
I felt that Jemima was mostly a realistic character to which readers could relate. And her struggle is very common of many women around the world. It was nice to see her get what she want, but then also see her as many other people feel when they get what they want and still want more.
I think I would read another Jane Green book if given the opportunity, but I'm not sure I would actively go out to try to find one. Overall, it was just a so-so book.
How about you? Have you read any of Jane Green's books? Did you read Jemima J? What did you think of it?
