I finished reading this novel last Friday afternoon. I really enjoyed this book, for a number of reasons.
First of all, the story is about a beautiful, full-figured woman that suffers from low-self esteem, thanks to her parents’ divorce during her childhood and the pressures by current society to be thin (all of which I can personally relate to). As a result, she has not had much luck in the love department, and is a skeptic that true love even exists in a world full of indecisive and commitment-phobe men (which I have also personally experienced in the past).
In spite of this, love finds her during a business trip to London, though she is overly-skeptical throughout the following months of the long-distance relationship, just waiting for a "bomb" to drop. To make matters more complicated, shortly after falling for this man, she discovers that he recently broke up with her best friend, who also lives in London, and does not know how to handle this complex situation. In fact, she handles it quite badly.
The book is written in a very modern style, including text of e-mails exchanged between the characters, which I found to be particularly interesting and amusing. The main character, Claire Spencer, is a representation of the current generation: sarcastic in nature and working at a loathsome dead-end job, at which she revels in torturing her most hated co-workers.
The plot is well laid-out and easy to follow, and is wrapped up nicely with a happy ending for all of the characters, though I did find one part near the end an unnecessary detour.
The appropriate audience for this book is, of course, women, though this time appropriate for any woman aged 23 or higher, I would think, since it is a reflection of modern dating and relationship issues.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book to any woman over the age of 23. As stated above in my own experience, it is very relatable to many women, and it was very entertaining and funny. It would make an excellent movie! I give this book 5 stars!
