Review: Chick Lit Gold
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2014
I loved, loved, loved, Irrepressible You. I loved everything about it, but I'll start with the 'voice'. I haven't been a fan of chick lit, exactly, but the two recent books I've read in the genre have been Hindsight, and Irrepressible You, and I have adored both these books. One of my complaints about chick lit is that often it feels like the author is trying so hard to make the book funny, and get a laugh, that the story falls flat. The story feels too 'forced' for me.Irrepressible You is so refreshing. It had many moments that made me smile, a heck of a lot that made me laugh, and certainly toward the end, there were tears.The heroine is an Aussie small business owner with a penchant for dressing and living '50s style'. The hero is a Brit comedian/columnist now living in Perth, Australia.I am not a classic 'chick' kind of girl. I don't know what to do with make-up; I hate shopping; I last ventured into a hairdressers in 2012... and yet I fell absolutely in love with Amy, who wears her 50s clothing and style as a plate of armour, for many good reasons.I loved Amy - the Freo barber.Contrary to other reviews I've read of this book, I also loved Ben. I wonder if it's because I'm familiar with journalism and media, and the sense of writing anecdotally to make situations seem funnier than they are?There are scenes in this book that I will read over and over again. One is their first sex scene, where Amy struggles to give over control to Ben. I love that he 'calls' her on it, and just doesn't let it go without asking the 'why'.The scene where Amy explains her adoration of all things Marilyn Monroe and the 50s is another heart-stopper for me.And this is my favourite line in the book. For some context, Amy has just bought herself a guard dog called Gerald, because she feels the need for protection after her house is burgled, and she's waiting for the dog to 'do its business', only Gerald does absolutely nothing in a hurry, except sleep."Hurry up boy. Why is two in the morning the only time you voluntarily want to go to the loo?" she called out to the dog again, shifting her weight anxiously from one foot to the other. Unfortunately, Gerald either didn't understand or was ignoring her in his quest for the perfect spot. It took the dog another five minutes to finally complete his business and by that time Amy was twitchier than a fat chicken living next door to a KFC restaurant."If you enjoy chick lit I think you will enjoy Irrepressible You. Dare I say, if you're more inclined to look for your reading pleasure in Contemporary Romance - I still think you will enjoy Irrepressible You.