Review: Surprisingly Fabulous
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2014
Am I a star tramp? Do I give away the stars too easily? I debated on this one. It is tons of fun and well written, but it isn’t exactly The Great American Novel. It is light and fluffy. Reading it isn’t exactly a cerebral experience. I mean, I guess it is in that reading requires quite a bit of brain work, but the story itself doesn’t make you think. Do I give five stars because I really did love it, or do I give it four or four and a half stars because it is great but its no Alice Hoffman or Barbara Kingsolver novel?Fashionably Dead begins at the funeral of Astrid’s beloved Nana, while she is sneaking a smoke in the graveyard. Later, as part of her grief and recovery, Astrid decides that she really will finally quit smoking. After every other method fails, she eventually finds herself at a hypnotist. From here the story takes such a left turn that I had to reread half a chapter because I was in such shock.Reading the synopsis would’ve helped but I like to be surprised.This book was so much fun. I know I said that before, but it was just so. much. fun.For starters, Astrid is a self-proclaimed Prada slut. She starts out in vintage and several seasons-past Prada, but after she gets her inheritance she moves on to this-seasons’ offerings, and is later bribed with pre-release versions.Then there are her living companions. We have: a guardian angel who looks like Oprah Winfrey and curses like a drunken sailor, a nudist fairy who looks and speaks like Arnold Schwarzenegger, three inch high “monsters” who live on her ceiling, and her very normal, takes-everything-in-stride BFF.There’s also the standards: several super-hunky male characters, at least one insecure female colleague who resents the lead character, family drama, and somewhat explicit sex scenes.What I love best, though, are the quality of lead characters. Strong-willed, intelligent women who don’t cow to anyone, paired with intelligent yet brawny men who appreciate female strength (both inner and outer). Add in the physical training and climactic battle scenes and it is a feminist’s delight.I definitely recommend this book, although not to my mom. The sex scenes are a bit too graphic for me to share this with my mom.