23.4.11

Book Review: Seattle Girl



Genre: Chick Lit/ YA Fiction/ Romance

Author: Lucy Kevin



Cover critique:

The cover holds your attention in a second with its striking colours, contrasting black and white on a sharp blue background. The girl on the cover standing in stylish clothes holding a purple umbrella and a matching purse, displaying a lot of attitude in her body language and posture, works very well with the title of the book, “Seattle girl”. I simply love the cover! It is very appealing and eye-catching!

Review:

The story revolves around Georgia Fulton who has lots of dreams and aspirations as usual like any other youngster of her age. She is an ambitious, feisty and smart lady who wants to host her own radio show one day and make a career out of it. As they say, nothing comes easy in life; so she goes through many rough patches, like doing unpaid internships and working as a part-time cocktail waitress at a bar, to keep struggling and hoping that one day she will make it to the finish line and cross all barriers on this bumpy road of life! As Georgia says,

“I hate to admit this, but I wanted to get on the air so bad that I pretty much wished and prayed for the other DJs to get sick.....Anything to get to sit in the driver’s seat. Anything to live my dream."

While on her way to become a future “Seattle Girl” (the name of her own radio show), she encounters many men, who make her learn one thing or the other about adult relationships, dating pitfalls, the meaning of real love, pure lust and even herself! On the plus side, she has got the help of her loyal best friends, Diane (sexy blonde) and Seth (desperate gay) who stick by her side always. Well, I would not spoil it for you, so read it to find out how she deals with crazy, strange, embarrassing and even risky situations to become a woman with an identity of her own.

From the beginning till the end, the progression of the story is fast-paced, racing from one situation to another. The chapters are short and you keep turning pages to know what and who will Georgia confront now. The story is told from the perspective of the female protagonist and the writer makes good use of dialogues and witty lines to communicate the character of Georgia to the readers. She (the writer) hardly takes help from long and boring descriptions and keeps it more direct and personal all along. The secondary characters of Seth and Diane are also well-developed and save the story from getting dull and boring at times. The writer uses several pop culture and popular chick flick references to keep it current and trendy. The plot is quite predictable and one can easily figure out after reading first two chapters that with which guy she will finally end up (well, she dates like six guys to be sure!). The novel qualifies as a perfect beach read, with not much twists and turns to follow.

While the book slightly touches on the topic of generation gap, parent-child relationship, peer pressure and other general issues which a youngster goes through in his/her life, the novel fails to offer more in terms of plot development and a profound story with meaningful conflict leading to climax. I did not like that the book relied heavily on provocative sexual instances and harsh swearing and focused less on the romantic development between the hero and the heroine of the story.

The book uses a lot of American slang and obscene language as well as explicit situations like cage dance and exotic dance parties which came as a shock to me, because I am used to of chick lit books which use subtle hints of romance and comedy but have a great theme to keep the story intriguing, such as Katie Fforde’s “Highland Fling” or Jill Mansell’s “An offer you can’t refuse”.

The last chapters are abrupt as if the writer is short of time and rushing to end the story. I found the hero’s character half-heartedly sketched as it had the potential to be developed completely and left me wondering why the writer did not put a lot of work into it. Also, the book needs to be proof-read for several grammatical errors. Since it is Lucy’s earlier works and she has released three more novels (Falling Fast, Sparks Fly, Gabrielle) after “Seattle Girl”, I am hoping that they would offer much more improved work of her skills as a writer. Overall, the novel is a fine read.

Review Girl Rating: 7/10


"I would like to thank Lucy Kevin for sending me a free copy of her e-book, “Seattle Girl” for the purpose of reviewing it on my blog. To know the review rules and policy, click here. To buy this book, click here.” 

Other books by Lucy Kevin:


16 comments:

  1. Interesting review and this is a book I haven't heard of but would be quite interested in reading now - Thanks :D

    I am a new follower!!

    Jules

    http://thegreatthegoodandthebad.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Komz,
    (I attempted to respond on the Book Blog site but the message wouldn't "send")
    You've developed an interesting blog that benefits both readers and writers.
    I will return to read more of the reviews you've entered.
    I will also keep an eye out for updates that might include your decision to review mystery novels.

    Gail M Baugniet
    http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Jules: Hope you will enjoy this book. Keep reading my new posts! Thanks for liking my review!:)
    @Gail: Thanks so much for your lovely feedback. I really look forward to such comments which help me understand what readers/followers expect from my blog. Sure, keep coming back and I am sure you will love it here!

    ReplyDelete
  4. O I bet that would shock me too! Definitely not the norm in chick lit.

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  5. @Juju: tell me abt it! *rolling eyes*

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  6. I liked the novel by your illustrations. I wanna read it just to know If Georgia succeeds in making herself the Seatle Girl.
    Your blog is doing well. I found it very interesting as every time the new and unexpected things come in reviewing.
    Komz, I wish u hv shifted ur new house safe n sound and now b busy in decorating it,tc.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ankhseojhal: I love your detailed comment. I am hoping you will enjoy my future posts as well. Thank you so much for your lovely wishes! I am in the process of making, it will take me time to move, around a week or so, till I get settled. So, during that time, you may not see much posts, because I will be away and busy settling down. After I am done, I will be back with more exciting blog posts and reviews, so stay tuned in. Till then, take care!xx

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  8. Hello! I just saw your message to me on Book Blogs, just wanted to let you know that I am now a follower (sorry it took me so long to get back!) Looking forward to reading your reviews in the future...

    Have a great week and happy reading!

    Lea @ LC's Adventures in Libraryland

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  9. I only got to hear about this novel had never read it.

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  10. @Lea and Batik: Welcome to my blog and thanks so much for the follow.

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  11. I've seen her books on amazon, thanks for the great review.

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  12. @Carrie: Keep coming back for more exciting reviews, coming soon!

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  13. Hi Komal thankyou for following my blog. love your review although it is not an author I have come accross before so may give this one a go xx

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  14. Rea: Hey, great to see your comment here!:) Hope you will like my blog too! Happy reading!

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  15. First time hearing of this book. Love the cover!
    Found you on the Time 4 Mommy book blog hop
    Mandie
    http://time4mommy.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. @Mandy: Thanks so much for checking out my blog and for the follow! You made my day!:)

    ReplyDelete

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