Setting the Bar

I think I’ve read just about all of Jennifer Weiner’s books and while it’s chicklit, it’s not exactly like the other books that she has written - it’s about a few girls that are the main characters that deal with issues, but only superficially. Addie Downs is the first of the main female characters. She’s lived in Pleasant Ridge for her entire life. As a young, pre-adolescent girl, her life growing up in the middle class suburb of Chicago was somewhat normal.  Then, Valerie Adler moved in next door and her life became, somehow, more glamorous. The two were quick and fast friends. Addie envied Val her life, her mother and her life. In high school things drastically changed.  Valerie became a cheerleader and everything that entails - popularity, beauty, being sought after - while Addie became an overweight, socially uncomfortable and anxious teenager. Fifteen years later, Addie is still in Pleasant Ridge, living in the house that she grew up in and has continued, in a way, her mother’s career of decorating/writing greeting cards. Val and Addie had lost touch, as a result of an incident involving a popular football player that occurred during their senior year of high school.  So, when Val knocks on Addie’s door on the night of their fifteenth high school reunion, Addie’s mind is blown away when Val tells Addie that she may have killed that popular football player.

This was typical chick-lit in my opinion. It was shallow, easy to read and generally superficial. However, I did appreciate Addie and her struggles. Her loyalty led directly to her loneliness and her misery during her senior year.  I did, however, find her loyal to a fault and it got on my nerves - I mean, you have to have SOME little bit of self-preservation, selfishness or something in you right? And because of this, I had a tremendously hard time  relating to Addie OR to Val.  However, at the same time, I particularly liked Weiner’s chattiness. Her writing style puts you at ease and it feels comfortable, as if you’ve known each other for years.

This is one that I could have lived without and was pure fluff.

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