Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Second chance? Second Rate!, 18 Jul 2008
I have been a fan of Jane Green for many years and have read all her books. I would never describe Green as producing a literary classic, but on the whole, her books are well written and normally turn into 'page turners'. So what went wrong with Second Chance? Firstly, I found myself disliking Holly the main character immensely. A self obsessed , big house owning mother whose au pair looks after the two kids whilst she illustrates the odd greeting card for a living is not someone I can readily identify with. Secondly, it felt like Green had to evolve Marcus, Holly's husband, into a monster in order to justify her flirtation and subsequent cheating. After all, in the beginning of the book he is portrayed as a bit work obsessed, and possibly a little brand/label conscious. However, by the end of the book, he becomes this angry, rude, arrogant, cheat yet with no character formulation. Maybe Green felt that this may allow Holly to become slightly likable?
I was also confused as to Holly's reaction to her friends Tom's death, given they had had no contact for months and months. Also, the idea that Tom's (the deceased) Mother want's to have lunch with Holly whilst she drones on about how miserable her marriage is, seems laughable! Oh and obviously, Holly is this 'perceptive, creative, free-spirited' Mother Theresa type that everyone adores!
Really not my cup of tea, no page turning moments, no humor and by the way a bizarre use of the word 'Stoic'. Must have been used in almost every paragraph at the funeral!
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Had promise, 10 Dec 2007
I have to agree with the other reviewers - this wasn't one of her best books. It started off well; good plot - old friends get together at the funeral of a dear friend. But it took ages to get going and some of the characters were just plain boring. The actress strand was quite interesting; the housewife strand was yawnsville.
And it just wasn't all that funny really. I loved some of Green's other books - like the Life Swap one. And I'm sure she'll hit the jackpot again. But this one took itself too seriously and wasn't much fun. Sorry!
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20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Was this actually written by her?, 14 Mar 2008
One of the very most wonderful books in the world is Straight Talking - by Green. Green, Freya North and Marian Keyes were staple reading in my late teens and twenties: 3 authors I was always genuinely excited about when opening the first page of their latest book. Everyone knows that lovely feeling. Where you know a group of strangers will, in the space of 300 pages, become people you adore, and take you on a journey that will make your world more colourful.
The latter 2 authors are still writing gems; Green, though, appears to have lost the desire to write anything beautiful, and it's genuinely disappointing.
This is so desperately formulaic. The dialogue is clunky; the characters are cardboard (the main character's husband, Marcus, especially, is almost a caricature) and the initially promising premise quickly devolves into something mundane.
The editing is very peculiar. One minute, people are breaking apart from grief over having lost someone they love, but within 30 seconds, they're grinning at each other shyly. Huh? That really does happen in here. It's like it was written non-sequentially. Or perhaps she put it down for months, having forgotten what she'd just written. Either way, the continuity is bizarre.
Equally, it lacks the humour and quirkiness of her previous efforts. There isn't a single laugh out loud moment in Second Chance; there's a few quick chuckles, but nothing that raises it above any other book you'll forget within 5 minutes of finishing.
It's just not a very good book. It's sort of smug, and a little lazy and doesn't feel like British chick lit by a British author. It feels like an American trying to emulate it, and getting it completely wrong.
Finally, on a personal note, I found her using a terrorist attack as a "topical" plot-point very uncomfortable, and opportunistic. I don't want to bang on too much about that as it's probably very arbitrary, but it's not a level I ever would have expected Jane Green to stoop to. Chick lit is fab, and covers some serious issues, but as a genre, it lacks the gravitas to effectively cover an issue as destructive, consuming and evil as terrorism, and the ways in which it has affected the world.
So ultimately, if you're a fan of Jane Green, this will probably disappoint you dreadfully. If you're looking for something wonderful to snuggle up with on a cold Sunday afternoon, I'd recommend either Freya North and Marian Keyes, or Green's earlier books... but not this.
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