Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cloth Baby Caper, 2 April 2004
I'm not normally a "chick lit" reader. I've also always had difficulty with comic scenarios involving increasingly convoluted lies on the part of the protagonist--I tend to find them an uncomfortable ride. But this novel exceeded my expectations of the genre and reassured me through the growth of Jane, its narrator, that whatever uncomfortable situations arose, she would rise to the challenge and become a better person for her.I can't help but feel that Lauren Baratz-Logsted was extremely brave to choose a protagonist who starts off as unlikeable as Jane. Watching her come to terms with her faults through the course was a distinct pleasure. Jane has two distinct virtues going for her: she knows true love when she sees it, even if she doesn't know what to do about it, and she's able to appreciate honesty, however harsh. And despite her genuine toughness, she displays occasional moments of vulnerability that I found particularly endearing. When her friend David, the gay Mr Knightley to Jane's Emma, expressed his belief in her despite her faults, I had to agree with him. Negatives: The Britishization of the narrative is imperfect and at times overly self-conscious; and at times I felt claustrophobic, trapped as I was in Jane's rapid mental meanderings. On the plus side, the satirical treatment of modern "group pregnancy" is spot-on, while a genuine human warmth also shines through. And including a love interest named Tolkien was genuinely inspired. I look forward to the sequel.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A surprisingly good read, 20 May 2003
I'm not usually a fan of what could be called 'Chick-Lit' or 'Brit-com', just so that's clear. However, I was given an advance copy of The Thin Pink Line to read on a long flight and was very pleasantly surprised. First of all, the dialouge (one of my first criteria) is crisp, well written and sounds real in the mind's ear. Next, there are moments that are laugh-out-loud funny. The novel is very well paced and moves right along. The only criticism I may have, and this is purely from a personal point of view and has nothing to do with the writing, is that I found it very hard to sympathise in any meaningful way with Jane, the protagonist. However, if someone like me who doesn't read much along the lines of this sort of thing enjoyed it very much, I'm sure people who do will find that The Thin Pink Line stands head and shoulders above the rest.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and witty!, 21 Jul 2004
The Thin Pink Line made me laugh and smile a lot, and at one point it even brought tears to my eyes. Although Jane is terribly self-centered and, therefore, not exactly a likeable person, I could not dislike her. Why? I think because of her great determination. Once Jane had set her mind on pretending to be pregnant, she went on with it, even though she knew there would not and could not be a baby at the end of her ninth month to show for. Right up to the end, Lauren Baratz-Logsted keeps you guessing about the outcome. And when it comes? I can only tell you what happened to me. I heaved a deep sigh and, with a big smile on my face I continued to stare at the last line for a while, before I was able to close the book. A fun and witty story. Read it!
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