odd at first, then funny, fast read. couln't put down. quick. diary style ( )

Whiney, whiney, whiney. Thank goodness it was a short book! ( )

Hilarious easy read. I think I read this in one sitting and laughed out loud the whole time. If you like Janet Evonovich or Sophia Kinsella you will like this book ( )

#99, 2004

I was disappointed by this book. It started out well enough, and at first I really enjoyed the writing style, but after the first 50 pages or so, it seemed as though there just wasn't much in the way of a plot. It's not a very long book, though, so I kept reading, and kept hoping for a plot to appear . . . but it never did. It was interesting as a character study, but went on about five times longer than necessary to explore Katya's character. Especially because Katya has got to be the least likeable main character *ever* - the book's title *is* disturbingly accurate. When I first read Bridget Jones, I thought Bridget was a real loser (although I've since come to appreciate her, and I do realise that having flawed narrators is part of the charm of Chick Lit), but compared to Katya, Bridget is a saint. Katya is thoroughly despicable. Not just quirky and thoughtless, but truly, truly awful. This might have made for a funny book, except that the author never took it anywhere, and after a while it became tedious to read.

I also felt that the author didn't make Katya consistent enough. Sometimes, Katya acted in ways that were awful, but believeable. Other times, her behaviour was so over-the-top as to be ridiculous, and I found this off-putting. It wasn't satirical enough to be really funny, yet Katya was far too horrible for me to feel any sympathy for her whatsoever. So I ended up sitting through 197 pages of Katya describing the awful things she did to other people, all the while not seeming to have a hint of remorse or any awareness that she really is a wretched excuse for a person, and then it ends. Disappointing.

LJ Discussion ( )

Ugh, I couldn't wait to finish this. No plot, annoying characters, and just bad bad bad. ( )

Very disappointing. I'm not sure if the author was trying to skewer the chick-lit phenomenon, or if she honestly thought that writing about a loathsome, wholey unlikeable character was a good idea. At any rate, I only finished this book because I thought for sure that by the end, the main character would display SOME redeeming qualities, but sadly, I was wrong. YUCK! ( )