The Bachelorette Party

Ok, so even though it is listed as geared to "Young women - Fiction" and "Weddings - Fiction", I enjoyed the writing and wit in this story. I even laughed out loud a few times.

Summary:
Zadie is of the mind that love and marriage are as evil as Satan himself. After she’s stood up at the alter by her soap opera star fiancé Jack all she has left is her job as an English teacher at a posh LA private school and her best friend Grey. The biggest problem with that? Well, not only is she spending the majority of her time lusting after her Abercrombie and Fitch model [slash] student Trevor but now Grey has moved to the dark side. Her best friend has gone and gotten engaged to be married ….even worse, his new fiancé is her Stepford sized cousin Helen.

Helen is as prim and proper as they come, so when Grey asks Zadie to make sure his fiancé loosens up at her bachelorette party she reluctantly accepts the mission. show more Immediately thrown into dealing with Helen’s uptight (or are they?) friends as she tries to convince them to go from a day of tea parties and yoga to drunkenness and debauchery Zadie navigates a wild night that punctuate a series of situations that further affirm her “no love, no marriage” mantra.

In the end Zadie learns several valuable lessons that relate to family, friendship, professionalism and most importantly opening her life up to the possibility of sharing it with that special someone.

Opinion:
I adored this book!

From the first page McCullah Lutz’s witty and sarcastic humor jumped off the page. Zadie is as saavy as she is amusing while her best friend Grey tempers her cynicism with a more pragmatic outlook. More than that the author does a wonderful job developing the myriad of supporting players. Helen as the perfect cousin, Trevor as the lusted after student, all the ladies in attendance at the bachelorette party; each of them were well characterized and highly entertaining in their own right.

The simple plot – showing how Zadie navigates her perception of love and marriage through her experiences at the bachelorette party – was easy to follow and enjoyable in all respects. There were even a few unexpected twists and turns that caught me off guard — twists that ultimately alter the course and resolution of the story.

I strongly encourage anyone who enjoys a good laugh to pick up this book. You won’t put it down again until you’re finished. show less

Sometimes I totally forget how or why a book lands in my to-read pile. I usually only add books from trusted sources with pretty enthusiastic reviews.

I'd love to know who led me to this book because other than being a light book (which I like to read now and again). It was a really peculiar read that I can't really imagine who would have recommended to me.

It was decently well written - the characters were fairly fleshed out - but instead of feeling like a raunchy romp or what ever the author was intending - it felt sort of awkward and vaguely unsettling.

****SPOILER*****

There is a pretty strong sub-plot in this book about the main character (Zadie) - a high school English Teacher lusting after one of her seniors. I tried to accept this show more in the light hearted manner it was presented in - but really - it made me feel just icky.

The ante is upped later in the book when the protagonist actually acts on her desires. (but we are encouraged to accept that this is okay(?!?) because she finds out that he is 19)

ugh. I don't know. I kept thinking how if the gender was flipped this book would never have made it to print. How creepy and weird to have all these teachers and older adults leering over a student.

Anyway - the rest of the book fell flat for me. Zadie never resonated as sympathetic to me. I honestly felt so disconnected from all the characters that I really never felt invested in any of the story lines. show less

Too raunchy at times and too much foul language. Otherwise, a very funny book. Great characters. Liked the storyline. Some scenes were "laugh out loud" funny.

Sweet Lord, I loved this book. So funny, so unlike most chick-lit.

Great book. Sharp, witty writing give opportunities for laughing out loud. This one is staying in my library.

That was such a fun read! Hilarious, quick and such a cute ending!