High Maintenance

Jennifer Belle's High Maintenance is an acquired taste. With caustic wit, ridiculous scenarios, over-the-top and unbelievably snarky characters and a plot that flows as a true love letter to New York, her novel sometimes feels like an acid trip. While reading, the word "odd" kept popping in my head. But in a good way, I guess.

What really struck me about High Maintenance is its definite sense of place and time. Set in a pre-9/11 world, Belle's passages about the New York skyline are jarring. We're dealing with a world largely saved from the Internet boom, too, and "e-mail" is still a foreign concept to this strange group. It's funny to think this book, first published in 2001, is already so dated. That setting made me nostalgic.

Liv show more herself is an enigma. She seems to alternate between hating Andrew and desperately wanting to be loved by Andrew, and Andrew himself seems like a borderline psychopath. While I didn't find him appealing in the least, her exploits with him were entertaining. In fact, that's how I would describe High Maintenance as a whole: wildly entertaining.

It's about attempting to find a place of permanence in an impermanent world. About carving out a little shell in which to reside and holding steadfastly to that sense of "home." It asks questions about whether a home is defined by people, location or things, and also reminds us that our own sense of place is fleeting. Everything changes. By the close of the story, Liv realizes her need to truly begin anew . . . and that's something with which many of us can relate.

Because Belle's sense of humor might not appeal to all readers, I'd recommend High Maintenance to those who enjoy vibrant characters, a deadpan writing style and witty commentary on what it means to live and covet life in New York. The city itself operates as another character entirely, and it's easy to understand why the Big Apple holds such enormous appeal. Liv knows that, too. show less

A wry look at life from a newly divorced woman in NYC (of course) who turns to real estate as a method of supporting herself. Not the best chick lit I've ever read, but amusing.

One of my favorite books of all time. I loved it so much, I actually own a signed first edition. Jennifer Belle is a brilliant, brilliant writer and I only wish she would write more books (although I heard she's busy having babies these days). I would read them just as fast as she could write them.

If you like Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris, you will love Jennifer Belle. She excels at dark humor and creating oddball characters, like Dale, the lesbian boss in this book.

Chick lit is one of my favorite genres, but my problem with a lot of it is that it can be formulaic and shallow and too "cute". And not very funny. "High Maintenance" is funny and smart, and Jennifer Belle has a unique, strong voice.

Reading this novel was a strange experience for me. Looking at the cover - I expected a run of the mill (read sub-par) chick lit book. What I got was part pulpy fiction and part - really unexpected.

The characters and situations in this novel start out very familiar. Typical chick lit fodder - but just when you get comfortable (again and again) the novel takes really strange turns - the characters make wacky decisions and the situations sometimes border on the bizarre. That being said - somehow the author was able to string it all together and keep me interested and flipping pages.

I liked it - it wasn't like anything I have read before - and that is a really fun thing to encounter unexpectedly.

When I first started reading this, I thought it was stupid and random. But after a few pages you are anxious to see what surprise is next. Her one liners are hilarious, like, " I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole" and "go fly a kite" I didn't care for the use of swear (sex) terms, but could identify with it!

The good side; the author has a lot of potential, it was outright funny (in some areas), and the plot was very interesting. The bad side; all the characters were too shallow for you to fall in love/loathe with, some areas of the plot were left too under developed, and it goes about 3 chapters too long at the end.
I plan on giving her another try with "Going Down". Hopefully it won't be a let down.

This book was interesting. Its said to be funny, I didn't find it all that funny. BUT it was fun. Its a crazy romp around new York city with a newly divorced young woman. she gets involved with a very WEIRD man, but than finds the strength to not feel she has to depend on a man. That she has her own strength. Over all this was a fast read and a fun little romp. I would recommend it to someone wanting to shake their head at some wacky scenes.