Ralph's Party

I was two hours into this audio book when I thought I must have gotten the author wrong - it couldn’t be by Lisa Jewell. But it was. Then three hours after that, I looked more carefully at the description. It was written in 2000. Jewell has certainly gotten better at her craft and improved her writing since then. It’s not the psychological thriller I was expecting (that will teach me to read the book descriptions first!) but a rubbish romance. The book had no likable characters, the plot was thin at best, and if the profanity had been eliminated, the book would have at least 25% shorter. My recommendation is to skip anything Jewell wrote with the word “party” in it (yes, there is a sequel, and no, I’m not reading it) and read show more something she wrote that’s more recent. You won’t regret it. show less

Last night while I couldn't get to sleep I finished reading Ralph's Party. While I enjoyed Jewel's writing style, I couldn't get into most of these characters as much as I had been able to with the characters in Thirty-Nothing. Siobhan, Karl, Smith and Cheri have to be some of the most selfish twats in a chick-lit I've read and enjoyed. Ralph and Gem are ridiculously naïve and are clearly a good fit for each other. One of my favorite Mark scenes is where he spills his guts on air and gets a following of fans. We had something similar happen on a local radio station here a few years ago so it rang true.

Lättläst och lite smårolig bok som handlar om kärlek och svartsjuka. Gillar karaktärerna i boken och att man kommer dem nära när man får följa deras tankar och känslor. Gillade boken även om den inte hade någon "toppenstory" :

Smith and Ralph have been friends for many years; yet, they are polar opposites in just about every way. Most evenings, they sit in front of the TV with their beer and cigarettes. Ralph decides that another roommate might liven up their social lives. Enter Jem. She is tiny and cute, a genuinely nice person and a lot of fun. Things definitely get very exciting for both Smith and Ralph. In the same apartment building lives Karl and Siobhan. They live a boring but domestically blissful life until Siobhan finds out about something big that Karl has been keeping from her. Another apartment dweller is Cheri, a beautiful, selfish, shallow girl who manages to insert her destructive self into everyone else's lives in the building. I would show more describe this as a romantic drama/comedy which starts out with a bang, bogs down a little in the middle of the book, and then tpicks up again at the end but with no real surprises for the reader. Quick, fun read. show less

This is the third book I have read by Lisa Jewell, and each has been different. Ralph's Party weaves the lives of several people together, culminating in one explosive party. It is easy to get wrapped up in the characters, and we have all met a Smith or a Cheri in our time.

An easy, entertaining read for any occasion.

Very disappointing. It's Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream without the poetry or the beautiful language. This is a trite, cliched story with stereotypical characters who are either weeping copiously or giggling uncontrollably. Young adult stuff without the charm or appeal of young adults.
Not worth reading

I was stuck in hospital and my boss turned up with this book, which he thought I might like. So of course I had to read it, though it's not really my cup of tea.

To give the book its due, it's written with considerable spirit and wit. I was fascinated by a descriptive section late on in which someone is described as having 'squandered breasts'. What on earth are squandered breasts? But top marks for inventive prose.

The story left me cold. Lots of twentysomethings in London, and a lot of stuff involving toilets.