Queen of Babble Gets Hitched

Blesh, no, this is not a good book. Okay, I know that most Meg Cabot books follow the same exact formula, and I'm okay with that. I don't mind. I don't expect a masterpiece or anything, but this is just so bad it's unforgiveable.

I don't even know where to start? The way Shari being a lesbian is treated in the second book was not good but it was, I suppose, well-meant, in this there's a point where Shari's about to say "I'm a lesbian" and Lizzie INTERUPTS HER, because the word "lesbian" is so upsetting to her. What the shit, and this is a character I'm supposed to relate to? It's even worse, because Shari was only turned into a lesbian so that Lizzie could get with Chaz - Shari's ex boyfriend - with no real repercussions. Actually Shari show more is such a good friend she's been trying to set Lizzie and Chaz up for months. Because, as we all know, lesbians have nothing better to do with their time than setting up their straight friends with each other.

Oh yeah, and OBVIOUSLY Lizzie and Chaz gets together. Because Chaz remembers that Lizzie wants to have a side of ice with her wine and Luke doesn't. Also remember when Lizzie told Luke her dream was to work as a wedding dress restorer and he bought her a top of the line sewing machine for Christmas? I mean have you ever heard of something so inconsiderate??? I almost died because I was so embarrassed on his part. I mean WHO SUPPORTS HIS GIRLFRIEND'S DREAM LIKE THAT???? What a horrible fucking twat. It's a shame he wasn't immediately hit by a bus or something. I mean, come on. Lizzie gave him a SLEEK LEATHER WALLET. Okay. That is like the most thoughtful gift I have heard of in my entire life and he didn't even propose. And then he forgot the ice. But he knew about the Diet Coke but that was only because Chaz told him, so it doesn't count. He should have known by looking into her eyes and seen the depths of her soul. Or something.

And then like ... yeah, she's in love with Chaz, we get it. She can't break of her engagement because .......... yes, why exactly? Nothing in this book makes sense. She accepts Luke's proposal but then demand that they live in separate apartments until they're married. What??? I'm all for couples staying independent, but why would you wait until your married to live together???? That's is an awful idea, don't do it. Especially if you've just decided that living together wasn't working out for you!? And then she cheats on him with Chaz because Chaz was there for her at her grandma's funeral (why do Americans always act like flying to Europe and back is no big deal? I mean, fictional Americans. I don't know how real ones are. But like ... it's a long flight??? It's not reasonable to expect someone to do that to spend 24 hours with you, even if they love you) but she still can't break off the engagement because ........... I'm still at a loss. I realize doing it over the phoen is a bit awkward, but at this point EVERYONE knows there's not gonna be a wedding, so why keep pretending?

Speaking of everyone knowing, why does Lizzie's friend have zero interests outside of like getting married and Lizzie's love life? Everyone in her life is like "lol we know you like Chaz ahahhaa you should fuck him oh sorry I mean make love to him since you don't approve of bad language". Get a fucking personality. Or at least contain this to ONE character instead of five-ish carbon copies??? What's even the point????

I'm mostly annoyed that Lizzie gets a get out of jail free-card by the end. Because of course perfect prince Luke was never perfect (compared to perfect non-Prince Chaz!!! Because he's an American!! And American boys are automatically more trust-worthy than those suspicious Europeans!!!) nooooooooooo he was a cheating cheater who LIED. And because he did that it was okay that Lizzie cheated. And she never had to own up to it or evne tell Luke because oh my gods what if her actions had consequences that would just be awful. You know, the characters in Cabot's teenage-aimed books would NEVER get away with this shit, that's what's bothering me. They would have to own up to it by the end to get the guy, but Lizzie doesn't. It's all just working out too perfect, and she even gets to marry Chaz by the end, even though he said he never wanted to get married.

Of course that means Chaz is suddenly attainable and Lizzie has zero interest in guys she can actually get so I'm assuming they'll break up within two weeks or something. Honestly Lizzie dumping both guys and focusing on her career would have been the only acceptable ending to this book, but the point is not that you should be happy doing what you love, it's that you should be happy doing who you love. Because nothing in life is worth anything unless a man validates you. The end. show less

So, as I’ve been complaining a lot about this series as a whole and how it would work so much better if it wasn’t a trilogy. And I say that because the third book is completely different from its predecessors in tone. The set-up of this perfect, fairy tale life with Luke is stripped away and you have Lizzie making seemingly bad decisions and starting to stand on her own, both professionally and privately.

I said in the last review that I was disappointed with Chaz’s storyline and basically forcing him into the love triangle role. While it still bothers me, I actually like Chaz as a love interest. He’s likeable, Lizzie’s comfortable with him, and you want him to win. And while Luke becomes almost pretty undesirable, he’s show more still someone Lizzie tries to love back. You see hints that he’s not happy with Lizzie throughout book 2—particularly at the end—but his behavior and actions become more unlikeable. The only thing I would have liked is that Lizzie confront Luke about the possibility of him cheating; it’s brought up twice, but doesn’t go anywhere.

To continue with Chaz, I do like him as a love interest. He likes Lizzie, and is supportive of her whenever she makes a bad decision. I also liked the fact that he’s not into weddings, but not opposed to marriage. Even the ending felt a lot more believable with him and Lizzie deciding to just fill out a form than her whirlwind romance with Luke.

One of the parts I really enjoyed is the expansion of Lizzie’s bridal team—I’ve almost always enjoyed the supporting cast in Meg Cabot’s books, and it really shines here. I like how Tiffany and Ava start off as know-nothing characters, but as the books go on, their real personality shows through. I didn’t like Ava at first, she felt too much like a Paris Hilton clone; but again, as the book went out, you got to see more of here.

Speaking of supporting characters, I’ve been neglecting to mention Lizzie’s grandmother for the previous books. In those, she felt more like a side character who shows up and sprouts off a few one-liners with a handful of good advice peppered in. While I liked her, I never felt like she played a huge role in the plot. However, I really felt her presence more in this book. You get a better sense of how close Lizzie was with her grandmother, especially during the funeral scene. It seems a bit forced, but you get to the heart of Lizzie’s feelings and how much she misses her ornery, drinking Grandma.

I mentioned that the series takes a surprising turn, and it does. Again, if the first two books had been combined, this would have been more of a shock, but I enjoyed …Gets Hitched at lot more than the first two, because it doesn’t go with the normal conventions of the first two books. show less

After Luke finally proposes, Lizzie is ecstatic until she realizes that everytime she even thinks about planning her wedding, she starts to get hives. She keeps remembering her almost-fling with Chaz on New Years Eve and how Chaz always seems to be there for her and always makes her laugh. When Lizzie's beloved gran dies, Chaz shows up to comfort her. Her fiance who is spending the summer in France, can't (or won't) make the trip. Lizzie is in turmoil. She is single-handedly running M. Henri's business after he has a heart attack and is so busy, she doesn't have time to think let alone plan a wedding. All of her friends disapprove of her engagement to Luke and she can't seem to answer the real question: Who does she really love?

This is show more the third and final installment of the Queen of Babble series. This one drags a little bit, but Cabot fills the story with her trademark zany characters, witty dialog, romance and sex. I'll miss Lizzie and her friends!

I listened to this on audio CD and I think listening to it made it much more fun than reading it. The voice of Justine Eyre (who has read several of Cabot's books) is the perfect voice for Lizzie. show less

Cabot's great strength is her ability to create appealing, believable, and funny main characters. Lizzie remains instantly likeable in book 3 of this series, but the plot doesn't make a lot of sense, relying on sit-com convolutions to get to the end. Lizzie is far too straightforward to be in this plot.

Lizzie Nichols is finally getting her life back together. The wedding gown restoration shop she works in is finally doing well – thanks mostly to her own hard work. Though she has recently broken up with her boyfriend, Luke, she is finding that being available isn’t the worst thing imaginable – especially considering that she is starting to see her good friend Chaz in a completely different light. After spending a wonderful night together (in which they just slept – no funny business), their friendship begins to turn into love when someone throws a kink into their newfound happiness. Luke shows up and deposits a three-carat engagement ring on Lizzie’s finger. Lizzie convinces herself that Chaz was a mistake and that Luke is show more the one that she’s meant to be with, even as Chaz (ironically, also Luke’s best friend) warns her that Luke isn’t serious about the engagement; he’s just afraid of being alone. And Chaz is convinced that Lizzie isn’t happy with Luke, either. Lizzie insists that isn’t the case…but then why does she break out in hives every time she thinks about planning her wedding to Luke?

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched is the third and final book in Meg Cabot’s hit “Queen of Babble” series. Though it doesn’t quite hit the level of the previous two books, it provides a satisfying resolution to the trilogy. The reader leaves confident that Lizzie’s story has been told, though a peek into her life after marriage would be more than welcome!

One element that has always been enjoyable about the Queen of Babble series is the quality of secondary characters. From Lizzie’s Grandma, forever obsessed with Sully from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, to Ava Geck, a Paris Hilton-type character whose father owns a major department store, the characters in this book are just as humorous as they have ever been. Cabot’s ability to write unique and funny characters who are still relatable is exemplary – most likely, one of the main reasons she is such a phenomenally successful author.

Also, the Lizzie/Chaz relationship seems to come out of left field. Upon consideration, they work well together, but until the suggestions of the previous book and seeing them fleshed out in this one, it really didn’t seem viable. Of course, once it was demonstrated how well they work together, this reader was completely on board. One thing that missing from this book is Shari, Lizzie’s best friend and Chaz’s ex-girlfriend. The absence of her perspective is noticeable, especially since she was such a major player in the first two books.
Originally posted at http://www.curledup.com and reprinted at http://www.skrishnasbooks.com

As always, Lizzie is a wonderful character. Though not always relatable, she is a strong, independent woman who is a great role model. (And let’s face it – she’s also loads of fun to read about, especially when she talks about her Spanx!) Her indecisiveness is sometimes difficult, but at the same time, it is part of the character’s internal debate of what she wants out of her life. In the end, it is a bittersweet finale to the series; the book provides a satisfying conclusion, but readers will be sad to say goodbye to such an appealing character. show less

Lizzie wakes up to the new year in the arms of..... Chaz! The streaming images of her memory flashes to the night before and the beard burn all over her face only confirms it! As if she isn’t surprised enough, who would happen to turn up on her doorstep, but Luke. And just like that he slips a huge rock on her finger and she gives Chaz the boot!So, why does she get these warm tingly feelings whenever she thinks about Chaz, and she so conveniently breaks out in hives whenever she thinks about getting married to Luke. Luckily she is so busy at the shop she doesn’t have time to think about the wedding and with Luke being in Paris she can avoid the topic completely. But with Luke’s absence Lizzie finds herself becoming even more show more attracted to Chaz. What is a girl to do?I absolutely love this series! Queen of Babble Gets Hitched was amazing! I couldn’t have asked for a better addition to this series! I hope that this isn’t the end, but I can say that I am perfectly satisfied with the way everything ended. Of course I would love to continue reading about these characters. If you are a fan of chick lit, you will not be disappointed. I devoured this book in no time, I literally did not put it down from when I took it out of the mail box! It was fun, light, entertaining and most importantly hilariously funny! Oh! And don’t forget the romance! I have no idea how Meg does it, but she does it and does it well. Lizzie Nichols’ fans rejoice!! show less

Loving the ending, although I wish we had an actual wedding, or rather, an elopement, than just a certificate. I wish they'd tell at least someone, but at least they're married. I have to say, I never thought Lizzie/Chaz would make a good couple--until I read the exerpt for the book. They are so much better than her and Luke, who really is just great looking and didn't give her any freedom, responsibility, or anything. Chaz is outpsoken and has his morals and beliefs and he sticks to them. He's all around a better, sweeter guy, and I'm really glad they ended up together.
The character of Ava Geck was the most annoying thing in the universe.
I really didn't see Tiffany ending up pregnant, that was too random to be plausible.
Loved that show more Lizzie finally got her own place.
Really didn't like that Gran died, that was sad, but again, somewhat predictable.
*sigh* Those two lines, "I think I'm in love with my fiance's best friend" "So, I've got it worse, I'm in love with my best friend's fiance" were just the sweetest line sin the entire book. Chaz, you adorable sap!
Loved it overall. Wish there was a sequel or at least an epilogue, a peek into what married life was like for them, and if it lasted.
I just think that with all this stuff about marriage, she at least deserved a wedding. I suppose Meg might have done it like this for the irony, but I don't think it worked all that well. Lizzie needed her own wedding, darn it!
Ah well. Still amazing show less