The Book: The Opposite of Love, by Julie Buxbaum
The Story: Kind of out of no where, Emily decides to end her relationship with her longtime boyfriend. He is about to propose and it just kind of freaks her out, although she can’t really put into words why she is so freaked out.
She is also dealing with a boss who wants a more-than-employee/employer-relationship and the downward spiral of her Grandpa Jack.
As she starts to deal with these things and with the death of her mother, she starts to figure out who she really is.
What I Thought: Chic Flick in book form. That’s it.
Cliches out the wazoo: quirky grandpa, fear of “I love you,” fun and flippant friends, scary law firm, touchy feely boss, his mean assistant, eating ice cream for healing, blah blah blah. I could go on, but you get the idea. Add that to the predictable plot line and the cardboard main character and we’re looking at every chic flick that has ever been filmed.
This sounds like a complaint, but to be honest I was looking for something light and easy and fun…. and I got it. I tend to get bogged down after a few “serious” books and I just needed some pure ol’ escapism.
Generally I don’t turn to chic lit for my escapism-esqe books, but this seemed like it was chic lit plus…. a good, easy story but with better writing than most the chic lit out there. And that’s exactly what it was. While this isn’t a memorable book by any means, as far as fluff book goes the writing/plotting/pacing is pretty decent and it kept my attention.
That’s all.
Conclusion: A good but forgettable read. Pack this in your beach bag.