Saturday, 23 May 2009

Another Book Review: The Wedding Party by Sophie King

Not content with one book to review, I've actually been sent another. The Wedding Party by Sophie King is not so Mummy orientated, more of a good chick flick kind of read. Brilliant, I thought to myself, I have two weddings to go to in May, this will be the perfect book to get me into the wedding groove and I can read it during the train rides around Britain when the various grandparents are looking after the boys which means I'll be able to read it in peace.

I have to say that chick flicks are not my natural choice of book. Generally, if I have the time to read I prefer to read something a little more substantial. So when I saw the cover of the book my heart sank. Call me shallow for judging a book by its cover, but I just couldn't generate any enthusiasm for a book bathed in baby pink fairy cakes.

The book itself, when I finally started reading it, was perfectly enjoyable. Well written, it had quite a few very funny lines and some nicely observed comments on familial relationships. but, I did find the constant coincidences in the plot line annoying and couldn't believe in quite a few of the characters at all. The timeline of the story also didn't quite hang together which irritated me in the same way that a hang nail does.

I would have very much enjoyed reading the book as a series of short stories or magazine articles, but in a novel form it was too long for me. If I enjoyed the genre more, I would probably have really enjoyed the story but as it was I was pleased to arrive at the Oxfordshire station that signalled the end of my journey and the start of a real life wedding party.

4 comments:

Kathryn said...

How do you get to be asked to review books?? I would love to do it - Italian books just don't do it for me!!

Dorset Dispatches said...

If you join the British Mummy Bloggers group (there is a link on my side bar) then you can join a group that is open to reviews, which will let you know when people want bloggers to review stuff. British Mummy Bloggers are worth joining anyway - there's an expat Mummy group as well that I find really helpful.

Know what you mean about local language books not quite hitting the spot!

Sparx said...

It's so good to see an honest, negative review - not sure I could do it!

Dorset Dispatches said...

Sparx - I don't feel great about it especially as people who like the genre would like the book. Just didn't work for me in a long book form. It was well written though and had some lovely moments so it isn't a total negative review. More an ok unless you like this kind of thing. I'll probably never be sent a book again... sigh.