Book Review | Jemima J. by Jane Green

Rating

5 stars – chick lit at its finest

Jemima J. is about…

An overweight girl who reinvents herself in her search for love.

As the novel opens we are introduced to Jemima Jones, an overweight girl who works on the ‘top tips’ column at her local newspaper – answering readers’ questions about the best way to remove tarnish from silver candlesticks, or how to bleach a yellowed marble floor. Much as she hates her job – and yearns for a post on the Features team – her days are made more bearable by the gorgeous Benjamin Williams – on whom she has a very large crush.

Jemima J. is packed full of ‘everyday issues’ – of friendship and attraction, of the search for true love, and of the quest of a fat girl to be thin – and the way the world changes for her.

The book was published in 1998 – the early days of the Internet – and it’s quite funny to read about Jemima learning about Internet chat rooms – and falling for a hunk called Brad who lives in Los Angeles.

Written by any other author this book may have been trite, and corny – but Green has a knack of letting the reader know that while everything may seem rosy there is something more ‘sinister’ afoot – and when the twist came near the end, I certainly hadn’t seen it coming!

I really liked Green’s writing style – the majority of the book is written in the first person – from Jemima’s point of view – but every now and then Green addresses Jemima or the reader directly – almost as if she’s letting you in on a secret.

“So close but yet so far, Jemima. I wish we could tell you that Ben Williams is standing but feet away from you, but it’s not our place, I’m afraid. Fate will just have to continue taking its course.”

My favourite scene…

Was the one where Jemima and Ben were in the same bookstore – and if they would just turn around they’d see each other… then they are out on the street, yet still their paths don’t cross… eventually Ben heads into a bar where he is set upon by a girl – and Jemima finally sees Ben through the window. This is the turning point when she decides to do something about her weight – but I liked Green’s treatment of the scene – that fate could have made them see each other and fall in love – but fate wasn’t on their side that day.

I’d recommend this book to…

Lovers of chick lit – of course – but also those who just want to read something ‘light’ once in a while. It’s a real feel good story that would be perfect for the beach – or a long haul flight when you don’t want to concentrate too much.

Would I read another book by Jane Green?

Definitely. Luckily I have three more on the TBR mountain already – don’t ask me how I end up with four books from an author I’ve never read – thank goodness I enjoyed this one *lol* I’ll be selecting one of the others for my flight next week.

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