Book Review: Remember Me?

Nancy’s Review of Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Lexi Smart has amnesia. When she wakes up in the hospital after a car accident, she thinks it is 2004 when it is actually 2007. She struggles to remember how she went from having the nickname "snaggletooth" and working at a dead-end job to being a successful, wealthy executive with perfect teeth and toned body who is married to a handsome millionaire. Lexi can’t find the pieces to the puzzle that is her life. When she leaves the hospital and returns home with her husband, Eric, she enters a world completely unfamiliar to her. She must adjust to a carb-free diet, a personal shopper, a high-tech loft filled with the most expensive furnishings, a housekeeper, and all new friends.

It is difficult for Lexi to understand how her life changed so drastically. At first, she is appreciative of her glamorous lifestyle but soon discovers that it isn’t all it is cracked up to be. She misses her old friends, chocolate, bread, and most importantly she misses being able to be herself. Eric is controlling and annoying, and despite his best efforts to make Lexi happy, she finds that she is not attracted to him. When she encounters the architect, Jon, who works with Eric and he reveals that she was having an affair with him before she was in the car accident, Lexi is floored. She can’t imagine herself as an unfaithful person, trying to resist Jon’s advances and his stories of their relationship. Everything becomes overwhelming for Lexi and she wonders if she will ever get her memory back or if she will just have to start over again.

Remember Me? is another fun book from Sophie Kinsella. Like her other books, this one is filled with humor, surprises, and quirky characters. While most readers will not be able to relate to an amnesiac, they will be able to relate to Lexi as someone who realizes she needs to make changes in her life. She is a character who desperately wants to be herself and be true to who she is, even if it is not what is expected of her in the glamorous, new world she finds herself in. Kinsella’s book teaches a valuable lesson in that it reminds us to never lose ourselves or lose sight of what is really important while pursuing success. The characters in Remember Me? are well developed and lively, painting an accurate picture of Lexi’s world. This is not Kinsella’s best novel, but it is worth the read for fans of her work and those just discovering her incredible writing talent.

Kinsella is the New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series as well as The Undomestic Goddess, Can You Keep A Secret?, and Twenties Girl. She also writes under her real name Madeleine Wickham. To learn more about Kinsella and her novels, you can visit http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk and http://www.facebook.com/SophieKinsellaOfficial. 
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Have you read any of Kinsella's books? Post a comment and share your thoughts with us. Thanks!

Pretty Little Pocket Full of Secrets: Salt Meets Wound

In last night's episode, "Salt Meets Wound," Hanna arrives home from the hospital with the help of Aria, Emily, and Spencer. Hanna is in a wheelchair and is not able to go back to school yet. She desperately wants a poptart, so she uses one of her crutches to get the box down. When other boxes fall from the shelf too, she discovers thousands of dollars hidden in a box of lasagna noodles. The other girls come back into her house and she tells them to leave. When Hanna's mom comes home, she confronts her about the money and learns that her mom stole it from a customer at the bank to pay the mortgage but intends to pay it back. Elsewhere in Rosewood, Spencer sees Toby and finds out that he is out of jail on bail. At school, Aria tells Ezra that Noel saw them in the car outside of Camp Mona and he promised not to say anything but Ezra isn't convinced. Mona invites the girls to a surprise welcome home party at Hanna's house despite their protests that Hanna won't be up for a party. Noel receives a C on a paper and threatens Ezra to try to get a better grade. Ezra is upset and pulls away from Aria out of concern. He asks her who else knows about them and she lies and tells him that only Noel knows when, in fact, she told Emily, Spencer, and Hanna too. Spencer's boyfriend, Alex, tells her that he has the chance to play professional tennis in Switzerland but he isn't interested in applying for a spot, to her disappointment. Before the party at Hanna's, Emily's parents invite Maya over for dinner to meet her. Emily's dad is much more accepting of Emily's and Maya's relationship than Emily's mom is, who winds up crying in the kitchen and telling Emily that it makes her sick. Maya doesn't want to go to Hanna's party, so Emily goes alone. On her way there, she sees Toby outside of his house. They have a brief conversation revealing that they can't trust each other. After Emily leaves, Jenna comes outside and reveals to Toby that she turned him into the police so that she could bail him out and then he'd be on house arrest and at home with her. He's upset by this. Noel shows up at Hanna's surprise party and she has a flashback to when Alison purposely broke Noel and his girlfriend up so that he would be available for Aria. Lucas also comes to the party even though he hasn't responded to any of Hanna's emails. She wants to study with him but he isn't interested because he's still upset that she put him in the friend zone in the last episode. Lucas picks a fight with Sean, Hanna's boyfriend, but Noel steps in to prevent any actual violence. Hanna goes outside to talk to Lucas who is very upset about how is being treated and reveals that he destroyed Alison's memorial because she was a monster to him in junior high. Hanna tells him that she won't say anything or turn him in but he's still upset and leaves the party. Alex leaves early too when he finds out by email that someone applied for him to the tennis program. He assumes it was Spencer but she denies it. He doesn't believe her. She then gets a text message from A that says A submitted the application. When Spencer gets home, her dad says that he found out that police found Alison's blood at Toby's house, so he thinks Toby will be arrested again. Spencer then discovers a tag on one of Ian's bags from a resort in South Carolina. She has a flashback to when Alison came home from a supposed trip to visit her grandma in Georgia and had the same tag on her luggage. After the party at Hanna's ends and her mom comes home, they discover that the money in the lasagna box was stolen. Her mom is very upset. Hanna finds some of the money in one of her pill bottles with a note from A that she'll get all of it back if she cooperates with A. The episode ends with black gloved hands stuffing all of the money into a clown piggy bank.

 

As usual, I really enjoyed this episode. My favorite scene was between Hanna and Lucas when he revealed that he destroyed Alison's memorial. I loved the emotion of the scene and I love the friendship between them. It's unusual but somehow it works and you get the sense that they are meant to be together, if only as friends. I am really glad that Toby came back for this episode. I wish the scene where he talked to Emily had been longer but I have a feeling we'll get to see more of them together in future episodes. Again, another unusual friendship that I really like. The Aria and Ezra relationship (Ezria) has gotten a bit boring. They are so afraid to be together now since people have found out that it ruins the chemistry between them. I wonder if they will wind up breaking up soon out of fear. Now I think that A is Jenna or Ian and Melissa together. Originally, I suspected Jenna as A but then it didn't seem like it could be her but now I'm back to thinking maybe it is. Another likely possibility is Ian and Melissa as a team. In the last episode, Hanna mentioned that A could be more than one person. I think that was a big clue, especially since now Spencer is discovering that Ian and Alison were together because of the South Carolina luggage tags. I really doubt that Noel is A. I think he is just upset that his girlfriend dumped him because of Alison and now that he's trying to date Aria, she is rejecting him for a teacher. I think he's harmless though. I'm not really on board with the Spencer and Alex relationship. I think it's lacking and they don't really have a spark. I wonder what trouble A will cause in next week's episode "Know Your Frenemies." Looking forward to it!

 

That's all for this week's PLPFS. To catch up on last week's episode and read my thoughts on it, you can click here. Don't forget to share your opinions with us and come back next Tuesday for another recap and discussion of PLL.

Better lock it in your pocket, taking this one to next week...     

 

Nancy

Book Review: Elixir

Nancy’s Review of Elixir by Hilary Duff with Elise Allen

In Hilary Duff’s Elixir, Clea Raymond is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a well-known surgeon and a popular politician. At a young age, Clea becomes a photojournalist and travels the world, camera in hand at all times. After her father disappears while on a humanitarian mission in Rio de Janeiro, Clea starts having nightmares that she can’t ignore. She seeks therapy to help her deal with the disappearance of her father, but she is still haunted by her frightening dreams.

While on a trip abroad with her best friend Rayna, Clea gets quite a scare when she thinks Rayna is caught in a building fire in Paris. Luckily, Rayna is okay, so Clea regains her composure enough to take pictures of the enormous blaze. When they return home to Connecticut, Clea views her pictures of the fire and notices a strange young man in the background. She soon finds that he is in the background of all of her photos. She is shocked to see that a stranger accompanied her on her entire trip. The man in the photos literally becomes the man of her dreams as she starts seeing him when she is awake and asleep. Clea can’t get him out of her head or her heart. When she is offered a photo assignment in Rio de Janeiro, she jumps at the chance to go there and delve deeper into her father’s disappearance. Her close friend/guardian Ben accompanies her to Rio where they come face to face with the mysterious man, Sage. Clea learns of Sage’s connection to her father and more about the Elixir of Life that her father was desperate to find prior to his disappearance. Clea soon finds herself in a love triangle as she travels with Sage and Ben to Tokyo in pursuit of the elixir.

Elixir is an exciting adventure that keeps you guessing until the last page. This paranormal love story is intriguing with beautifully written relationships. Readers will want Clea to be with Sage but also wish for more than friendship between Clea and Ben, thus creating the perfect love triangle. Rayna is quirky and supportive, necessary attributes of any engaging best friend character. Anyone who is skeptical of the writing abilities of actress/singer Duff will be pleasantly surprised. She has written a compelling, gripping story that will leave readers wanting more. The good news is that Clea’s story will carry through to a sequel. Elixir is a planned two-book series that may even continue on to more than two books. Clea’s journey is far from over. 

Duff gained popularity with a starring role on Disney’s Lizzie McGuire. From there, she went on to appear in films, TV shows, sell more than thirteen million albums, develop a clothing line for DKNY, and release a bestselling fragrance. She is also actively involved with the charity Blessings in a Backpack and was named the ambassador to the youth of Bogota, Columbia. Elixir is Duff’s first novel, which she wrote with Elise Allen. Allen is a writer of young adult and children’s fiction, as well as television and Internet programs. She blogs every Monday at The Debutante Ball, a group blog for debut authors. Allen’s debut young adult novel, Populazzi, will be released on August 1^st.

Reviewer’s Note: I have a few predictions for Elixir, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I think it will be extended past two books and will be a three or four-book series. I also think that eventually it will be developed into a TV series that will be produced by Duff.

Pretty Little Pocket Full of Secrets: Moments Later

Welcome to the first installment of Pretty Little Pocket Full of Secrets, a weekly recap and discussion of each Pretty Little Liars episode. Are you excited? I know I am! The second half of season 1 premiered on ABC Family last night. Each new episode airs every Monday at 8pm, so you can expect Pretty Little Pocket Full of Secrets right here at The Chick Lit Bee every Tuesday, as long as new episodes are airing. If you don't already know, the TV series Pretty Little Liars is based on the book series of the same name by Sara Shepard. If you haven't read the books or watched the show, you really need to because it isn't just for teenagers. It's compelling, riveting, keeps you guessing, and all of that good stuff. So, basically Pretty Little Pocket Full of Secrets will give you something to hold onto and lock in your pocket to think about until the next episode. As always, please share your thoughts in the comments section. Okay, okay. Enough info. Let's get to it.

Last night's episode, "Moments Later," picked up where the summer finale left off. Hanna was purposely hit by a car outside of Camp Mona, Mona's birthday party. The episode begins with Hanna's mom finding out about the accident and Aria, Emily, and Spencer watching as Hanna is taken to the hospital. Hanna remains in the hospital for the entire episode but we quickly learn that she's okay, only a broken leg, broken ankle, and some bruises. She tells the rest of the girls that A is Noel Kahn, her boyfriend Sean's friend, who Hanna set Aria up with on a date during the first half of the season. Aria noticed Noel in the woods outside of Camp Mona too but she doubts that he is A. Meanwhile, we also learn that Toby went to jail and he is no longer suspected as A either. Spencer discovers that Ian spent the night with her sister, Melissa, and by the end of the episode they are married. In the previous episode we learned that Alison and Ian used to be together secretly before Alison disappeared and their names were carved together on a tree. When Spencer takes Aria to the tree to show her the carving, they find that the whole tree was cut down. The last scene of the episode shows the part of the tree with the names on it burning in someone's fireplace. Aria and Ezra still struggle with their relationship and vow to be even more careful than they have been in the past because Noel saw them in the car together outside of Camp Mona, so he knows they are a couple. Aria also confides in the rest of the girls about her relationship with Ezra. They are shocked that she has been dating a teacher. Emily reveals to her parents that she is gay, to their surprise and disapproval. Hanna has many visitors while she's in the hospital, including a visit from Alison. It could have been real or a dream/hallucination. Lucas also comes to visit and Hanna suspects that he wants to be more than friends. She turns him down. In the episode's last scene of the girls together, they discover that A wrote a message on Hanna's cast while she was sleeping. They are freaked out and wonder who wrote the message. Hanna suspects that A and Alison's killer are not the same person.

I really enjoyed this episode and I'm so glad that the show is back. Noel looked hot when he was in the woods in his hoodie. I noticed him more in this episode than in the other episode he was in. It's almost a shame that Aria isn't interested in him. I don't think Noel is A. I think he was telling the truth when he said he was playing a joke on Aria and that's why he wrote "I see you" on Ezra's car. I doubt he was driving the car that hit Hanna. I think it was funny how they tried to make Lucas's visit to Hanna's room seem creepy at first but then he was only there to kiss her. I think he's a nice guy and I like their friendship. I don't know if I see them as a couple but it was sad when she turned him down. The marriage between Ian and Melissa was random and strange. I'm sure it's setting something up for future episodes but I don't know what. When Hanna saw Alison in the hospital and talked to her, I was confused. Was it real? Was it a dream? Why didn't she mention it to anyone else or acknowledge it at all during the rest of the episode? Is Alison still alive? That particular scene left a lot of unanswered questions. I haven't read the book series but plan to read it so I can see the differences between the books and the show. I'd love to hear about some of the differences that you already see in the show if you have read the books, so please share. I don't understand why Jenna wouldn't "allow" Emily to go visit Toby. Why does she have any control over that? Why doesn't Emily just go to the jail and visit him? I liked the strange friendship between Toby and Emily, so I hope we get to see more of that in future episodes. I also think the chemistry was lacking a bit between Aria and Ezra in last night's episode. I hope they don't break up but I have a feeling their relationship is going to change.

That's all for this week's PLPFS. Don't forget to share your thoughts with us and come back next Tuesday for more on PLL.

Better lock it in your pocket, taking this one to next week... 

Nancy

Book Reviews: See Jane Write and Will Write for Shoes

Nancy’s Reviews of Two Books on How to Write Chick Lit
 
See Jane Write: A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit by Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs
 
Bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski and chick lit editor Farrin Jacobs team up to provide a thorough guide to writing novels for the increasingly popular sub-genre of women’s fiction, chick lit. From developing your novel to selling it, Mlynowski and Jacobs provide practical tips about what to do and what to avoid as you navigate through your overall debut novel experience. In addition, they include advice from other bestselling authors such as Sophie Kinsella, Meg Cabot, Emily Giffin, and Marian Keys. Mlynowsi’s special feature It Happened to Me is included throughout and details her specific experiences while writing her own novels. Jacobs’ special feature Mistakes I’ve Known describes issues that she has seen and dealt with as an editor, providing valuable insight from an editor’s point of view. The book is divided into two parts: The Big Picture and The Details. In The Big Picture, Mlynowski and Jacobs delve into their definition of chick lit, reasons to write, the therapeutic power of writing chick lit, and how to rid yourself of excuses not to write and finally dive into your story. In The Details, they discuss how to create compelling main characters and secondary characters, style, structure, pacing, revising, and querying agents.

See Jane Write is a fantastic resource for aspiring chick lit authors. The fun illustrations and straightforward advice through actual authors’ stories contribute to the fresh, honest outlook from which this book is written. Mlynowski’s and Jacobs’ guide is comprehensive and packed with essential information for anyone trying to break into chick lit. However, some of the tips are obvious and will be familiar to most aspiring authors. If all of the information is brand new to you, you have a lot more work to do than you thought. But you’re in luck because there is another guide to writing chick lit that can help you as well.

Will Write for Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel by Cathy Yardley
 
Chick lit and romance author Cathy Yardley shares her own guide for penning a successful chick lit novel in Will Write for Shoes. This easy to read how-to book gives aspiring novelists a point of reference when embarking on their first journey toward publication. Yardley includes an agent listing, a publisher listing, sample submission materials, and online resources. The main content of the book is separated into four parts: It’s a Chick’s World, Where Do I Sign Up?, Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, and Frequently Asked Questions. The first part defines chick lit and gives a history of the genre, as well as the basics of traditional chick lit and new, emerging trends. The second part delves into how to write a chick lit novel by focusing on premise, characters, plot, outlining, structure, point-of-view, setting, voice, and revisions. The third part provides readers with tips on selling a novel, such as how to write a query letter and a synopsis, how to find an agent, how to approach publishers, how to network online, and how to form a critique group. The final part answers questions that Yardley is asked on a regular basis by aspiring authors.

Will Write for Shoes is another must have resource for aspiring chick lit writers. Yardley’s friendly tone is refreshing and candid. She writes with wit and ease, providing valuable advice. Like See Jane Write, some of the pointers will be familiar to writers. However, this is still an essential guide for any aspiring chick lit author to have on hand. Romance authors may also find this book helpful and necessary. The samples and agent listing are particularly important and can serve as a starting point when trying to sell your novel.

See Jane Write and Will Write for Shoes are key writing guides for anyone who wants to write chick lit. Every aspiring author will learn at least a few new pieces of information. That information can make all the difference when establishing a novel writing career.

To learn more about Sarah Mlynowski, visit http://www.sarahm.com
To learn more about Cathy Yardley, visit http://www.cathyyardley.com
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Have these books helped you? Do you know of any other essential writing books for chick lit authors? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section. Thanks!