Jane Green and her Chick Lit is my Kryptonite. As my BFF said "Just stop reading her!" I thought of course that's the obvious solution! Sadly though I am addicted to these books and I don't know how to quit them. Every time I finish one of her books I kinda feel like I just had a fling that I know wasn't good for me emotionally, but I did it anyways. This is actually my second JG book this year, I read Saving Grace in March and I'll be honest I didn't like it. As always with JG we have a flawed main character, Cat's major flaw is that she is an alcoholic, and a rather bad one at that. I'll admit that I
wanted to give up on this book around page 70. I really just had enough with all of the women JG writes about. They're either depressed from pretending to be too perfect or have too many secrets that are poisoning them. It's a running theme in her books and maybe its my fault for always getting sucked in, but it did irk me a bit in the beginning...and then Cat slept with her long-lost half sisters boyfriend and the book got a whollllle lot more interesting for me!
After that incident Cat gets sober and marries a fellow recovering alcoholic, Jason and they have one daughter together named Annie. Cat falls off the wagon soon after, and Jason ends up leaving and taking Annie, which forces Cat to get sober for realsies this time. The book takes place in 2 years 1998 and 2014, when we meet sober Cat in 2014 we find that she is working her way through the 12 steps and is currently stuck on forgiveness which is why we go back to Nantucket, so that she can earn the forgiveness of her 2 half-sisters who she first met in 1998. The reason she has to ask for forgiveness is the following: About 2 days into her trip Ellie (older dislikes Cat long lost half sister) writes Cat off after finding her passed out drunk. The day after that incident Cat wakes up after a night of partying with Julia (younger likable half-sister) naked in bed with Julia's boyfriend Aiden. I think you can guess that she was no longer welcome on the island and flew home to London with a lot of sadness and regret and that's when she decides to get sober, so that she can live out her fantasy of being with Jason.
Got that? Now here's what I don't get, she goes to Nantucket knowing that forgiveness isn't going to be easy, but when she finally tracks down Julia she's all "Hugs! All is forgiven!" and Cat falls for it! What??? Julia ends up kissing Jason once he comes to Nantucket to visit Annie, after she is in a scooter accident. Oh and PSA never ever rent a scooter on an island. I worked on an island and the people handing out the scooters are typically summer hires from Europe and aren't always the safest or most fluent in English. Anyways back to Cat, see I know girls like Julia, I am Julia I saw her revenge coming from a mile away. I also don't like that there was an accident with Cat's daughter Annie, but wait there's always an accident with the kid, who am I kidding? And she magically ends up at the same AA meeting as Jason unknowingly confesses her love for him still and they end up together??
*Sigh* see I get sucked into these books and I kinda have a problem with the ending. Maybe I didn't get a clear enough picture of Jason, but the one I got he seemed like a jerk. He def doesn't deserve to be in Cat's life. I'm pretty sure he will probably never fully forgive her for her one foot on, one foot off the wagon days. I'm glad Cat ends up happy, the book kinda just ends so I'm not sure she does. I love JG and will always read her books, but this one was not my favorite. I mean it was good enough if you're looking for a juicy summer read, which is exactly what this is, but it isn't a JG book I would openly go back to and recommend. If you're looking for a JG book to start your downward spiral into chicklitville I would go with Another Piece of My Heart or Jemima J, much better choices.
This post took me weeks to write. I finished this book mid-July, that's how long it took me to write this. I was so conflicted about what I wanted to say. The whole premise of this book was just ridiculous, but I did enjoy it. I give it a C+ or a B- depends on my mood or when you catch me during the day. I know this post is in no way helpful whatsoever, but I felt obligated to share. Also, fun fact about the name, it refers to the summer secret that her mother kept, that Cat's biological father was actually a local of Nantucket where she spent a summer. This book is a read at your own risk, like I said right now it's late and I'm kinda over this post, but maybe tomorrow morning I'll feel differently. That's all for now!
<3's Laterz!
After that incident Cat gets sober and marries a fellow recovering alcoholic, Jason and they have one daughter together named Annie. Cat falls off the wagon soon after, and Jason ends up leaving and taking Annie, which forces Cat to get sober for realsies this time. The book takes place in 2 years 1998 and 2014, when we meet sober Cat in 2014 we find that she is working her way through the 12 steps and is currently stuck on forgiveness which is why we go back to Nantucket, so that she can earn the forgiveness of her 2 half-sisters who she first met in 1998. The reason she has to ask for forgiveness is the following: About 2 days into her trip Ellie (older dislikes Cat long lost half sister) writes Cat off after finding her passed out drunk. The day after that incident Cat wakes up after a night of partying with Julia (younger likable half-sister) naked in bed with Julia's boyfriend Aiden. I think you can guess that she was no longer welcome on the island and flew home to London with a lot of sadness and regret and that's when she decides to get sober, so that she can live out her fantasy of being with Jason.
Got that? Now here's what I don't get, she goes to Nantucket knowing that forgiveness isn't going to be easy, but when she finally tracks down Julia she's all "Hugs! All is forgiven!" and Cat falls for it! What??? Julia ends up kissing Jason once he comes to Nantucket to visit Annie, after she is in a scooter accident. Oh and PSA never ever rent a scooter on an island. I worked on an island and the people handing out the scooters are typically summer hires from Europe and aren't always the safest or most fluent in English. Anyways back to Cat, see I know girls like Julia, I am Julia I saw her revenge coming from a mile away. I also don't like that there was an accident with Cat's daughter Annie, but wait there's always an accident with the kid, who am I kidding? And she magically ends up at the same AA meeting as Jason unknowingly confesses her love for him still and they end up together??
*Sigh* see I get sucked into these books and I kinda have a problem with the ending. Maybe I didn't get a clear enough picture of Jason, but the one I got he seemed like a jerk. He def doesn't deserve to be in Cat's life. I'm pretty sure he will probably never fully forgive her for her one foot on, one foot off the wagon days. I'm glad Cat ends up happy, the book kinda just ends so I'm not sure she does. I love JG and will always read her books, but this one was not my favorite. I mean it was good enough if you're looking for a juicy summer read, which is exactly what this is, but it isn't a JG book I would openly go back to and recommend. If you're looking for a JG book to start your downward spiral into chicklitville I would go with Another Piece of My Heart or Jemima J, much better choices.
This post took me weeks to write. I finished this book mid-July, that's how long it took me to write this. I was so conflicted about what I wanted to say. The whole premise of this book was just ridiculous, but I did enjoy it. I give it a C+ or a B- depends on my mood or when you catch me during the day. I know this post is in no way helpful whatsoever, but I felt obligated to share. Also, fun fact about the name, it refers to the summer secret that her mother kept, that Cat's biological father was actually a local of Nantucket where she spent a summer. This book is a read at your own risk, like I said right now it's late and I'm kinda over this post, but maybe tomorrow morning I'll feel differently. That's all for now!
<3's Laterz!
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