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Mercury In Retrograde (2009)

by Paula Froelich(Favorite Author)

3.1 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1416598936 (ISBN13: 9781416598930)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Atria

review 1: Okay, I started this book knowing that I wasn't going to like it. I've never been a big fan of celebrity gossip, and I am almost completely disinterested in fashion. However, I wound up disliking the book for completely different reasons.The book bills itself as the story of three women who are unexpectedly drawn together, and develop a friendship that helps them as they are flung into one crazy scenario after another. That sounds okay, right? Too bad the plot winds up working more like this: 1) We are introduced to Penelope and Lipstick. 2) Lipstick moves into Penelope's apartment. Lipstick takes pity on Penelope's wardrobe. 3) There is a robot named Dana who also lives in the apartment building. Unfortunately, Dana is not a very sophisticated robot, so she doesn'... moret have any personality, or many more than a dozen lines in the entire book. 4) Without any transition at all, Penelope and Lipstick are friends! Yay! They even get robot Dana to say a few lines, although they're not particularly interesting ones. 5) Ummm... the end!The plot wasn't particularly well handled, but the dialog is worse. The wittiest it gets is when an elderly woman mis-hears Penelope's name (har har har), and most of it is just downright boring.Meanwhile, the fashion pieces were not so prominent that it detracted from the book for me. And yes, Froelich fills her book with hundreds of little celebrity gossip tidbits, but as a celebrity gossip columnist, she does know how to make these interesting and amusing. I can't imagine myself ever reading anything else that Paula Froelich writes, but if you're looking for a quick read filled with gossip and you have a high tolerance for poorly written dialog, this book just might work for you.
review 2: Penelope Mercury is a suddenly out-of-work reporter, Lena (Lipstick) Lippencrass is a rich girl who has just been financially cut off from her parents, and Dana Gluck is a divorcee whose ex-husband has just impregnated a supermodel. The women all end up living in the same Manhattan apartment building. They form a friendship and help each other overcome some of their problems. Some funny moments, but many predictable moments. Overall, a decent listen for the car – I listened to it while running kids and myself to and fro and this was a book to which I didn't need to pay rapt attention. less

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