Customer Reviews

Artistic Licence

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really think Booklist's review is much more accurate than the one-star ratings given by the first two Amazon reviewers. All of Fforde's books are light and breezy. If that's what you're in the mood for, this book is just fine. Maybe one has to be of "a certain age" to appreciate it. The main character can no longer be labeled a young person, yet has never gotten around to having kids of her own. (None that I can remember!) I really enjoyed reading about her interactions with the young folk in her boarding house. However, she isn't old either, and doesn't quite fit in with the seniors on the tour France. This makes for more amusing interactions. I will still be on the lookout for Fforde's new books in future.

Starting with "Second Thyme Around," I tore through Katie Fforde's previous books in a matter of weeks. And once you've read one or two of her books, you can guess the happy outcome of them all--while struggling to either build a business or garden or home, our quirky heroine meets and falls in love with one of two prospective men. This time, with "Artistic License," the premise falls flat. The main character (two days after finishing the book, I can't remember her name) decides to open a gallery from scratch to show an unknown, but sexy artist's works, all the while caring for the litter of pups he has dumped on her. She in turn dumps a ton of responsibilities on her wealthy friends and tenants, both of whom she seems to have little affinity for. And of course, through all of this she falls in love with some other guy. Unfortunately, Katie Fforde devotes only the last couple pages of the book to this budding romance.
While I finished "Artistic License" in two days, this is the first Fforde book I wish she hadn't written and that I hadn't read..

Basically I agree with all of the other reviews here -- this is a charming, pleasant read, but not Fforde's best (which would have to be Second Thyme Around). What I would like to know is, did anyone catch the line about which Booklist said, "[people may be put off by ]British colloquialisms, including one that could be viewed as so "politically incorrect" as to be offensive." It slipped by me!

Katie Fforde is the ultimate fluff-meister, and there's nothing wrong with that, in and of itself. But I had high hopes, after "Second Thyme Around," that Fforde was prepared to add some meaning to her tales. Not so with "Artistic License," a pleasant little romp that's as easy to digest as vanilla pudding.

I find all of Fforde's heroines endearing, and Thea, the subject of this particular book, is the typical Fforde protagonist: a thirtysomething single Brit with a sweet temperament and a "let's get on with it" disposition. She's a bit muddled around the edges, and a bit of a Bridget Jones, but she is so endearing that the reader really wants to see her succeed in her hairbrained scheme to open an art gallery in the English countryside.

Along the way, Thea encounters her share of male scoundrels and sweetiepies, and everything turns out alright in the end. There is the usual cast of supporting characters, from the overbearing friend, Molly, to the dithering teenager, Petal, to the rich, upscale London friends. Fforde has explored this territory many times before, and I'm not going to say that it isn't enjoyable. But with the exception of "Second Thyme Around," in which she explored serious topics with great success, all of Fforde's books seem exactly the same. Not bad, by any means, but nothing special either. It's a shame, because Fforde is capable of more.

If, like me, you're in the process of catching up with Katie Fforde's backlist, you might find this one worth only a quick read. The tone is absolutely breezy and fun, except when it comes to the romance, which really perplexed me with its clumsy and sometimes downright distrubing undercurrents.

Thea is extremely likeable--a 35 year old who runs a boarding house. She has a great sense of humor none of her friends appear to appreciate, and she's single but waiting for the right man. She meets Rory, an artist, while on vacation in Ireland and is immediately charmed by his talent, though not necessarily by him. She also meets Ben, the brother of her friend Molly (who, along with Petal and some other supporting characters, is completely uninteresting), but finds him to be stoic, grouchy, and hard to read. Over the course of the novel Thea grows and changes like a true chick lit heroine, and falls in love with Ben. But Ben never made sense to me, which ultimately killed any real sense of romance the book has.

For one thing, Ben is almost always rude to Thea, sends her mixed signals, and in one excessively unpleasant and completely unnecessary scene, almost hits her. He has a wonderful son, Toby, who is infinitely sweeter and more sympathetic than his father. What's really hard to follow or understand here, though, is why Ben just doesn't tell Thea how he feels and why he's acting the way he is. At the end, Fforde supplies a reason, but not an explanation as to why Ben felt he couldn't share that reason with Thea at any point in the novel. It's incredibly frustrating, and marred the whole book for me.

Grade: C

Got a book of hers at the library and realized I wanted every book she has ever written. Came here and found them. She is an amazing writer and should be read by everyone.

Having enjoyed the "light reads" of Restoring Grace, Stately Pursuits, The Rose Revived and Wild Designs I am disappointed in this Artistic License... I don't think I can even finish it. It just seems poorly written (grammar?), uninteresting characters, and as if someone else wrote it.... sorry; hope the next one I read is more like the former four.

A pleasant read but I'm not sure why Katie Fforde writes so often about women who are frazzled from juggling too many responsibilities. They are always tired. Still, I enjoyed reading "Artistic License", though not as much as "Second Thyme Around".

While Katie Fforde continues to use some of the same old cliches to hook our interest. That is why we come back to her time and time again, because sometimes the warmest reads are the predictable-heart-melting-make-you-sigh-in-spite-of-yourself love stories. Not one of her finest love yarns, yet it holds true to what Katie Fforde writes.
The books you can curl up to when you need to be reminded that deep down we are ALL hopeless romantics.

Artistic License was not my favorite Fforde novel, but I didn't dislike it either. I enjoyed all the eclectic characters, especially Thea, and her relationship with small Toby was sweet. Into the mix of "characters" was Lara and her litter of puppies, and I found them to be charming.

One thing I notice about Ms. Fforde's novels is that the protagonist and the main male character, who she inevitably falls for, often seem to be at odds at first, and argue and fuss at each other a lot before they realize they are in love. While the banter can be enjoyable, I think that this device has seen its day in Ms. Fforde's novels.

I also found the Ben character a little more one-dimensional than I'm used to with Katie Fforde's books. Regardless, I do not regret reading this one and will always look forward to my next Katie Fforde book.