Customer Reviews

Babe in Toyland

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was recommended to me by a Borders salesperson and I was not steered wrong! The behind-the-scenes look at the Toy Biz left me wanting to know more. The characters were great - especially Toby (the main character) - just the right mix of happy-go-lucky and realistic - I really wanted things to work out for her (and they did)! Pick up this book and you won't be disappointed.

I picked up this book out of desperation (could not find anything else to purchase at the bookstore). The cover was fun and I admit, I do buy books based on their covers sometimes.

What a joy! This book was such fun to read. Not too silly and not too serious - a good blend of the two. I even liked all the characters,which is nice and rare in chick lit books these days.

The writing is fun and breezy and although I must admit that I did not really find there was a huge plot going on, the end completely caught me by surprise!!!

If you like chick lit, this is a good one. Enjoy.

From the candy-colored cover art to the sweet ending of the story, I found this to be an easy, enjoyable read for my vacation time. Well developed characters and some laugh-out-loud lines add to the fun.

Chick lit is much maligned, and a sometimes deservedly embarrassing moniker for books peppered with irritating baby obsessed/marriage obsessed/expensive shoe obsessed neurotics who make one feel embarassed to be sharing a gender with said character. Thank God Babe in Toyland is not this kind of book.

The kind of book Babe *is* is a deftly written fun little read which leaves no bad aftertaste in your mouth about your gender or the plot. Characters are complex, interesting, funny and believable and the prose is conciously peppered with clever writing rather than falling back on stereotypes and hackneyed phrases. As we follow the main character Toby through her world of kooky friends (chain smoking best friend working at goody two shoes healthy company implores her doctor beau to practice blood draws on her arm so co-workers will believe she is a drug addict), wacky ideas (main character decides to court a TV weatherman by mailing him hokey, anonymous poems), and goofy mishaps (lead character paralell parks blindfolded to reduce stress) I found myself wanting a sequel so I could hear more about what happens with all the secondary characters and locations we only get glimpses of here.

I've read a dozen paperbacks since this one which aren't half so well written and aren't nearly so fun as this little romp. Why I don't read more about this book in the press I'll never know. It's one of the nicest paperbacks of the year, and damn it would fit in your beach bag so perfectly.

Okay, so I don't know Mrs. Seifer Olson personally but I might as well have. Just by reading the back of this book in my local Barnes and Noble I was convinced she'd tacked on three years to my life and written the book entirely about me.

I too am a former art student working a job that doesn't use my skills properly and am ridiculously lacking in the love department... I have a ungodly obession with bath products and strangley enough i have a best friend who is a die hard musician that seems to be the only person who understands my quirky sense of humor and (at times) childish antics. and i've absolutely loathed one of his (at the time) prized girlfriends as well.. the list is endless... However, I have yet to develop a crush on my TV weather man and my best guy friend well... that would ruin the book yeah?

Basically from the first pages of Toby's harmless sarcastic wit at the make-up counter in the run down department store, to the vinyl apholstered booth at the Twin City Diner on the last page... I fell in love with the book, and realized I'm probably percieved stranger than I really thought. Oh well. :)

In Philadelphia, graphic instruction artist Toby Morris works at the Toyland Toy Company and shares an abode with her platonic roommate Michael. A college friend Jenna informs Toby that she has a job as news graphics at WPHX. A jealous Toby watches the news to see how well Jenna performed in her behind the scenes job. However, Toby forgets about Jenna when she see weatherman J.P. Cody. She never has had a crush before, but now she is very attracted to J.P. Toby starts writing silly poems and shocks herself by mailing them to her heartthrob.

A drunken Toby informs Michael she sent poems to J.P and sends a new missive to J.P asking him to wear his blue check tie if he likes her poems. J.P. replies asking Toby for a picture. She responds immediately. He next asks her for information about herself and she answers promptly again. J.P. asks to meet with Toby, who is feeling ecstatic while Michael is upset at Toby.

BABES IN TOYLAND contain a strong lead character who serves as the center of the tale and a solid support cast that propels the story line forward through their actions and reactions to the heroine. The main plot is a chick lit theme, but the story line contains several other subplots widen the scope into a relationship drama yet smoothly return to the main theme as everything works through Toby, the focal point of the novel. Though a final relationship comes out of nowhere, fans will enjoy Eugenie Seifer Olson's Philadelphia joyride.

Harriet Klausner

I've just proven that the cliche "don't judge a book by its cover" is very true especially in this book. I've bought this book because of its cute cover and interesting plot. When I've finished reading it, I was really disappointed. Toby is not funny, she's weird. I think some scenes were written just to increase the book's pages. The twist was ok but not satisfying. I would rather have Toby end up with the other guy.

In short, I have had better.

I loved Briget Jone's Diary, but I've found the multitude of books that followed in the "chick lit" genre to be sadly lacking the same wit and romance.

considering my past reads, I was rather cautious when I picked up Babes in Toyland, but I was (at last) pleasantly surprised to find myself engrossed in the story and characters - I finished it in one day.

Though a tad predictable, it is definitely an enjoyable, cute story...finally!

Put down your Shopaholics and check out this smart and funny debut novel, it's great!

Bottom line: Some insightful passages, spinkled with funny punch-lines, but quite disappointing in the end.

I picked up a galley (ie: no cover art to clue me in), hoping to discover something about the toy industry which I'm intrigued about. Only to realize that the story line was mainly focused on the love life of the main character. I have nothing against beautiful, insightful, breath-taking, mysterious, adventurous, well-written love stories. But this book has none of that. I did enjoy the first 200 pages, then became annoyed with the repetitive, stretched-out plot, until I gave up and skipped to the conclusion only to discover how poorly thought-out it was.

Not worth the reading time.