Customer Reviews

Bad Heir Day

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

One of the reviews on the back of the book suggested that this was a "satire." Interesting review, that. Was that reviewer entirely aware of the definition of "satire"?
Holden definitely seems to think she is writing satire, but she couldn't be more obvious or self-conscious about it. Her take on the genre is to use as many bad puns as possible (she even goes as far as to use "heir" in another pun in the novel - an unforgivable sin, in my opinion).
At the same time, the plot is an equally obvious attempt at humor. The writer's-blocked main character (Anna) gets dumped by her perfect boyfriend after he hooks up with a fellow wedding attendee. By coincidence, Anna met up with a woman (at the same fateful wedding) who gave her some life-changing career advice. Anna follows through and finds herself (passive voice intentional) in the middle of the biggest mess imaginable. She has to nanny of a spoiled-rotten rich kid, while running the alcoholic mother's household and dodging the father's advances. All for an almost nonexistent salary. Anna may try to stand up for herself, but is always thwarted by ... something or other. But we're still supposed to feel sorry for her. I'm sorry, but this much plot contrivance is too much.

Add another good one to the wave of wacky British humor novels. Wendy Holden's submission has upped the ante. Wry, sardonic and blatanly intelligent, Bad Heir Day is a novel that will have you laughing, shouting and itching to wring someone's neck all in the course of one sentence.

Anna is not your everyday hopeless singleton. Of course, she wants to snag her a husband, and a rich one would be nice, but she also has a smart head with finely-honed red-flag detecting skills. After the first few days at her new job as writer's assistant to the wealthy and snooty Cassandra Knight, Anna quickly realizes she's nothing more than a glorified nanny. Cassandra's son Zak is a holy terror armed with devious pranks and dirty jokes. What's worse, Cassandra's husband Jett, a has-been heavy metal rocker with a lusty penchant for nannies, is the epitome of male sleaziness. And frankly, Anna can't take it anymore. So when she meets Jamie Angus, the heir to Dampie Castle on a remote island in Scotland, Anna clings to him tighter than stink on a junebug. And while the idea of being shacked up with a wealthy heir in an old royal castle amid the mist and heather of beautiful Scotland seems exciting and adventurous, well... let's just say Anna learns more about it than she ever wanted to know.

Bad Heir Day is a riotous story bursting with unforgettable scenes. The antics of Cassandra and Zak are what sitcoms are made of -- the novel could have completely went off on a tangent with their story and I would have been utterly satisfied. Although, while the first two-thirds of the novel had me in stitches, I will admit the ending tied up too conveniently and the humor became sparse. However, I am intrigued by the storytelling talent of Wendy Holden and haved placed her other novel, Simply Devine, on my list.

I hate this book. I'm finally almost finished with it and then I'm throwing it away. It is one of the worst I've read. Try Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner for a good read.

I bought this book thinking it would make a nice summer read but I was dead wrong. I enjoy books in this genre but this might be the worst I've read thus far. It's a fantastically ridiculous story that tries for satire but fails miserably. As the Publishers Weekly review says, it's not a guilty pleasure, more like a complete waste of time and money. There are far better books in the genre if you're looking for something entertaining.

"Bad Heir Day" deals with Anna who aspired to be a writer, who became homeless once her boyfriend dumped her. She moved in to this family to become a nanny for a difficult child called Zak and was hoping to learn something from the Zak's mother, Cassandra, a successful novel writer. Unfortunately, things did not turn out so well for her as she was totally exploited by Cassandra and terrorized by Zak. Cassandra was arrogant, pretentious and abusive. Cassandra on the other hand was having difficulties writing her next novel and her marriage to a former rocker was suffering. Her one change of leaving Cassandra for good was accepting a marriage proposal from Jamie a guy she met at a wedding who owns a castle.

I have read Wendy Holden's "Simply Divine" and "Farm Fatale" and I must say that this is Holden's worst book. The main character, Anna was unlikeable, a doormat with low self-esteem and who is willing to put up with any rubbish from people. In addition, the characters reminded me of the ones in "Farm Fatale" in the sense that Wolden placed too much emphasis on the secondary characters such as Cassandra and half way through the book, I am wondering who is the main focus here. The plot is quite similar to "Farm Fatate", a doormat, with an overbearing boyfriend and then quite suddenly meeting another man from out of nowhere and who became her rescuer. "Bad Heir Day" consists of no humor, very dry and unlikeable characters. There is hardly any good romance in the book and if there is, not quite believable. It's quite disappointing considering how well "Simply Divine" was written.

I bought this book for a recent cross country flight. I enjoy the "British neurotic single woman" genere and thought this book would be just the ticket to entertain me during a 5 hour flight. It was SO BAD that I left it on the plane!! Do not waste your time on this book.

This was one of the most poorly developed and weakly written books I have ever read. I still can't believe I wasted money on it. Unrealistic characters, non-existent plot, shallow, undefined main character, for whom the reader is, supposedly, to feel some sort of sympathy (she's sexually dissatisfied, men treat her badly, etc.). She speaks frequently of writing in her journal; yet the reader isn't allowed to read any of it, which makes it nothing more than a thin veil for a shallow, neurotic, lazy persona. The reader never learns how she really feels, let alone whether or not her desire to be a writer is even realistic. Overall, it seems as though her main goal in life is to find a rich man to sponge off of. As for the other characters, Cassandra, her husband, and her miserable, perverted son are too extreme to be realistic, as are some of the more ridiculous situations they get into. There is simply no point in discussing the "professional nannies" and their mercenary itineraries. This book is not even worth getting from the library. A complete waste of time.

After the runaway success of Bridget Jones' Diary, it seemed as though there was a sudden flood of books on the market chronicling the escapades of the straight single woman. I picked up Bad Heir Day at an airport bookstore, and while it engaged me for the whole 5+ hour flight, I keep getting a sense of déjà vu.

Let's see...Our Hero Anna has issues with her weight, has a handsome cad of a boyfriend who dumps her for a sleek-figured professional woman, and, oh yes, is a prodigious diary-keeper. Her life is a mess. Sound familiar? But it doesn't end there - Bad Heir Day borrows from other popular British icons. Anna's employer from hell, Cassandra Knight, is almost a copy of Edina from Ab Fab (hard-drinking successful woman who dotes impossibly on her son, doesn't like sex, snobbishly protects her chic West London address and is out of touch with reality). Like Four Weddings and a Funeral, a wedding takes place at a Scottish castle, and a character owns that same Scottish castle. It's all been seen before.

Bad Heir Day was a light, harmless read and had some funny moments, but I'd have enjoyed it more if I hadn't already been familiar with Helen Fielding. Unfortunately, it suffers from the comparison - and it's impossible NOT to see the similarities.

I got this book free with a women's magazine, and whist this isn't my normal choice of book, it was a fab escapist read. It is a light read and though it certainly isn't Doestoevsky it will keep you entertained. Her books do tend to follow a certain formula of poorer intellectual type mixing with the rich and dim, then snaring a rich boring bloke but finally deciding that money isn't everything and choosing a poorer one. Despite this, it is fun and as long as you don't expect to be intellectually challenged you should enjoy it.

I know there's been a lot of press on the new 'Chicklit' movement and have seen many Helen Fielding wanna-bes out there lately. some have been decent, but fluff (Confessions of a Shopaholic), but then there's this one...pure waste of time....unbelievable main character (I wanted to slap her uside the head for being so passive) and gratuitous sex..I mean, really unnecessary-I felt like the author could have given Cassandra some help with some of the laughable sex passages at the end of the novel with Anna and her guy. I mean, what was the point of that? to show how unsatisfied she was with _____? Don't waste your time.....