Customer Reviews

The Botox Diaries

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

It's no secret that most chick-lit books are for the twentysomething crowd -- a few are for thirtysomethings. But Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger aim a bit higher in "The Botox Diaries," an entertaining but flawed look at the lives of New York's fortysomething mothers and wives.

Single mom Jessica Taylor is trying to keep up with the deranged supermoms, while her flighty producer pal Lucy fixes her up on disastrous dates with horny plastic surgeons. And then Jessica realizes that Lucy is cheating on her lovable husband Dan, with a boorish TV host. Now Jessica is stuck between her two friends, as Lucy takes resort trips and tantric sex lessons with her new lover. What makes it even worse is that Lucy's "what he doesn't know won't hurt him" attitude is exactly like that of Jessica's ex-husband, Jacques.

Coincidentally, Jacques then reappears in Jessica's life, and seems to be trying to win her back. She allows herself to be swept along, but wonders what it is really up -- and if Jacques can learn to be faithful. Between reluctantly dating a gay surfer and attending a Botox party, Jessica struggles to fix both her own life and Lucy's disintegrating marriage.

Few books take a look at the female midlife crisis -- let's face it, women can panic as easily as men about turning forty. Even so, it's a bit hard not to cringe as Lucy blithely cheats on her husband, assuming that her side nookie won't be uncovered. At one point, the wit falls away in favor of drama, when it looks like Lucy's marriage is over forever.

But the book is about more than just midlife crises -- Kaplan and Schnurnberger also look at experienced romance, aging (and Botox), motherhood, and the pressure to keep up with deranged supermoms. Their style is witty and detailed, although the plot tends to meander. However, they have a witty, literate edge to their writing, without seeming to name-drop. Jessica's description of Chekhov as a Russian "Sex and the City" is hilarious.

Jessica is the "au naturel" one -- she's very unself-conscious and down to earth. She's a little too passive, however -- why couldn't she tip Dan off anonymously? Lucy is a stereotype of the shallow, overmoneyed woman, and Jacques a stereotype of the faithless French lover. Sadly, the book falls into the old chick-lit trap of providing a convenient love interest for Jessica, though they have zero chemistry and he appears less often than the Gen-X gay surfer.

An awkward love story mars this story of love, motherhood, infidelity and botulism. But "The Botox Diaries" is still an entertaining read, especially for the forty-plus set -- really, aren't you sick of all chick-lit heroines being the same age?

The Botox Diaries is a fabulous book about two women in their forties, Jess and Lucy, which is breezy, fun and more. Lucy goes through a mid-life crisis and ends up in an affair with a famous TV star -whose name I just loved!- Hunter Green. Jess' French ex-husband, Jacques, has come back to New York and is chasing her again. The plot is fast paced and funny and you really end up caring about Jess and Lucy and their friendship. This is a fabulous book which is perfect for all of us who loved "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Sex and the City". LOVED IT.

The Botox Diaries is a cut above even the best chick lit.
When I think of chick lit I think of improbable people in improbable situations. And the characters are usually too brittle to be believable.
These characters, on the other hand, have famlies, homes, jobs --and mishaps. There's an "I Love Lucy" strain to this novel that takes comedy past one-liners. The characters and situations are genuinely funny.
At the same time, "The Botox Diaries" is part fairy-tale--which is to say that it's far less cynical than most chick-lit. The characters have hearts and real relationships--not just with men, but with daughters, neighbors, friends.
This is what makes it such a good read.

Everything about this book is terrific--it's funny and fast and filled with loveable characters. I laughed out loud and was also moved by the very real emotions and situations. The behind-the-scenes TV stories are the best and obviously written by authors who know what they're talking about. The reality TV show date had me laughing until tears rolled down my cheeks. Don't miss it.

Forty-somethings with homes, children, husbands, jobs-- but yet, one is unable to stand up to cheating her pea-brain "best friend" and the pea brain is too busy satisfying her shallow needs to notice. You'd think that when a grown woman, mother, and wife turns 40, she'd have some backbone, but this book is too busy being "cute" and dropping New York-brand names to get a spine. I'm amazed that a so-called "friend" would play the beard to her cheating buddy. That's just gross. Wait a minute-- Jess (or is it Terri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives?) marries, divorces, adopts a kid (??), and is doing her ex-husband after 10-years-plus-one hour? Wow- what a role model.
Yuk. This book turned me off-- and I'm a liberal from California.

I was hoping that with women aged 40+ I'd escape the teen-chick-lit genre and find a bit more depth. Wrong.

Just finished The Botox Diaries! It was one of those books that I couldn't put down. Thank you for delivering a light, humorous read for the start of my summer!

The Botox Diaries was perfect for a mom on the move like me (and Jess and Lucy!). I could read a chapter, change the baby, read some more while he played in the sandbox,...pick up the mess, grab the girls from school,...read a little as I prepared dinner...bathe the kids, and then relax while reading in bed. I loved the characters and the humor. I found myself chuckling out loud and getting looks from my husband!

As I approach forty, and I look at the wrinkles forming around my eyes and my hands aging, I can't help wondering if I'd ever do botox! I think not. Like Jess, I'm a bit more "au naturelle".

Bravo to the authors! I'm passing the book along to my girlfriend, and telling all about it. I might even get my (60+)Mom to read it! This is a great beach or vacation book. I was very entertained!!!

With the current flood of Chick Lit books filling the bookstores today, THE BOTOX DIARIES has found a way of riding in on the wave and yet setting itself apart from the pack. Instead of dealing with the sometimes cliché obstacles of being a 20-something woman living in the city, searching for love and a career, we have two 40-something women searching for meaning in their lives while battling the issue of age.

Fans of Chick Lit novels can see what happens ten years later, when the character has become more established in her career and now has a husband, a child, or is divorced. Jessica Taylor, the central character in THE BOTOX DIARIES, has had all three. Jessica has been divorced for more than ten years from an extremely exotic French man who has recently resurfaced in her life. She is also the adoptive mother of a wonderfully precocious daughter, Jen, who is working as a matchmaker for her single mother. Through it all she has the eccentric and carefree best friend, Lucy Balder. Lucy has the perfect husband, the perfect children, the perfect career and the perfect lover.

Jessica and Lucy are polar opposites, and that may be why they work so well as friends. While Jessica is a Target-shopping, Dove soap-using PTA mom, Lucy is the jet-setting TV producer with a standing appointment at her dermatologist for frequent Botox injections. Together they commiserate about the issues of aging, being a good parent, and finding time for passion in their lives. Lucy seems to have found passion, but not with her perfect husband. Instead she is cavorting with a hunky and charismatic television game show host, Hunter Green. Jessica is appalled by her friend's actions and is sympathetic towards the trusting and loving husband.

What THE BOTOX DIARIES shows is that even as women age, their problems of how to handle love, life, relationships and careers remains constant. These women are the SUV-driving, blond-bobbed, wrinkle-free Manhattan women who most females tend to hate. However, Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger have created very likable and very real characters, and readers will actually find themselves sympathizing with the life struggles of these women.

This is a great novel by two women who prove that there is such a thing as real friendship. It is also a great summer book that allows the reader a glimpse into the lives of Manhattan's upper crust with frequent mentioning of Crème de la Mer, Gucci, Dom Perignon, and of course, Botox treatments. As the title of this novel would suggest, THE BOTOX DIARIES is wrinkle-free and thoroughly enjoyable.

--- Reviewed by Jocelyn Maeve Kelley

The Nannie Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada, The Ivy Chronicles... The Botox Diaries joins a long list of chick lit with the theme "aren't rich people crazy and amusing?" The twist is that this novel focuses on a forty something women.
Unfortunately, The Botox Diaries brings nothing new to the table. The novel is poorly plotted, completely lacking in cohesion. Did the authors outline the plot beforehand, or did they just make it up as they went along?
The main character is not nearly as funny or charming as she's supposed to be, and the main character's best friend is downright unlikeable. Nobody would be best friends with someone who doesn't listen to your problems, is completely self centered, and puts you in compromising positions.
The hot French ex-husband of the main character speaks tenth grade French throughout the novel. This is really a minor point, but it bothered me.
The ending is insulting to the reader's intelligence.
Skip this book and spend your money on something better.

It took two people to write this book? I was pleased to see a chick lit book for the 40-something reader but this book really was a waste of my time. You can see the ending a mile away, for one, but that didn't really bother me. It was the writing. The main character suffers from a syndrome that's unfortunately common to chick-lit heroines, which is to speak in an overly quippy, aren't-I-clever with my snappy dialog way. Nearly every one of her sentences included a quip/joke (or a quippy thought in her head as she spoke). Real people just don't talk that way, and it makes it impossible to relate to or care about her. By the way, my copy had the first chapter of these authors' next book attached at the end, and they've basically created the same two main characters: the quippy single mom and her ridiculously glamorous best friend. I won't bother with it.

I have never offered one of these reader reviews but disliked this book so much (not hated--but strongly disliked) that I felt compelled to do so. It is so terribly predictable and flashy in all the wrong ways. Wow a single Mom with an adopted daughter who meets celebs/gets wooed by a very rich frenchman/is allowed to borrow a Chanel dress from the showroom in NY/gets bought Tiffany earrings on a whim/goes on a TV dating show and somehow never has her daughter around at just the right moments is almost insulting to read (read: so totally unbelievable)... this is chick lit at its worst. It seems contrived and very intentional in all the wrong ways.