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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great summer read, July 10, 2003
This review is from: Cheet (Plume Books) (Paperback)
CHEET by Anna Davis Here's the first book to hit American soil by the British author Anna Davis. CHEET is about a young woman who has one of the most interesting love lives I've read about in a long time. She juggles many lovers by using separate colored cell phones to manage each person. At the height of this book, Kathryn, a London cabdriver by night, is dealing with five different lovers at the same time. She dates each one haphazardly, as she tries to find time for every one of them without getting them suspicious. Each lover has a distinct personality. Jonny is the ex-rock and roll star who has fallen onto hard times. Stef seems to be playing ball with the mobster crowd. Amy is her sexy lesbian journalist girlfriend. Joel is her young stud muffin, barely in his early 20's. Richard is a divorced man with a cute young daughter who both want to make Kathryn his one and only. None of them know about one another, which leads to some very funny and exciting scenarios. While Kathryn is working in her cab one night, she picks up a man that she finds of an immediate interest. Does he become lover number six? He doesn't, at least not immediately. What happens between Kathryn and Craig is on a totally different level, and she soon finds out that he's not what he says he is. That makes two of them, since Craig (or Twinkle as she calls him in her mind) does not know about all her lovers. But he leads Kathryn to believe he's a very rich businessman, until one day when she finds out the truth! What makes CHEET stand out from the rest of the popular chic lit books out there? The first half of the book describes the hilarious antics that go on with Kathryn as she tries to make some sense of her chaotic dating world. But, by the second half of the book, things start to fall apart. It caught me by surprise, because what I thought would happen was that each lover would discover the other. Instead, each of her relationships takes a turn, showing a darker side of life, including a death. I recommend CHEET for its inventiveness and uniqueness in a world of same-old that is being seen out there in the genre of chic lit. For those of you not totally into chic lit, this may be for you. It is change of pace for those used to copycats of Bridget Jones' Diary and the Shopaholic novels.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting concept, May 31, 2005
This review is from: Cheet (Plume Books) (Paperback)
This book is about a woman cabdriver, Kathryn, who has five lovers with a different color cell phone for each. She has trouble juggling all these people, all of whom appeal to a different side of her. She's protective of Joel, an androgynous would-be dancer; feels sorry for Jonny, a once-pretty boy who lost his looks in a motorcycle accident; loves solid Richard's little girl, Dotty; is amused by Stef, but worried about his con schemes; and is attracted to Amy and the novelty of a relationship with a woman.
The story traces the arc of each of these relationships. When Kathryn gets to know one of her fares, a guy named Craig Summer, each of her other relationships is affected in unexpected ways.
Kathryn is an interesting though hard-nosed character, and the book subtly explains why she is the way she is. What makes the book interesting is the dynamic plot (something intriguing is always happening) and the memorable cast of characters. Rounding out the group is Winnie, a taxi driver who gives Kathryn "bits of wisdom."
One drawback of the book is the way the author switches quickly and without warning from one scene to another. It can leave the reader feeling disoriented.
Also, the book is a bit darker than most chick lit, although it is marketed as such. Some of the chracters have real problems, which means it is not entirely a light, fluffy read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Other people liked it, July 24, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Cheet (Plume Books) (Paperback)
I have to admit, Cheet was not one of my favorite books. It is one of those books where you keep waiting for something to happen (which is pretty much the only reason I finished it). The main character, Katherine, is a cab driver in London. She has 5 lovers (seems like an interesting premise doesn't it?) and a color coded cell phone for each lover (I can barely keep track of one cell phone, much less 5!). Actually, she gains a 6th lover during the course of the book, but he never gets his own cell phone. To me, all the characters seemed pretty whiny and needy. There was great potential for humor (I mean, come on, 6 different lovers?), but either I didn't get it, or there was none to be found. Each lover fell into a category (cute lesbian; handsome, young, black buck - probably gay; handsome, young, white buck - in trouble with the law; family man; and finally, scarred, troubled musician). The additional lover would fall into the "mystery man" category as we don't know much about him until the end of the book. Not only are none of these people particularly interesting, but all they seem to do is whine to Katherine about their sad lives, how little they see her, or how much they need (fill in the blank). That said, Katherine really isn't that interesting either. She seems to be sleeping with all these people to fullfill some deep seated psychological need, possibly her difficulties relating to her father, but it's hard to tell. In summary, my feeling is that this book had a lot of potential and didn't live up to it. I thought the book would be funny, but there weren't many amusing moments that I found. I suppose it's possible that I missed the point and Cheet was never supposed to be funny, but it could have at least been interesting.
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